[SATLUG] 1984, Robots, the Military and Technology

[toddwbucy]

I believe the topic is 1984, Robots, the Military and 
Technology? If you wish to let it die stop participating in the
conversation.

Todd
On Fri, 2008-03-21 at 06:10 -0500, Brian Lewis wrote:
> Can we let this die Or get back on topic?
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Mar 21, 2008, at 3:21, ed <horned0wl93 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > pixelnate wrote:
> >> On Thu, 2008-03-20 at 23:26 -0500, Will Southworth wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> 1984 was written by George Orwell. Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit  
> >>> 451.
> >>>
> >>
> >> I stand corrected for the second time, thank you. If that is the  
> >> only criticism I receive tonight then I consider myself a fortunate  
> >> man.
> >>
> >>
> >>> This has very little to do with linux or satlug. Let's get back on  
> >>> track and take this flame bait private.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Actually, the point hidden in all this is very relevant to the  
> >> list. There are some very intelligent and learned people on this  
> >> list. This is a city with a long military history and many people  
> >> on this list are serving in the military, have served in the  
> >> military or are working for the government in some capacity.
> >>
> >> I would caution everyone that we must be wary of blind technolust  
> >> without some sense of the intended use of a technology. The BigDog  
> >> project does represent an amazing technical achievement by man to  
> >> able to make such a robot. But I believe the geeks/nerds (I use the  
> >> terms lovingly) that were tasked to build such a beast have been  
> >> seduced into doing it for the wrong reasons. Any project funded by  
> >> DARPA will surely be intended for military use, and as is the case  
> >> in these times, will most likely trickle down into local law  
> >> enforcement. Which is to say that it will ultimately be pointed at  
> >> the rest of us. We should be mindful of this as we watch the films  
> >> of its amazing movements.
> >>
> > See again, BigDog, and compare to the robotics in the original movie,
> > "Terminator," as well as the Imperial Walkers in "Star Wars."  This
> > breakthrough definitely paves the way for both.  Add cloning...
> >> As geeks we love to tinker (see the Puppy Linux thread) and we love  
> >> to make the automatons dance with our computer magic, but we must  
> >> be mindful of the purpose for which some things are built. In every  
> >> robot story I know from science fiction, there is always a mention  
> >> of the previous generation of robots that did much damage before  
> >> people managed to get things back under control. As a freedom  
> >> loving human being I would prefer not to be faced with a future  
> >> where robots were out to harm me. Watching the BigDog movies, I get  
> >> a sense that we are in for rough times ahead.
> >>
> > In the movie, "Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country," and later
> > mimicked  by Captain  Picard in ST: TNG, was an intriguing suggestion
> > (paraphrased...):  "Advancements in technology and their uses weigh
> > heavily upon us of late.  Perhaps its pursuit should be revised to
> > consider the premise that, just because we /can/ do a thing need not
> > mean that we necessarily /must/ do that thing..."  or words very like
> > these...  Wise thoughts from a more recent philosopher...
> >
> > Cheers;
> >
> > Ed
> >
> > -- 
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