[extropy-chat] Transhuman Military

Joseph Bloch jbloch at humanenhancement.com
Sat Jul 2 21:15:56 UTC 2005


Not only that, but on a practical level, many of the technologies we 
describe as >H in nature will, on a practical level, be developed by the 
military. One has only to look at DARPA to see that; 
http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/augcog/ is only one example among 
very many.

Much like space travel, there's little incentive for private industry to 
blaze a trail whose outcome is entirely uncertain. Government, whatever 
else one may think of it, has not only the concentrated resources but 
also the incentive to develop these technologies to the point of proof 
of viability, at which time industry should (in a perfect model) take 
over the reigns of development, production, and ultimately distribution 
to society.

Joseph

Enhance your body "beyond well" and your mind "beyond normal": 
http://www.humanenhancement.com
New Jersey Transhumanist Association: http://www.goldenfuture.net/njta
PostHumanity Rising: http://transhumanist.blogspot.com/ (updated 6/14/05)

Adrian Tymes wrote:

>--- "T.Theodorus Ibrahim" <theo at gmx.co.uk> wrote:
>  
>
>>There
>>does seem to be this rather strange (or maybe not so strange)
>>military -
>>transhuman axis.
>>    
>>
>
>Not so strange.  Military is one of the most obvious and easy
>applications of transhuman tech.  Put another way: >H tech is, in a
>sense, about increasing one's personal power - and military is all
>about power.
>
>From: "J. Andrew Rogers" <andrew at ceruleansystems.com>
>  
>
>> There were a lot of geeks and proto-extropians in the military
>>when I
>>was in -- it is not a cadre of ill-educated hicks as is a popular
>>notion.
>>    
>>
>
>This misperception again comes because the military is all about power.
>Raw, barbaric, physical power is what most people have experience with
>- think schoolyard bullies.  It actually takes a bit of training to see
>the force multiplier that intellectual power gives; fighting smartly,
>rather than just harder, is the true advantage that military, martial
>artists, and other trained fighters have, but it can be difficult to
>see it (as opposed to the relatively minor effects of increased
>physical hardiness, muscles, et cetera) if one does not know what to
>look for.  (Kind of like judging any advanced art, when one does not
>know the basics of the art.)
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>  
>



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