| From: | Sommers sommers@*****.umich.edu |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Visionary, or crazy? |
| Date: | Tue, 20 Jun 2000 10:22:01 -0400 |
>
> My vote is for crazy. I can't see sonar really working on a human, we lack
>the brain functions to interpret the signals in any usable way. But hey,
>more power to him (prbably 12 volts), he's in the papers again. It is good
>to know that with all the quadroplegics, epileptics, diabetics, cancer
>victims, and so on, that this professor is still able to spend time,
>resources and equipment on this.
Not to mention the fact that the professor is trying to add a sense to his
nervous system to give him sonar. He wants to use it to be able to move
around in the dark. How about all of the people who are blind that have to
rely on seeing eye dogs to get around, or can't at all? Don't you think
that maybe they would find it useful to be able to walk around New York
City without fear of getting clipped by a cab (or at least no more than any
other person fears it)?
Directed research is fine for solving individual problems, but its also
very rarely successful at fixing anything more than (at most) one small
problem. All sorts of drug companies are working right now on ways to cure
all of those things you described above. But how many would work if the
pure research done on DNA 30-40 years ago never happened?
If I have to choose between a guy who wants to try something that sounds
crazy but just might revolutionize the way we live, and a sane guy who
wants to make an existing widget go 5% faster, I'll take the crazy guy.
Their the ones who change the world.
Sommers
Aerospace engineers build weapon systems. Civil engineers build targets.
