New York Times on the Web Forums Science

Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

rshow55 - 01:03pm Apr 7, 2003 EST (# 11186 of 11194)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

Cynthia Lanius points out that

"Cats, canaries, or kangaroos are similar if they are alike in some way. In geometry though, similar means something very specific. Geometric figures are similar if they have the same shape. I don't mean two rectangles or two triangles, but really the same shape. For example:

" . . . The two squares are similar.

" . . . The two rectangles are not similar.

" . . . But the two rectangles below are similar.

http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/fractals/self.html

People and animals can recognize the similarities in cats, canaries, or kangaroos, and can also distinguish between different cats, different canaries, different cats, and different kangaroos.

It isn't clear or accepted how people come to recognize these simularties or these differences. But a great deal is known. People do it very fast. The process of forming classifications, and identifying differences involves a lot of text and many examples. In most cases, everybody does it in essentially the same way. People can express a great deal about the differences and similarities that they have in their heads through language - but not everything.

And virtually all of the logic involved is unconscious.

There's too much of this processing to attend to - so it has to be unconscious.

But if we don't recognize that "there's a lot below the surface" we can get stumped unnecessarily - and get into fights we might otherwise avoid.

In history, and especially the history of sciences - the biggest - ugliest - most intractable of these big fights are called paradigm conflicts.

Other conflicts are similar in important ways.

jorian319 - 03:04pm Apr 7, 2003 EST (# 11187 of 11194)

Robert, I read every one of the links you provided, thank you so much. I'm sure many many other people also read every one of those links and are similarly impressed. It's so much more powerful than your average poster who might only provide ten or twenty links to other stuff they wrote.

jorian319 - 04:04pm Apr 7, 2003 EST (# 11188 of 11194)

Speaking of missiles...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with potent chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public Radio reported on Monday. NPR, which attributed the report to a top official with the 1st Marine Division, said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire." It quoted the source as saying new U.S. intelligence data showed the chemicals were "not just trace elements."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47645-2003Apr7.html

Seems to be getting the "so what" treatment from mainstream US media so far.

mazza9 - 04:39pm Apr 7, 2003 EST (# 11189 of 11194)
"Quae cum ita sunt" Caesar's Gallic Commentaries

Jorian:

It appears that the Patriot missiles have acquitted themselves quite well. Where was the vaunted "elite" Iraqi Air Force. The only aircraft that have been shot down, unfortunately were friendly fire accidents! Patriots seem to have played a part in that as well.

Today Gen Myers showed a video of strike aricraft which guided its weapon away from a target when civilians wandered into th area. Kinda Humane to me. No plastic shredders in our arsenal.

rshow55 - 05:30pm Apr 7, 2003 EST (# 11190 of 11194)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

Patriot missiles have acquitted themselves quite well.

A lot better than a decade ago - doing a relatively easy job - they also are showing an additional capability shooting down friendly aircraft.

(4 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense