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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?

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

lunarchick - 02:19pm Dec 24, 2002 EST (# 6993 of 6994)

THINKING

Leaders/Children who are aroused [from fear] can't take in cognitive information, They're too busy watching out for threatening gestures, and not listening to what's being said."

Such behavior makes sense, given the constant threats in the world. The brain has become exquisitely tuned to emotional and physical cues from others.

At the same time, they may be failing to develop problem solving and language skills.

It has been found that in a group of neglected children, the cortex, or thinking part of the brain, is 20 percent smaller on average than in a control group.

"" ^{It is important to note that the relative weight of emotions - hence, judgment and ethical behavior - can change over the course of an individual’s life. A child’s priority of security can be followed by a young man’s enjoyment of adventure (even a fight), possibly followed by the next age’s enjoyment of pleasures. These shifts possibly emanate through varying signal strength from the midbrain (the hypothalamus etc.) and may be related to body chemistry, including neurotransmitters.}

One should be aware that ethical decisions are not yet ethical actions. The translation of judgment into action is a major problem for many individuals - the dreamers, the phlegmatics, the procrastinators, and those who have to “find themselves” first. Action initiation, while often seen as genetically preconditioned, is somewhat related to midbrain functions and the endocrine system (for instance, adrenalin, possibly also the pituitary and thyroid glands). Thus, it can be influenced by thought (including faith), learning (habit), diet, pharmaceutical products, drugs, exercise, and other environmental factors.
http://www.schwab-writings.com/bm/eth/3.html

Flight Fight ... a time for LEAN THINKING ?

lunarchick - 02:26pm Dec 24, 2002 EST (# 6994 of 6994)

Religion - Thinking of (Wilson/Angier)

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/24/science/social/24CONV.html

Wilson

"" Religions and other social organizations may preach kindness and cooperation within the group, but they often say nothing about those outside the group, and may even promote brutality toward those beyond the brotherhood of the hive.

That has been the dark side of religion. But it is not an inevitable side of it. I don't want to come across as naïve, but there's no theoretical reason why the moral circle can't be expanded to ultimately include everybody. Nor is there any reason why we can't take a surgical approach to religion, and keep what is positive about it while eliminating the intolerance. ""

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Raises the question - when is religion a social usage for 'the old guard' to maintain power and an economic stranglehold over an economy with little regard for the welfare of 'others' external to it's viewpoint.

Is this happening in some pipeline economies?

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