DARPA is the the organization
charged with not only thinking outside the box, but building whole new boxes
that others may not have even thought of.
It is from their research that the internet actually sprung. They are the people who took a simple
unclassified Russian theoretical paper and turned into Stealth Technology that
helps the US dominate the Air, and reduce vulnerability on the sea.
As an agency of the Department
of Defense their purpose is to prepare the US for the technology of the next
war. While there are off-shoots from
this research, like the internet, that benefit all mankind, it is not their
mission. This got
me to thinking about whose mission is it, and why can DARPA be successful in
its tasks and whoever is looking out for all mankind not so much?
Unfortunately, I see conflict
as an unenviable, but inherent, quality in mankind. It was there in the beginning, it is in the
first book of the bible, and I suspect, despite what
Gene Roddenberry would have us believe, will be there in the end.
If we look at all the advancements of mankind, they are inevitably
fueled by war and conflict.
Take for example
Spaceflight. Rocketry was envisioned by
Robert Goddard in the 1920’s. He worked
his life to make it a reality, but it was not until the Germans developed the
V2 in the second world war that real progress and application was made. It was those same German rocketeers who took
us to the Moon.
So, who is it that governs this
balance of finding ways to kill and maim each other and turning the instruments
of war into tools for peace? When we had
a widely accepted and “common” moral code we looked to our politicians. Now that we no longer have a common morality
I am not so sure.
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