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Hello folks. Does anyone remember Star Trek, The Next Generation? @Kylie enjoys Star Trek, just as I do. In that show, the crew aboard the USS Enterprise have access to a technology known as the replicator, which can manipulate atoms at a subatomic level, to make dinner or tools for free. This technology is similar to a 3D printer, but much faster and more high tech. The replicator is not capable of making organisms or healing people, as that would ruin the plot of Star Trek. Replicator wiki link: Replicator (Star Trek) - Wikipedia
So, in today's discussion, we will unravel the secular and theological ethics of a more powerful version of the Star Trek replicator. Yes, this tech does not exist in real life, but this will be an interesting experiment for testing our understanding of ethics and morality. We will be analyzing the implications of a fictional machine named the Molecular Additive Manufacturing Unit, a device used by a hypothetical and fictional alien species.
Background:
The year is 2041 on a distant exoplanet named Xanadu with advanced technology. The race of humanoid aliens known as the Xa'na invented a new technology dubbed the Molecular Additive Manufacturing Unit (MAMU), an appliance roughly the size of a small washing machine. As the Xa'na are preparing to use fusion-powered spacecraft for interstellar exploration by the 2050s, the MAMU can allow extended for space missions without the need for astronauts to bring 5-year supplies of food. This technology can rearrange molecules and turn thin air into anything for free (rendering the planet's system of currency obsolete), such as food, tools, or medicine, or heal cancers. The machine works by transforming the molecular structure of cells in a fraction of a second by using miniature electromagnetic tractor beams to latch onto atoms. This comes at a price, as the MAMU uses about 150-400 kWh of electricity per kilogram of matter materialized or transformed. Luckily, the Xa'na have abundant renewable energy. Laws are in place globally on Xanadu so that a MAMU can not be used to make weapons, revive the dead, modify the body or brain, or create living organisms.
Questions:
Why are these legal prohibitions for the MAMU in place? What are the ethical implications of the MAMU if humans invented this technology, from both a secular and Christian theological framework?
So, in today's discussion, we will unravel the secular and theological ethics of a more powerful version of the Star Trek replicator. Yes, this tech does not exist in real life, but this will be an interesting experiment for testing our understanding of ethics and morality. We will be analyzing the implications of a fictional machine named the Molecular Additive Manufacturing Unit, a device used by a hypothetical and fictional alien species.
Background:
The year is 2041 on a distant exoplanet named Xanadu with advanced technology. The race of humanoid aliens known as the Xa'na invented a new technology dubbed the Molecular Additive Manufacturing Unit (MAMU), an appliance roughly the size of a small washing machine. As the Xa'na are preparing to use fusion-powered spacecraft for interstellar exploration by the 2050s, the MAMU can allow extended for space missions without the need for astronauts to bring 5-year supplies of food. This technology can rearrange molecules and turn thin air into anything for free (rendering the planet's system of currency obsolete), such as food, tools, or medicine, or heal cancers. The machine works by transforming the molecular structure of cells in a fraction of a second by using miniature electromagnetic tractor beams to latch onto atoms. This comes at a price, as the MAMU uses about 150-400 kWh of electricity per kilogram of matter materialized or transformed. Luckily, the Xa'na have abundant renewable energy. Laws are in place globally on Xanadu so that a MAMU can not be used to make weapons, revive the dead, modify the body or brain, or create living organisms.
Questions:
Why are these legal prohibitions for the MAMU in place? What are the ethical implications of the MAMU if humans invented this technology, from both a secular and Christian theological framework?
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