New York Times Readers Opinions
The New York Times
Home
Job Market
Real Estate
Automobiles
News
International
National
Politics
Business
Technology
Science
Health
Sports
New York Region
Education
Weather
Obituaries
NYT Front Page
Corrections
Opinion
Editorials/Op-Ed
Readers' Opinions


Features
Arts
Books
Movies
Travel
Dining & Wine
Home & Garden
Fashion & Style
New York Today
Crossword/Games
Cartoons
Magazine
Week in Review
Multimedia
College
Learning Network
Services
Archive
Classifieds
Personals
Theater Tickets
Premium Products
NYT Store
NYT Mobile
E-Cards & More
About NYTDigital
Jobs at NYTDigital
Online Media Kit
Our Advertisers
Member_Center
Your Profile
E-Mail Preferences
News Tracker
Premium Account
Site Help
Privacy Policy
Newspaper
Home Delivery
Customer Service
Electronic Edition
Media Kit
Community Affairs
Text Version
TipsGo to Advanced Search
Search Options divide
go to Member Center Log Out
  

 [F] 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.


Earliest Messages Previous Messages Recent Messages Outline (4000 previous messages)

rshow55 - 03:58pm Aug 27, 2002 EST (# 4001 of 4001) Delete Message
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.

Most problems in the world that are really important - most I can think about anyway - can be explained clearly, in ways that work for almost everybody, once they are fully understood.

Once they are really understood, they can probably be explained, in a clear, intellectually solid, beautiful and entertaining way in a good cartoon using Disney characters - - http://www.whom.co.uk/squelch/world_disney.htm A cartoon that can be understood and enjoyed by everybody involved.

For reading instruction - that would have to include the teachers, the parents, and the kids.

The key issues in missile defense are simple, too - - and ought to be explainable to the same people.

The "Mickey Mouse" test is a very tough standard. One I can't meet, so far. But it is the right one to shoot for, for things that really matter, and are really fundamental.

The reasons why things go wrong would often stand out - if more people looked at what was going on with the sharp eyes it took to make these characters. http://www.whom.co.uk/squelch/world_disney.htm

Why, exactly, is it that problems don't get fixed? Often enough, though the answers are ugly - they are also "obvious."

3794 lchic 8/18/02 9:40am

3796 lchic 8/18/02 10:01am to 3800 rshow55 8/18/02 12:43pm

Does anybody really doubt that N! and N!/2 are concepts too difficult for Mickey Mouse to explain?

Somebody needs to explain what hope means - - and what hopeless means - - when we face the statistical choices that we often do.

Teenagers who could never learn to read would have something to teach about that. And if we as a culture understood their problems - we'd have something to teach them back.

 Read Subscriptions  Subscribe  Search  Post Message
 Your Preferences

 [F] New York Times on the Web Forums  / Science  / Missile Defense


Enter your response, then click the POST MY MESSAGE button below.
See the
quick-edit help for more information.






Home | Back to Readers' Opinions Back to Top


Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy | Contact Us