Cognitive barriers in perception of nanotechnology

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics

Volumn 34, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 689-694

  Grinbaum, Alexei ^a,b  

^a Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics   (Canada)

^b ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COGNITION; CONFERENCE PAPER; DECISION MAKING; HUMAN; NANOTECHNOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY; PUBLIC OPINION; UNCERTAINTY;

COGNITION; DECISION MAKING; HUMANS; NANOTECHNOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY; PUBLIC OPINION; UNCERTAINTY;

EID: 33751250164     PISSN: 10731105     EISSN: 1748720X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-720X.2006.00088.x     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (19)

1. K. E. Drexler, Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation (New York: John Wiley, 1992).
2. K. E. Drexler, Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (New York: Anchor Books, 1986).
3. See also the Drexler-Smalley debate in Cenear 81, no. 48 (2003): 37-42.
4. B. Gordijn "Nanoethics," paper presented at the Third session of COMEST, UNESCO, December 2003.
5. See Common Ground magazine, dedicated to ethical issues in health and ecology and published since 1982.
6. Expressions of this fear are many. E.g., at Nano4Food conference (University of Wageningen, 2005) one of the key questions was, "How do we avoid another GMO debacle in bringing nanoscale enhancements to food processing?" See also G. S. Day and P. J. H. Schoemaker, Peripheral Vision: Detecting the Weak Signals that Will Make or Break Your Company (Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press, 2006).
7. BMRB Social Research, Nanotechnology: Views of the General Public, Study prepared for the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering Nanotechnology Working Group, January 2004.
8. Cordis website, Documentary Films and Brochure, available at 〈http://www.cordis.lu/nanotechnology/src/pressroom_films.htm〉 (last visited September 26, 2006).
9. L. Savage, "The Theory of Statistical Decision," Journal of the American Statistical Association 46 (1951): 55-67.
10. L. Savage, Foundations of Statistics (John Wiley, New York, 1954).
11. M. Allais, "Le Comportement de l'homme Rationnel Devant le Risque, Critique des Postulats et Axiomes de l'école Américaine," Econometrica 21 (1953): 503-546.
12. D. Ellsberg, "Risk, Ambiguity and the Savage Axioms," Quarterly Journal of Economics 75 (1961): 643-669.
13. For further reading, see D. Kahneman and A. Tversky, eds., Choices, Values, and Frames (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
14. K. E. Drexler, Engines, supra note 1, at chapter 4.
15. See also: Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and Uncertainties (London: The Royal Society & The Royal Academy of Engineering, 2004): Chapter 6.
16. An example of this with regard to climatic change is further discussed in J. P. Dupuy and A. Grinbaum "Living with Uncertainty: From the Precautionary Principle to the Methodology of Ongoing Normative Assessment," C. R. Geosciences 337, no. 4 (2005): 457-474.
17. A. Tversky and D. Kahneman, "Availability: A Heuristic for Judging Frequency and Probability," Cognitive Psychology 5 (1973): 207-232.
18. A. Grinbaum and J. P. Dupuy, "Living with Uncertainty: Toward the Ongoing Normative Assessment of Nanotechnology," Techné 8, no. 2 (2004): 4-25.
19. Supra note 5.