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Soldiers Bond with Bomb-Defusing Robots
hdtv writes "Reuters is running a story that talks about the emotional bonds that US soldiers develop with the robots in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The company, most famous on the US market for its Roomba vacuum cleaner, provided '300 PackBot Tactical Mobile Robots deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to open doors in urban combat, lay fiber-optic cable, defuse bombs and perform other hazardous duties previously done by humans alone.'"
Oh, why didn't you take me instead, oh why!?!?!?
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
So it is after this "bonding" as they call it that the citizen of Iraq will welcome their bomb-defusing soldier-hybrid overlords?
one must ask that if the bond goes the other way could you end up with manicly depressed robots? :)
As a Disabled American Veteran and member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, let me say Thank You! This technology is long over-due.
I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.
Film at 11.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
I don't suppose it's that hard to bond with something that saves your life on an ongoing basis. Perhaps someone should write a paper on it?
I bought one of these Inflatable Dolls and I never gained any affection for it.
Venkman: You're not sleeping with it, are you?
We humans are such bonding creatures aren't we? I actually realized this just last evening when I was playing the sims 2.
I had never played a sims game before, but all the excitement and buzz around spore made me decide to try out some of will wrights designs - so I picked up the highly reviewed sims 2.
I created a family and was amazed at how quickly I became attached to them. I feel so compelled to make sure that they are well fed and happy - and I have become extrememly preoccupied with making certain they all have positive relationships with each other.
Then I suddenly realized that these sims are programmed to age and eventually die! I then started another family which I care much less about and refuse to load my original family because I can't bear the thought not only of their permanent passing - but of the distress it will cause the other sims!
Someday I will take them out of this suspended "animation" when I discover how to make them live indefinitely - either through game methods or life-saving game modding!
perform other hazardous duties previously done by humans alone
...that's pretty much true of my Roomba. Wait till I figure out how to make it do the dishes.
You can have my cynical agnosticism when you pry it from my cold, dead logic.
troll
So, uhh.. Awesomo.. are you a.. pleasure model?
...
DOES NOT COMPUTE
hey did that robot just fart?
twitter.com/gravitronic
This is my robot, there are very many like it but this one is mine....
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
I wish I had a robot that could apply glue.
Would be much easier to bond with.
but you can't love your battle bot.
Considering how some of us get emotionally attached to our computers, and the stress those guys are under, no wonder a bond develops. Like having a faithful dog, having someone or something you can rely on gives most people warm fuzzies - human or not.
Soliders name their rifles, Pilots paint nose art on the planes. Roman legions probably named their swords. You develop an attachment to the things that you rely on and that serve you well. You can't trust that your buddy won't get killed tomorrow, but you can trust the fact that your M-16 will work as advertised.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
If you ever did military, you'd know that you're always teached that "your rifle/gun/whatever shoots and can save your life" is your best friend. "Treat it with respect, clean it, oil it & keep it runnin smooth so when you need it, it works." as the teaching goes. Now, if they teach that for your gun that doesn't move or obeys you with a remote and still, people do get connected to it, imagine with a little robot. Think of it like a Tamagochi and you'll see that it's the same principle. With a robot that saves lives, the bonds can get even stonger.
*house burning*
"My Nintendo!!"
How about a film where the soldier abandons his robot in the desert, because the robot keeps calling him "daddy" and it's creepy. And then the robot sets off on a quest to understand itself, and meets up with a sex doll and goes looking for the "Green Hummer"? The film ends with Harrison Ford telling the robot it has no end date, and they drive into the mountains together. Captain Adama lands in a spaceship, leaves a little oragami unicorn on a ledge, and then the hot Cylon chick shows up and takes off her shirt.
Just came to me. I better write the outline before I forget.
I work with Packbots, doing technology integration. When people play with these 100 pound little monsters, they're user-friendly enough where techies can chase others around in the computer lab. And it hurts when they run into my ankle... a lot. To be fair, it is neat seeing the video zoom by as you control them with a pair of joysticks.
