from "Irony and National Defense" by D. Graham Burnett (Christian Gauss Preceptor and Associate Professor of History) and Jeff Dolven (Professor of English), both at Princeton University; this was to be presented to Lockheed-Martin.
"... Without the ability to detect and localize irony consistently, intelligence agents and agencies are likely to lose valuable time and resources pursuing chimerical leads and to overlook actionable instances of insolence... "There is reason to think that irony, properly concentrated and effectively mobilized, might well become a very powerful armament on the 'battlefield of the future,' serving as a nonlethal -- or even lethal -- sidearm in the hands of human fighters in an information-intensive projection of awesome force.... "There is thus reason to hope that the irony of the future, suitably tuned, refined, and charged, might be mobilized to 'stun' the enemy or possibly _kill outright_...." >From HARPER'S MAGAZINE, July 2009, pp. 13-15. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
