Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!nanotech From: mtuxo!ems1@att.att.com Newsgroups: sci.nanotech Subject: Beyond active shields Message-ID: Date: 20 Jun 89 05:04:28 GMT Sender: nanotech@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ Lines: 102 Approved: nanotech@aramis.rutgers.edu It's good to see that the debate on gragu versus active shield is alive and well again. I don't think it was ever conclusively resolved in our last go round. (And I should know! :-) One problem with the "pro" active shield arguments seems to be what I call the "Maginot Syndrome". The Maginot Line, for those who may not know, was a *massive* construction of defensive installation built by the French, who then "retired", secure in the knowledge that no attacking force could possibly get through their shield. Alas, a way was found around their static defense, and disaster followed. Would-be builders of active shields need to consider strategies for the "unthinkable" breaching of their defenses. It need not be the end of everything. In fact, by careful planning now, we can make the job of the attacker much more difficult. In this scenario, let us say that some nation or group finds itself under attack by "victorious" gray goo, it's active shields crumbling rapidly. What happens next? Well, one of the most effective strategies for surviving an attack is simply not to be there when it lands. Prudence would demand that the members of the group being attacked disperse themselves as far and as fast as possible. Now the infection will not be able to spread. (As a pre-emptive measure, setting up numerous space colonies representing your group seems a good idea. The kid with lots of brothers is usually left alone by the street toughs.) What about the individuals already infected, their body tissues being rapidly destroyed? For these individuals, we have the Lifeboat. The Lifeboat, prepared in advance of the attack, is a tough enclosure designed to support an analog of one individual's thought processes, probably through nanotech modeling of synapses and other brain structures. ( Note that I say "thought process". I don't believe a static map of one's brain would provide any continuity of identity.) With one's essential self (ie mind) transferred into the Lifeboat, the attacker's job has just become much harder. Instead of just disabling fragile biological processes until death occurs, they must first locate, and then penetrate, the Lifeboat enclosure to be sure of killing you. If the attack fails, then like MacArthur, you can say, "I shall return". (You DID remember to keep your body map up to date, didn't you?) The Lifeboat, with it's nanotech brain analog, will probably be smaller than a pea (possibly *much* smaller) and is covered by some material at least as tough as diamond. It also probably contains a small bit of fissionable material to power the "nanobrain". It also must contain a few general purpose assemblers, and must have some means of being opened from the inside. Of course some "escape route", or means of migrating your thought process from it's usual home into the nanobrain as quickly as possible, must be devised. (I can think of a number of possible techniques, though.) Somewhere outside of the Lifeboat (Though probably not attached) is a radio beacon transmitting the details of the attack to any friendly forces that may be listening. (Another reason for the space colonies mentioned earlier) The Beacon also transmits the last and latest update of your mind-state to your offsite archives, thus insuring that at least a copy of "you" will survive the attack. Probably this Beacon should work as a type of deadman switch, ie. If no further updates are received, your friends and allies will hold a brief service (for the original you) and then quickly construct an exact duplicate, thus denying the attacker any satisfaction for your real death (except momentarily). (Note again that I don't believe any actual transfer of *identity* via radio will be possible for a long time. If you had that, then you'd have long-range mind transfer, and you'd never have to worry about any of this mess again.) This Lifeboat and Beacon defense makes any lasting victory for the attacker virtually impossible. To "win" they would have to: 1. Destroy or fatally poison your body. (easy unfortunately) 2. Locate and destroy your Lifeboat (much tougher, the real death) 3. Locate and destroy every radio'd copy (horribly tough, requires FTL to be possible at all) Possible scenarios for the "castaway" include: 1. The attackers have left or been forced away. Rebuild a reasonably accurate copy of your original body, and resume life where you left off. 2. The attackers continue to hold the field. Wait for outside rescue, or if you get angry enough, build a tough robot body and fight back. ("You dirty rats! I was *really* attached to that body! :-) Any attack that has the result of creating a tough army of cyborgs bent on revenge would probably not be tried more than once. This article was written to show that the attack/defense problem is not as simple as "either active shields work, or its complete disaster". And that if the defenders are creative enough, and shed a few preconceptions, a reasonably safe and secure life in a nano- technological world is certainly possible. So, keep your Lifeboat supplies fresh, and don't forget those Archives! Ed Strong {princeton,mccc}!nanotech!ems