Oh goodie. Another "you may have blown $500 billion kicking the shit out a third-world country, but you DID get a better household gadget out of the deal" article.
Seriously, what's the lesson "learned" here? That there's potentially a consumer market for remote-controlled devices that feature a camera, a robotic arm and some wheels? (Aren't these things called "drones" anyway?)
Anyone else cry when Floyd the robot died at the end of Planetfall or am I just a girly-man?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I recall in the movie "Blown Away" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109303/ a robot which several of the supporting cast held an affection for. Until it blew up. Al Gore's roommate is a jerk.
Johnny 5 is alive!
A guy who joins the army ends up falling in love with a robot. Oo yeah. It was on arrested development. Though he didn't love the Packbot he loved the Rhoomba if you get what I mean. ;)
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
Soldier: "What's a nice robot like you doing in a place like this?"
Robot: "I'm looking to set something off? How about you?"
Soldier: "Well I'm certainly armed now"
Robot: "You're not one of those 3 minute timer types are you?"
Soldier: "No mam, er...you ever watch BSG?"
Robot: "No"
Soldier: "Good, mind if I call you #6?"
Robot: "Anything is fine but 'Rosie'"
Soldier: "Great, care to get out of here *Rosie* ?"
Robot grabbing soldier's PED (Personal "Explosive" Device): "Time to cut the wire funny boy"
Soldier: "No...a 3G Terminator unit.....NO!!!!!"
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
...with an automatic drip.
The article is interesting, but I don't think it's particularly novel. Consider the way some guys treat their cars. Add in the psychological effect of the battlefield and some degree of attachment is not surprising. Plus, we've long had a tendency to personalize our creations. From naming ships to creating flashy avatars like "Clippy" that wonderful Word assistant that everyone wants to twist into a pretzel and toss into a furnace.
I've also read that some police officers in K-9 units take counseling when their dog dies in the line of duty, because they worked so closely together. The bond between dogs and humans is much more obvious, but I think related.
"It is a machine you depend on. It is comforting to think that it some how cares for you and will try to do all that it can to keep you safe."
[LWATCDR's computer]
I'm sorry LWATCDR, I don't love you anymore. I want a divorce, and I'm taking the DVDs with me.
...with the Exocomps.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
...the emotional bonds of love and hate formed between generator mechanics and their boxy buddies.
"Dammit A54! Why did you have to shut down again? Wait... there's coolant... everywhere... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"I'm sorry son, but A54 is... beyond economical repair. We'll have to send it back to depot for major repairs."
"Why! Oh god why!"
And of course the less dramatic but far more common:
WARNING: LOTS OF OBSCENITY
"Fuck! You son of a bitch piece of shit! You monkeyfucking mothersucking dicklicking gorram crappy whorebitchfuckfuckfuck! Why won't you fucking work? Where the fucking fuck is the shit-eating fault? Oh sure, you bitch, you'll start up and make it seem like everything is all fucking wonderful, but as soon as you get up to operational RPM your goatfucking dickcheese devil-kissed overpressure relay kicks on and you shut down! Why!"
Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
So you're willing to anthropomorphise a cat, a robot or a video game character. Thing is, it's not just a human trait.
When your dog accepts you as the pack leader, for example, he's doing the same: he's willing to consider you a big dog. You probably can't call it "anthropomorphising", since the "anthropos" part is the wrong one, but it's essentially the same act: they're willing to personify you as a member of his species.
Cats do the same, to various extents and with various effects. E.g., being animals that tend to learn from other cats, personifying humans as cats gets them to try to immitate some human stuff. E.g., when I was a child, grandma's cat tried bringing me mice just like she brought for her kittens. E.g., we even had a female cat which, when she first went in heat, seemed to want to have sex with dad. Eventually she had to settle for a tomcat from the neighbourhood, though.
Or both are perfectly capable of personifying a toy and playing with it like with another member of their species.
