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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?

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rshow55 - 01:29pm Sep 22, 2003 EST (# 13844 of 13875)
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.

I typed a paragraph with a word that conveyed the opposite of what I intended. When I typed

When people want to get right answers by successive approximation - they often can - but they usually can't see how easy it is to produce divergence - and how often efforts to avoid divergence are intentional and malicious. http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.597a9376/154

I meant to type

When people want to get right answers by successive approximation - they often can. But they usually can't see how easy it is to produce divergence. They usually can't see how often efforts to produce divergence are intentional and malicious. http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.597a9376/154

There are, of course, times when an effort to produce convergence is malicious, too.

What is intended - what interests are being served - are key questions.

People need to think harder about what cheating is - in context.

In terms of what matters. This matters: For stable end games - people and groups have to be workably clear on

How do they disagree (agree) about logical structure ?

How do they disagree (agree) about facts ?

How do they disagree (agree) about questions of how much different things matter ?

How do they differ in their team identifications ?

Odds are good that if the patterns of agreement (or disagreement) are STABLE and KNOWN they can be decently accomodated.

Unless these issues indented above can be workably resolved in a specific "game" - there can be no fair games. Nor can there be stable games.

jorian319 - 01:32pm Sep 22, 2003 EST (# 13845 of 13875)

What's fair ? is a key question. A difficult question. And usually a question of details - and weightings.

Including many that have to be calibrated. - That is - adjusted to fit circumstances and needs.

"Do the right thing" is something to strive for. Whether that requires agreement from others about what "the right thing" is, should be a subject open to debate. HONEST, FORTHRIGHT debate!

It is important that we know that the effort we put forth to understand what is "right" - for ourselves or for others - is subject to disagreement by other, possibly reasonable people. and Blah blah blah. </rshow>

jorian319 - 01:34pm Sep 22, 2003 EST (# 13846 of 13875)

PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THE ABOVE POST! IT WAS SATIRE!

(for those who might mistake it for an important message to or from someone important)

rshow55 - 01:37pm Sep 22, 2003 EST (# 13847 of 13875)
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.

HONEST, FORTHRIGHT debate!

Jorian319 - I have a question. I don't know the answer. Does your notion of " honest forthright debate " ever converge - or is it simply a procedural sequence?

jorian319 - 02:06pm Sep 22, 2003 EST (# 13848 of 13875)

Robert -

What part of "DO NOT RESPOND" did you fail to understand?

rshow55 - 02:09pm Sep 22, 2003 EST (# 13849 of 13875)
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.

I was writing the post - not seeing yours - and didn't see yours till I posted mine.

But the question

"Does your notion of " honest forthright debate " ever converge - or is it simply a procedural sequence?

is a worthwhile question.

It is a question closely related to the question of what's cheating from the point of view of a newspaper - and the people who read it and trust it.

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