Joy Response

From Bill Joy's piece "Why the Future Won't Need Us," it is clear the author's primary concern is the future extinction of, or irreparable harm to, the human race caused by advancing technology. Specifically focusing on the potential devastating impact's of nanotechnology, Joy provides the reader with an array of negative scenarios of this micron-technology in the future world. Namely, Joy worries that the human race will become dependent on the intelligent, and reproductive, robots to survive. In one of his many theories he predicts that this dependency will destroy the human race as we know it, as our race has done to countless others we have displaced.

To set up the problem to his audience, Joy employs a heavy use of ethos by establishing his immense credibility on the subject matter. When he says, "I may be working to create tools which will enable the construction of the technology that may replace our species. How do I feel about this? Very uncomfortable" it proves to the reader that the author is very much a key player in the concern. From there, he utilizes a logos approach to set up the problem by listing the opinion of many brilliant scientists on the matter. A couple examples of the many would be when he reference Nobel prize winner Richard Feynman's speech or Eric Drexlers Engine's of Creation. This adds to the piece because it proves to the audience this threat is not some mythical fantasy. Joy proves by using countless examples that the world's brightest minds are hard at work inventing technology that could end our planet as we know it in the next 20 years. The last method to set up his article, and most effective in my opinion, was when he compared a potential takeover by robots to the takeover of other species, and provided examples of how this is already happening today. By explaining the extinction of marsupials from South America, and revealing the statistics on how much of our agriculture is "genetically modified," it made the topic a lot more real to people who aren't keen with technology.

In my opinion these problems are just as relevant, if not more, today. We carry computers in our pockets and depend on them heavily for our daily function (checking weather, directions, new alerts, etc.) This dependency is frighteningly similar to Joy's dark predictions. I believe that technology is a huge asset and power to modern society, but like all great powers it needs to be kept in check. While I am not personally concerned about a robot takeover in the near future, I do understand Joy's point on how the human race's insane dependency on technology could have significant adverse effects. We need to be very careful on how much of our lives we let technology control, before it gets to the point it is out of our control.