[ExI] future of warfare again, was: RE: Forking

[spike]

>. On Behalf Of Stefano Vaj
Subject: Re: [ExI] future of warfare again, was: RE: Forking

 

On 31 December 2011 10:47, Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se> wrote:

>>.This is not necessarily a good thing from an evolutionary psychology
perspective. Military psychology has been struggling to train away normal
(likely evolved) inhibitions against hurting other people for a long time.


>.Yes. . animals, including humans, and especially heavily-armed predators
have an entire set of inhibition and ritualisation mechanisms, so while
intraspecific aggression instinct is well-rooted.-- Stefano Vaj

 

 

Agreed, but the focus of the more sophisticated modern war machinery, isn't
aimed at the personnel, but rather the other machines of war.  The modern
warrior has nothing against the adversary's guys.  They can have as many
guys as they want, for without the sophisticated mechanisms of warfare, they
are as harmless as an army of kittens.

 

Note that in the famous shock and awe campaign, with all those fireworks,
there were very few actual casualties.  Once we learned to find and destroy
surface to air missiles, soldiers have learned to stay clear of them, for
they might suddenly explode at any moment with no known enemy aircraft in
the area.  There have been a number of places of worship in the middle east
which have mysteriously exploded in the night, after being triggered by some
mysterious weapon, again with few or no casualties, human or beast.  It is
unclear what was causing these explosions.  It is almost as if the places of
worship are somehow being used as a storage facility for materials that are
chemically unstable, or that the hymnals were exploding for some reason.

 

Our natural inhibition against fratricide does not apply to the act of
destroying the machines of war.

 

spike

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