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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 - 06:02pm Jun 7, 2003 EST (# 12382 of 12383)
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.

Ideas work where they work - not everywhere.

"Solve with only the physical constraints FIRST - then fit social arrangements to the human needs."

is not a usable idea applied to fashion - or the design of products where diversity is a central goal. ( Our economic world does an impressive job of offering diversity already.)

But on issues like supplying energy - or animal feed to meet basic nutritional needs - and on many, many other things, it does make sense.

fredmoore - 06:28pm Jun 7, 2003 EST (# 12383 of 12383)

Robert,

Here's the Thing .... The Thing is you see, that given your knowledge and perhaps some photographic evidence, you ought to be able to go back to 1938 and convince the powers that be to form a coalition of the willing to invade Germany at the cost of many thousands of lives (civilian and military) in order to avert the loss of so many millions who did in FACT die.

That would be an admirable goal. Worthy of a Spielberg movie I think. However, if someone of Almarst's intellect was sent back he would allow the millions to die on the basis of saving the life and dignity of some thousands of people. That has been his position throughout the Iraq war and there is no reason to believe it would be any different if he could time slide. Therein lies the danger of accentuating negativity, of knowing and seeing only 1/10th of complex problem in order to propose a solution.

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense