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THE N‑DIMENSIONAL
KNOWLEDGE PROXIMITY APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: THE CASE OF QUANTUM
ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEMS Fred Bernard Wood, Sr., Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering) P.E. Computer Social Impact
Research Institute, Inc. (csiri.org)
1. Abstract Forecasting and assessing the development of revolutionary technologies pose a substantial challenge because the techniques
such as trend extrapolation, evolutionary projections, substitution curves,
cybernetic systems analyses, and the like are limited in their ability to capture "out of the box" or
"wild card" possibilities.
Over the last several decades, successive iterations have been developed
of a multi‑dimensional systems approach to assessing revolutionary
technologies (Wood, 1979, 1996). This
approach includes a structure for relating knowledge about classes of activity,
levels of phenomena, and stages of evolution.
It is called the "N‑Dimensional
Knowledge Proximity" systems approach, because it emphasizes an
identification of almost current knowledge up to 1992 (six years old to
cooperate with military institutions to protect security for six years) about a technology so as to identify and
understand the linkages between different dimensions or variables, and to
provide a robust basis for projecting future developments and
implications. In this paper, the
history and current status of the Knowledge Proximity Approach is summarized,
with emphasis on refinements that have been made since the 1996 ISSS meeting in
Budapest, Hungary. The objective in
limiting security classification of new weapons concepts to six years is to let
religious and public service organizations have a general knowledge of the
trend in weapons development from 1946 to 1992 so that they can start work on
the ethical problems involved with new weapons systems without disturbing the
secrecy of the latest weapons development.
In World War II the United States tried to keep the Atomic bomb secret
until after we had killed 66,000 people
and wounded 69,000 people at
Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. This
did not give the people who specialized in dealing with ethical questions a
chance to sort through the ethical questions until after the new weapon had
been used. A more humanitarian way would be to have a United Nations Committee
discussing the ethics of the new class of weapons before some conflict
escalates into World War III. The
National Council of Churches, the Buddhist
Peace Fellowship, and other groups
could discuss with military leaders whether six years is adequate or
whether more time like ten years is needed by the military institutions for
initial new weapons design. Keywords: Creation, Electromagnetics, Ethics, Weapons, Medicine WP8S1724 WP8P1697 THE GREEN CUBE - TEMPLATE - FOR LIBRARY OF EVOLUTION Y-axis Key:
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- Conscious Co-evolution w Biosphere Fig. 1. The Green Cube Template for Evolutionary
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