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.

rshow55 - 04:45pm Oct 11, 2003 EST (# 14792 of 14794)
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.

Controls are something I've cared about since 1968, when I first was assigned Analysis of Nonlinear Control Systems by Dunstan Graham and Duane McRuer 1961 - Dover ed 1971

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md01000s/md1937.htm - some key limits in control technology haven' changed in 40 years. http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md11000s/md11163.htm

I quote some from Graham and McRuer

7896 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.8CjjbAFJNgo.1975139@.f28e622/9421 7897 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.8CjjbAFJNgo.1975139@.f28e622/9423 7898 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.8CjjbAFJNgo.1975139@.f28e622/9424 includes this

I was assigned the task of finding out how animals so often found good solutions to control system problems, as individuals and groups, and also asked to understood why these solutions sometimes went so bad that they produced horrors and wars.

People who wonder how much people cared - and how hard they and I tried - might look at the movie Thirteen Days - and consider how close the world had come to nuclear war. The higher the rank of the people I dealt with - the more concerned they were.

I have solutions that leave something to be desired, but that are servicable.

For a long time I was reluctant to set out my background - all the way back to when I was commandeered by Eisenhower - for reasons that Lchic , at least understands. I was hoping to get out of house arrest - and actually communicate in less awkward channels - while retaining effectiveness.

I'm grateful for

Wrapping our future in betterment by Lchic http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?13@@.ee9cff9/2379

I must be in bad trouble. After all this experience, which should teach me better, it still seems to me that some progress is being made. And this board does have a good deal about missile defense - and did before it was rebooted on March 1, 2002.

Eventually, hard lessons do get learned. Almost all kids learn to tie their shoes - and maybe people can learn to reduce the incidence and waste of unnecessary fighting.

cantabb - 05:46pm Oct 11, 2003 EST (# 14793 of 14794)

rshow55 - 04:38pm Oct 11, 2003 EST (# 14790 of 14792)

rshow55 - 04:42pm Oct 11, 2003 EST (# 14791 of 14792)

rshow55 - 04:45pm Oct 11, 2003 EST (# 14792 of 14792)

Folks, we’ve a LONG long way to go before the first step toward any discernable first step toward progress. “Reflection” course may be complete yet.

What we still see is:

1. Yet another round of self-referencing links [over 45 in just 3 posts, some 3 years old, on nothing new)

2. Another example of OFF-post abuse, given by rshpw55, and how he was asked by one of NYT moderators, katenyt, to stop infecting “Favorite Poetry” poem with nuclear arms/missiles etc

3. More of the same self analytic rationalizations of totally unrelated [personal and other unrelated matters. Nothing new. Wake me up when you see even a movement toward the first step in understanding of what I and others have been telling you.

4. Yet another re-hash of much-rehashed previous discussions (poster identity etc).

I don't know what you and lchic have been 'reflecting' upon, but YOUR forum abuse continues……..

(1 following message)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense