LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“If Drexler Is Wrong, He May as Well Be Right” by Tomás B.


Listen Later

I sometimes joke darkly on Discord that the machines will grant us a nice retirement tweaked out on meth working in a robotics factory 18 hours a day. I don't actually believe this because I suspect an indifferent AGI will be able to quickly replace industrial civilization; it will just kill us and eat the world with nanobots. But many don't believe that Drexlerian nanotechnology is possible.

I am an idiot with little physics knowledge, so possibly this is only interesting from an amplification via debate frame, but this is why I think something close to Drexlerian nanotechnology (or having similar practical implications to Drexlerian nanotechnology) is likely possible:

The design space is very large. Any proof that Drexlerian nanotechnology is impossible would have to be very robust. And it strikes me that most plausible looking arguments can likely be hacked around given how large the design space [...]

---

First published:

July 7th, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qNyFNJp7CFbkjL6Mh/if-drexler-is-wrong-he-may-as-well-be-right

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

LessWrong (30+ Karma)By LessWrong


More shows like LessWrong (30+ Karma)

View all
The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,214 Listeners

Astral Codex Ten Podcast by Jeremiah

Astral Codex Ten Podcast

131 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

7,239 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

559 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,276 Listeners

AI Article Readings by Readings of great articles in AI voices

AI Article Readings

4 Listeners

Doom Debates! by Liron Shapira

Doom Debates!

14 Listeners

LessWrong posts by zvi by zvi

LessWrong posts by zvi

2 Listeners