[ExI] battle tanks to a five yr old

[Keith Henson]

On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 5:00 AM,  "spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>
> The times, they are a-changin.
>
> My five year old son saw a video with a battle tank, but he didn't know what it was called.  He vaguely understands what it is, but just didn't know the name.  I had never explained it to him.  He was trying to describe it, and finally called it a "war-car."
>
> War cars are definitely fading out of importance in his generation.  When I was his age, we knew a lot about warfare I think.  I notice none of the neighborhood kids play battle of any sort now, no cowboys and Indians, no 'Muricans vs Commies, nothing of the kind.

When they get a little older they play WoW.

> It just occurred to me today their world is a lot freer of conflict than I recall of my own misspent childhood.  Dare we hope that armed conflict will gradually fade away?  Or will restrict itself to that part of the world which revels in that sort of thing?

Evolutionary psychology makes the case that war is an outcome of
resource crisis or looming resource crisis.

Re tanks, they and virtually ever other piece of war equipment stands
on the brink of becoming obsolete.  Physics and economics seems to
make propulsion lasers extremely attractive for solving major
problems, particularly energy.  But they are also weapons that negate
most current weapons, even infantry.  A tank, even with a totally
reflective roof, will not survive an encounter with a multi GW laser.
If nothing else, it will sink in the lava pool around the tank.

Keith