The same goes for a lot of other animals, including birds.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
*gasp!* Linguo! Dead?
Linguo....IS....deeeaaaaad...
Kick in the Head
No disassemble!
Ok, I just had a great idea that I don't have time to follow up on. So I'll offer it here for anyone who wants to to run with, with my blessing.
From today:
300 PackBot Tactical Mobile Robots deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to open doors in urban combat, lay fiber-optic cable, defuse bombs and perform other hazardous duties previously done by humans alone.
From day before yesterday:
A recent post on the CERIAS weblogs examines the risks associated with reporting vulnerabilities. In the end, he advises that the risks (in one situation, at least) were almost not worth the trouble, and gives advice on how to stay out of trouble. Is it worth it to report vulnerabilities despite the risks, or is the chilling effect demonstrated here too much?
and:
The NY Times is reporting on a statement from US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declaring that journalists may be prosecuted by the federal government for publishing classified information. On the 1st amendment ramifications: "'But it can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity,' he said. 'And so those two principles have to be accommodated.'" So our 1st amendment rights don't trump the right of the federal government to violate them?
See where I'm going with this? Somebody needs to develop are robot that can tell the truth even when powerful people want the truth kept secret. I can think of a ton of uses for it already.
--MarkusQ
No disassemble, no disassemble! Sorry, I couldn't resist that.
Especially the hot Cylon part. Yay sin!
Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
Dear Dave,
As an American, I want to personally thank YOU for your service to this country.
To all the responders asking "how can this be" -Anthropomorphism.
People act that way towards their cars, too. At least, the dumber (jock type;) ones do.
It was made by the lowest bidder.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
Hm... the link in summary points to msnbc.msn.com site... I wonder, does it really need to be CC'ed? I would think that msnbc has should be more then capable to withstand /.ing?
What company? Reuters?
I know we can't expect the editors to edit but could people please pay attention when they submit a story, since we all know that the editors are asshats?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
What the hell does the Navy need with ground robots?
"I don't need drugs to enjoy this, just to enhance it" - Otto
Must get pretty lonely in the desert wastes.
Kind of explains Abu Ghraib.
I bet they bond even more with the robots that fail to defuse the bomb.
Is No one else reminded of 'Appliantology'?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe's_Garage
I was in OIF I and OIF III. I can tell you while I didn't have a robot at any point you do develop these odd co-dependant relationships with certain items, more-so with the clunky ones for certain reasons. In OIF I it was our truck, named "Jihad Joe".
The thing about Jihad Joe is it was a piece of crap, but it was our piece of crap retarded truck. We had to constantly work on it, we modified the hell out of it due to lack of parts and our special needs - spider webbing harnesses for storage, ghetto-rigged the cooling system, wired a DC converter to the battery and hooked a laptop into the SINGARS radio so we could do low-baudrate but secure data burst transmissions off of it (via hyper terminal, yes, very ghetto). The truck was constantly on the verge of death, got some bullet holes, took shrapnel, had a van friggin smash into the side of it, and it got a black eye (headlight busted out).
However the truck saved us many times, and always responded well to our on the fly fixes we had to do while we were out in the city. We limped it back home on many occasions, and we lived out of the vehicle sleeping on it or in it for about 4 straight months and off and on during other periods.
We became very attached to this, partially because we had to work on it so often and in so many ways. We had a co-dependant relationship, and we felt both sides recognized this. We wouldn't abandon it or scrap it, and in turn it would not leave us totally screwed, like some of the better vehicles that when they broke there was no getting them started again. Our truck was a member of our team.
So, parallel that with these robots, the things are high maintenance, and anyone who has had to PMCS anything in the military can tell you that. these guys sweat keeping it running, and it in turn serves a specific function which helps keep them safe. They become unit mascots, a member of the team, much more than a piece of equipment. You are around these things all the time for a long period, you screw around with it in the barracks and get it to fetch your lighter for you or pour water on your sleeping roommate. It becomes one of the guys and develops a personality.
