"Technology has always been a double-edged sword, empowering both our creative and our destructive natures. It has brought us longer and healthier lives, freedom from physical and mental drudgery, and many new creative possibilities. Yet it has also introduced new and salient dangers. As technology accelerates toward the full realization of genetic engineering, nanotechnology and robotics, we will see the intertwined potentials: a feast of creativity resulting from human intelligence expanded many fold, combined with grave new dangers. We need to devise our strategies now to reap the promise… while we manage the peril." – Ray Kurzweil