I must have missed where science was deferring to the "comity of
political/military defeat." Most scientists, and for that matter,
most professional military people, deplore this gap, though gap is
too nice a word for blindly pursuing ideology in the face of facts.
If you follow it at all, you know that the present administration has
gutted scientific committees meant to advise or make scientific
policy for the government and loaded them with politically safe
ignoramuses. But you find the same pattern in many significant
areas--health care, the drug problem, education, foreign policy
generally.
I put it to an historian I know: when did we stop being a nation of
Yankee pragmatists and start being a nation of ideologues?
On Jul 9, 2007, at 5:03 AM, phil henshaw wrote:
Well, where's the gap between knowledge and it's practical use
then? We're using a method in Iraq designed for certain failure
(because of strategies modeled on attacking a phantom enemy unlike
the one actually interfering with our plans) and causing huge harm
in every direction. add the 15% of our own soldiers that come bask
with serious permanent psycological dammage. http://
content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/1/13 from New Eng J of Med.
I was looking to see if young soldiers would be more senstitive to
mental damage from it, as i would expect, but this article doesn't
break that out. If sci defers to the 'comity of plotical/military
deceit' , as it would look to me is the problem, what's the point
of calling it science?
Phil Henshaw ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸
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680 Ft. Washington Ave
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-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Pamela McCorduck
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 10:02 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Ants and Bees, Oh My.
On Jul 8, 2007, at 7:31 PM, phil henshaw wrote:
Good observation, about using young mend when they are most
maleable for making platoons and follow commands. It's the
opportunity for emergent structure, as well as in this case,
people who wish to exploite it, that makes the difference. I
don't generally buy the evolutionary value laden self interest of
genes idea for what makes systems powerful, but how the confluence
of diverse factors and a catalyst actually engage a developmental
process. And it's often contradictions like the fact that these
are not the men most fit for the job, but the ones dumb enough for
the job, that raises the questions that reveal what's actually
going on. Older men would think more. Bad for armies!
I had no idea when I read this (a revelation to me at the time)
whether it was empirical observation all senior officers in armies
understood, or grounded in biology. Both, apparently, but for
centuries, empirical observation served well enough.
As for your next two paragraphs, Phil, I do believe many in the
military understand the situation completely--my 80-year-old
cousin, who served as a member of the British SAS in WW II, yelled
at me on the phone last night: "A field army can never fight a
guerilla army." It's no secret. Whether the officers who
understand it have--or once had--the power to do anything about it
I don't know, but it seems unlikely. Those who once balked have
been replaced. Our military is quite properly under the direction
of civilians. I hope it will always be so, even when the civilians
fail as egregiously to understand things as they have failed in
this instance.
"One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack
religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I
have not noticed it."
Bertrand Russell
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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"One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion,
because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not
noticed it."
Bertrand Russell
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