In summary, just from personal experience, this is not surprising.
YouStockIt - Education through Unorthodox Methods
I guess i am not the only one here that feels a certain 'bond' to my primary PCs, and i really try to give them somthing useful (routing, fileserving, whatever) to do after i can't use them as my primary workstations anymore. Nonsense, if you think about it, but i still do it.
What i found most interesting about this 'bonding' was to figure out exactly what i was bonding to: if i replace a video-card, some RAM or even the CPU, i still 'feel' as if it's the same machine, even though it obviously isn't. I guess i could change any component, one after the other, and still feel that bond. Thus,, this bonding mechanism (for me, at least), works on a more conceptual level.
Isn't this the same way we bond to other living beings? Like a long-lost friend that might be about 99% different than the last time we saw him, yet still consider him our friend?
So what? My wife had an emotional bond with our '92 Stanza. She almost cried when we gave it up three years ago. Just because these machines are robots doesn't make them more subject to anthropomorphization by their users. Soldiers and airmen have always named their tanks and planes and treated them like family.
Proverbs 21:19
had what some would call "major tolerance issues"... the parts didn't fit together nearly as tight as the M-16, yet you could drop your Ak-47 into a puddle, roll it around in the sand a little bit, wipe the dirt off with your sleeve real quick, and go back to shooting. Sometimes making things fit "perfectly" doesn't work out "perfectly"
I wish I could quit you C3PO ... I wish I could quit you!
Kinda sad that after three year since "Mission Accomplished" it is still an environment that they need robots.
Have you asked what emotional bonds the Kurds formed with the guys who gassed them?
--- This
Dave: Hal, could you...?
HAL: Don't ask, don't tell Dave.
HitScan
And yes, we did name them.... The big one was Johnny 5, the little one was Johnny 2 1/2.
Wrong analogy. I was talking of pro-American Iraqis in my post. Talking about guerilla Iraqis would be off-topic. Topic is forming emotional bonds on one side of the fireline.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
The only peice of technological hardware that is advance as the US Of A's tech is that little Droid. It is not surprising to see the soldiers bond to it because it reminds tham of home. But in the interest of saving their lives I suggest the military remind the folks to mind thier surroundings. They are not at Home and the natives do not like us.
It is nice to have a Friend save your life but the true friends are the folks at iRobot who made these little wonder machines. So Soldiers take heed drop them a line everytime your life was saved by one of thier toys.
TSS
no, he wishes that a robot had been available to disable the bomb or mine that blew off a his leg and/or arm while he was performing a job so you could make idiotic comments on the internet. the world never has been a safe place and never will be, so put down the joint and face reality.
"Does that dummy have a brother?"
The only thing that'll bond a soldier to a robot is superglue. Someone's watched Star Wars one too many times. It's a machine. If you put the robot in a larger context, we do develop emotional attachments to cars and boats. And we tend to anthropomorphize things like that. There are times when you bang your head on a car trunk lid that you'd wish it could feel pain and you wish you could knock the crap out of it.
Calling it a bond is the wrong word. A toaster cannot tell you it loves you. Well unless someone installs a chip that has a pre-recorded voice with a tiny speaker and it goes off when the toast pops. I like my car and I take care of it. I do not feel affection for it and if it were to be totalled I'd be upset. We also develop a love-hate attitude towards Windows which is a piece of software. Some people love the MacOS, some people even love computer languages (Perl, Python, PHP).
The soldiers may develop a strong attachment to a device that can save their life and lives of others, but it's not a bond because the robot can't return the emtion.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
As a civilian (and a reader of history), let me say, whaaaaat? The only thing that stops our armies invading any resource-rich country they desire is the marine deaths. Ask any American, the death toll in Iraq is around about 3,000. They don't even consider the lives of the "enemy", or the civilians caught in the crossfire. Once that 3,000 figure was met, the opinion "back home" changed dramatically. Add one more zero to that, and you get the certified, double-checked list of civilian casualties. A number I've NEVER seen mentioned on TV news.
