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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 - 08:39am Nov 8, 2002 EST (# 5544 of 5551)
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.

The EMP weapons, with very little engineering thought - are major threats to everything the US flies, or can reasonably expect to, as well.

Our Navy is also very vulnerable to them, and the costs of "eliminating" that threat would make a taxpayer want to turn her head away - - if eliminating the threat to military electronics could be done at all.

The idea that we have a defense establishment that gives us stable protection has been technically naive for a long time, and is becoming more so.

It is vulnerable in too many ways to imagine - - too many ways to count - with many specific vulnerabilities that ought to be very clear. EMP being an easy one to see.

For essential reasons, we need to learn to make peace so it works . We've made a lot of progress toward that recently - and better keep at it.

rshow55 - 08:53am Nov 8, 2002 EST (# 5545 of 5551)
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.

Human beings have to care for each other - - for a lot of reasons - including warm and decent ones.

Some practical reasons are not so warm. Human sociotechnical systems are complicated - and unavoidably vulnerable to damage. The more advanced the socio-technical system - the more ways it is vulnerable. And people are dangerous.

We have many reasons to care about each other's feelings, and circumstances.

The task of finding enough shared space - enough ways to communicate - to keep things stable and warm is a very important, practical one.

It is, in part, a technical task - and lchic and I have been working hard on this thread to show and debug techniques that can help with that job.

lunarchick - 09:35am Nov 8, 2002 EST (# 5546 of 5551)

Human sociotechnical systems are complicated - and unavoidably vulnerable to damage.
The more advanced the socio-technical system - the more ways it is vulnerable.
And people are dangerous.
Showalter

That's why 'the mind', together with our moving towards 'equity', is important.
Everyone wants a piece of the pie
Needs the tools and know-how to bake it
Needs resources and infrastructure
to grow the corn,
to make the plate,
to build the oven,
provide the power,
to know the recipe,
to mix the dough ......
and read NYT on-line while it bakes :)

It seems incredible that there are hungry people in the world when 'all the know-how is known'!

rshow55 - 09:41am Nov 8, 2002 EST (# 5547 of 5551)
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.

lunarchick 11/8/02 9:35am . .

" It seems incredible that there are hungry people in the world when 'all the know-how is known'! "

C.P. Snow made just that argument - and predicted that want would be banished in the world by the year 2000.

Thomas Friedman made a similar kind of argument in The Lexus and the Olive Tree - - in essence saying "now that we can communicate - we can go ahead and solve all our problems."

There are still things to learn about communication - shared space - and building sociotechnical systems so that they are stable and meet peoples' needs - in ways that actually work.

I think we're making progress here .

lunarchick - 10:00am Nov 8, 2002 EST (# 5548 of 5551)

Humanism, Religions, philosophy ... mostly think it a good idea to have thoughts for others.

PROACTIVE WORLD LEADERSHIPS

are in power positions
that can 'make' the difference
can set-up all people
to help themselves

(3 following messages)

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