I would characterize Bill Joy’s primary concern in this article to be the dangers that new technology, specifically robotics, can hold for mankind in the future. He does talk about the positive things that the future of robotics holds, but his main focus definitely seems to be on the dangers that exist. He focuses on our inevitable future dependence on robots, both as parts of us, and their own separate species. He outlines, through many examples, the problems that lie ahead in the future with our newest nanotechnology.
Joy uses multiple techniques to set up his problem and to validate his argument. The first example of one of his techniques is an excerpt from The Age of Spiritual Machine. The excerpt itself was written by Theodore Kaczynski, The Unabomber. This is probably the least effective source, due to the psychotic nature of the author. However, it does have a good effect in using an extreme source to back up an extreme idea. He then validates his argument through a more legitimate source, Hans Moravec’s book Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. He also talks about his talks with people like Danny Hillis, cofounder of Thinking Machines Corporation, which built a powerful parallel supercomputer. He uses credible, and highly intelligent, sources to prove the validity of his point of view. I would have to say that each of these sources is highly effective. The Unabomber reference even has its effect. I also believe that by using these sources that he knows personally or has researched thoroughly, Joy appeals to the audience’s ethos. Also, through his reasoning throughout, Joy uses logos as well.
Personally, I do not know much about robotics or nanotechnology. All that I do know, through the news and magazines, is that there have been incredible breakthroughs in both fields as recently as the past year. I have heard bits and pieces about robots used to diffuse bombs, robot building competitions with highly functional and effective robots, and about nanotechnology through movies. In particular, a movie my sister used to constantly watched called “Agent Cody Banks” had the teenaged, secret agent star battling an evil man bent on destroying the world through nanotechnology. Also, a movie like “I, Robot”, despite being made to make money and to be highly cinematic, shows us some of the problems that a robotic future would hold. I guess that this means that these problems have become more prevalent and mainstream in our culture. Personally, I do not have much of an opinion on the problem because robotics does not play an immediate, tangible role in my every day life.
