To be clear, my main objection is that you have made statements that are implicitly or explicitly false. I go over each one in detail in the comment here. Yes, simplification is inevitable, but at many points you crossed the line into saying things that are flat out untrue.
I am confused by the pushback and downvotes in response to pointing this out. Do you not want to be making the strongest argument you can here?
I’m sort of skeptical that you could write something that works as science communication for a general audience
I don’t think it’s particularly hard to explain why drexlerian nanotech, if it worked, would be powerful and dangerous, without making any implicitly or explicitly false claims.
“Biology is structurally limited by what can be produced by the DNA/RNA system. For example, proteins are built by stitching together a long chain of molecules which fold into themselves to form 3d structures. The backbone is made of strong covalent bonds, but the full 3d structure has weak links where the backbone is pinned together by a variety of forces, some of which are quite weak. In contrast, Drexler style nanotech could be made factory style, layer by layer, and build densely bonded crystalline structures like diamond that are strictly covalently bonded and contain no weak links, and could therefore survive in much hardier conditions and slice through regular cells.”
Too long? Okay, here’s a quick two sentence version:
“Proteins are made of long chains that fold together and are pinned in place by a variety of forces, some of which are weak. In contrast Drexlerian nanotech could be made out of densely bonded crystalline structures with strictly covalent bonds and no weak links”
If you want to use these arguments, I expect payment in social capital.
Of course, my crux here would be that I don’t think Drexlerian nanotech would actually practically work, (part of the reason being the lack of flexibility), but that’s a debate for another day.
To be clear, my main objection is that you have made statements that are implicitly or explicitly false. I go over each one in detail in the comment here. Yes, simplification is inevitable, but at many points you crossed the line into saying things that are flat out untrue.
I am confused by the pushback and downvotes in response to pointing this out. Do you not want to be making the strongest argument you can here?
I don’t think it’s particularly hard to explain why drexlerian nanotech, if it worked, would be powerful and dangerous, without making any implicitly or explicitly false claims.
“Biology is structurally limited by what can be produced by the DNA/RNA system. For example, proteins are built by stitching together a long chain of molecules which fold into themselves to form 3d structures. The backbone is made of strong covalent bonds, but the full 3d structure has weak links where the backbone is pinned together by a variety of forces, some of which are quite weak. In contrast, Drexler style nanotech could be made factory style, layer by layer, and build densely bonded crystalline structures like diamond that are strictly covalently bonded and contain no weak links, and could therefore survive in much hardier conditions and slice through regular cells.”
Too long? Okay, here’s a quick two sentence version:
“Proteins are made of long chains that fold together and are pinned in place by a variety of forces, some of which are weak. In contrast Drexlerian nanotech could be made out of densely bonded crystalline structures with strictly covalent bonds and no weak links”
If you want to use these arguments, I expect payment in social capital.
Of course, my crux here would be that I don’t think Drexlerian nanotech would actually practically work, (part of the reason being the lack of flexibility), but that’s a debate for another day.