Wow! Social-Political overload. I can tell you read a lot of history; your evidence is so overwhelming and compeling. Heck..you should have a job with the NSA. I cant imagine why you arent president. Enlighten all of us; why would the "Marines Deaths" prevent "our Armies" from "invading resource rich countries?" As if the death of a fellow Marine or soldier really means something to you. To you its a number that you can use to make a point; to those who have served (including myself having spent 2 years in Iraq) they are what we refer to as friends...say it with me now...F-R-I-E-N-D-S...friends, yay you got it.
Do you honestly think these robots are going to make the world a safer place? You are talking about a future where our leaders can wage war without any repercussions? No fallout once the flag-draped coffins start getting fed-exed home? Surely as a veteran you realise that this cannot be good?
Do you honestly think the point of the robot is to make the WHOLE WORLD a safer place? Think smaller; think making the American soldier a safer person. Oh, "flag-draped coffins" dont come in Fed-X we use DHL now. That is the dumbest remark I have ever heard. They are fly in on military planes escorted by the military. Uhm...turn the page history reader. The book is better when you get past the cover
9-11 was a direct result of our meddling in the middle east. Now we have robots to do our dirty work, do you think that's going to improve the situation? Is it going to "win hearts & minds", "shock and awe" or just downright, extreme, suicidal hatred? Your children can answer that for you...
9-11 was not America's fault but thanks for that once again biased history lesson. Robots are not going to improve anything. That is not the point of the robots we use. The military uses them to take safty precautions so a life can be spared should the bomb go off. Would it be better if there were no robots so that you could add to that 3000 you so diligantly keep track of? God forbid we call these numbers people, worse American soldiers. So save the history lesson Aristotle; and spare us your blind, bias, judgemental and otherwise pointless view of the war in Iraq.
This is my axe Betsy! She's been with me for fourty years! Had three new handles an' two new heads, but she's never let me down!
This sort of thing has been going on since ther were People!
Fry: Wait you're the only friend I have...
Bender: You really want a robot for a friend?
Fry: Yeah ever since I was six.
Bender: Well, ok but I don't want people thinking we're robosexuals, so if anyone asks, you're my debugger.
Personally, I'd really like one of these:
r iday-the-orgasmatron-from-sleeper/
http://www.engadget.com/2004/11/19/movie-gadget-f
I dream in binary.
The only thing that stops our armies invading any resource-rich country they desire is the marine deaths.
If South Korea were attacked by North Korea, and the US intervened, would America's use of mine-clearing robots be a good thing, or a bad thing? Whether you're talking about a "just" war or an "unjust" war, the soldier or marine on the ground just wants to stay alive. If robots can help him stay alive, that's a good thing - just like body armor, kevlar helmets, better military medicine, and so on.
If history has shown us anything, it is that humans will kill each other. The machinegun was going to end all wars. Dynamite was going to end all wars. The atom bomb was going to end all wars. Something tells me mine-clearing robots isn't going to make much of a difference one way or another in the grand calculation about whether we go to war or not. It will, however, make a whole lot of difference to the guys on the ground.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Would whoever modded the parent post "redundant" please point to the preceding post which it is a duplicate of? Nothing in the article, and no preceding posts made the point this one did.
Modding something "redundant" just because you don't like it is abuse of the system. Moderating it "redundant" because you do like it is stupid. The only reason to tag something redundant is when it's redundant which this post, regardless of its merits, wasn't.
And I know I do it all the time with programs. Who *hasn't* said "Come on baby, work with me here, no NPE no NPE no NPE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I HATE YOU!"
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
I guess it's natural to miss something that risk its life every day so you can come back home in one piece. If it blows off, you'll always know it could have been you.
So if you ever have a conversation with a paramedic, ask them about bike accidents they've responded to. Ask them what the motorcyclist keeps saying over and over again. The guy will have bone sticking out of his leg, and all he'll say is, "Dude! Is my bike okay?"
Seasoned EMTs have a canned response: "Couple of dings, paint's scratched, but she'll be fine." Once you get that thought of the rider's head you can get around to the "oriented times three" questions.
This is not my sandwich.
My Roomba Discovery has trouble even with my (small and light kitchen and dining room) rugs WITH tassles. It sometimes sucks up the edges as it crawls over. And it has trouble with my rug with tassles. So I remove all three rugs before using it, which is a pain because 2 of them are under furniture. Cords can be a problem too. But I still find it easier than using my "real" vacuum, though it doesn't do quite as good of a job. I spread cumin seeds on my hardwood floors before the last time I used it, and it picked up maybe 90% of them. Overall, I like it. But it is no miracle robot. I hope the mine detecting robots are better.
...breasts
Table-ized A.I.
The character Col. Jessep from A Few Good Men said it best...
"Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."
Are you my Daddy? Where's my Daddy! I want my Daddy!
A good study of the development of the M-16 and the problems that arose is in the following book:
'The American Army and the M-16 rifle' In The social shaping of technology.
MacKenzie, D and Wajcman, J (eds.) Milton Keynes: Open University Press
Lucy Liu Robot: You're one sexy man [mechanical voice] Philip J. Fry!
The biggest trick the devil pulled was letting lawyers become politicians so they can write the laws.
"Guarded"? Is this by the Department of Defence? And if I recall correctly, that film was partly set in Cuba, a country that has never attacked the USA, yet has been attacked by you on several occasions for purely idealogical reasons. Iraq has never attacked America. The Talliban has never attacked America, in fact they were allies & business partners until very recently. Their faux-pa was to demand evidence before handing over a suspect. We have supported and continue to support far more represive regimes than them.
I understand the point you are making, but when you are usually the agressor the rhetoric is a little paper-thin.
Sounds like Apple fans, getting emotionally attached and over excited by a piece of technology.
Your point boils down to this: "Ok peacenik, if we get rid of the military, then who is gonna defend you when the invaders come?"
The flaw with this argument? The military ARE the invaders, no matter what side they are on. The military, and invaders, and terrorists and other violent criminals across the world are all in the same class of people, and pacifists want to see this entire class converted to peaceful peoples, not just in their own country, but across the world. Of course getting rid of the military and its negative trappings in only your country would be a suicidal move. Now eliminating this class of people across the world would result in no more invaders, and therefore no need to defend the walls, or even have walls for that matter.
Is this realistic? Definitely not in the short term, probably not even in the next century. This is because you can't just get rid of violence. With the current mindset the violent class has, they will take advantage of anyone else putting down their weapons. You would have to change the culture and the way people look at the world to a more brotherly, helpful, empathetic view, instead of a competitive, hierarchical, selfish view. In fact, as a realist, I believe we will likely annihilate ourselves before ever achieving world peace. Anyway, my point is that you don't understand where the pacifist is coming from.
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
To dispose of IEDs on a budget you simply need a RC toy Battlebot and a 1/4 Lb of C-4 with a remote detonater. Send it out for a single mission cost of less than $100.
Reference: Tremors 2 & Dead Pool.
Science is the Real TRUTH!
The human race is by its very nature violent. We would not have survived to become the dominant species on this planet if this were not so. The natural order of things among the other species on this planet is competitive, heirarchical, and selfish. There will always be people in this world who resort to violence as the final and ultimate court of appeal and thus there will always be a need for protection from that violence. Indeed, the entire order of our civilization, the polite and lawful society, is built upon that intrinsic threat of violence, up to and including deadly force. I understand where the pacifist is coming from and most people would agree that their goals are noble and worthy. However, we disagree on the means to best achieve those goals. If you want peace then prepare for war.
How about my suggestion?
This is my robot, this is my gun!
... without me my robot is nothing ...
... )
This is for defusing bombs, this is for fun!
Without my robot I am nothing
(adapted from Full Metal Jacket