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Researcher Warns That Military Must Prepare For "Mutant" Future
Researcher Patrick Lin says that with the development of a wide range of technologies including: drugs, special nutrition, gene therapy and robotic implants, the military needs to plan for a future where soldiers have "mutant powers.” From the article: "If we don’t, we could find ourselves in big trouble down the road. Among the nightmare scenarios: Botched enhancements could harm the very soldiers they’re meant to help and spawn pricey lawsuits. Tweaked troopers could run afoul of international law, potentially sparking a diplomatic crisis every time the U.S. deploys troops overseas. And poorly planned enhancements could provoke disproportionate responses by America’s enemies, resulting in a potentially devastating arms race (PDF)."
Why is it we can't get mutants out of our own labs but our enemies are going to be able to do this just like that?
I want my mutants!
Calling this "mutant powers" is trivializing this entire issue. It makes light of the fact that millions of people are using stimulants and nootropics that lie in a legal gray area pertaining to employment and schoolwork. Calling this "mutant powers" is the most inappropriate thing you could do.
Kind of not really
The speed thing is for aircraft pilots "as necessary" only. Never heard of your average grunt getting stimulants beyond coffee and retail energy drinks (monster, red bull, etc)
The suppressant is a joke that went out of style around the time of coed army units, I'm guessing 70s / post vietnam era. Other than wedding cake, no scientifically proven substance like that exists, and you don't want to know the details but rest assured there was absolutely no suppression of that type going on in the 90s, not the recruits, not the drill instructors, not in the regular units, absolutely not. Anyone claiming that obviously was at the wrong bases in the 90s.
You can get kicked out by failing PT, and I knew guys during the drawdown in the 90s who got kicked out (if they need warm bodies, there's a lot of "look the other way", but if they need to kick 2 guys out for every slot due to the drawdown, well, things get a little more strict). What I'd like to know is the obvious solution to failing PT seems to be roids plus a little exercise, so does .mil test for roids in addition to the random drug tests (and note that I was in .mil in the 90s and never got random tested, I wonder if its as rare now or more common or ?)
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Not sure I understand. Isn't this what philosophers are supposed to do?
Sure, except we haven't un-invented nuclear weapons, which remain kind of a trump over things like teenage mutant ninja soldiers since few mutations prevent you from being vaporized if sufficient joules are radiated into your mutant molecules.
So my treaty would be not so much ironclad (little naval joke there) as uranium-clad, involving capital cities becoming smoking holes, etc.
Already kind of here, really, The journalist I cited, Gwynne Dyer, as also passed along the joke told by military planners world-wide: "Q: What are the implications of nuclear Pakistan falling to radical jihadist revolutionaries? A: Traffic jam in the skies over Islamabad as five nuclear powers race to begin the bombing."
The US military has been shaped by paranoia about a preemptive strike ever since Pearl Harbor. They don't want to be caught a decade behind and short on forces ever again, especially just to salve the conscience of some whiny hippies.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
I call this bullshit. If you drink two gallons of water, chances are that your electrolytes go awry. You might even die. Second, no mtter how much water you hold, you can only pee so much. Also, hint: average urine density (should be between 1010 and 1025). Lower than 1010, you're a suspect because it means you drink too much water for some reason, so a blood test is requested.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
We are not responsible for other country's disproportionate responses to our defensive capabilities.
Offensive capabilities.. Other countries are not going to be offended by you defending yourself, they will be offended by you attacking others.
The difference being Eisenhower knew what he was doing. His restraint with regard to DoD policies/procurement etc. were based on a lifetime of deep knowledge and experience. This is quite a different thing from somebody who has an ideological position against the military who has no idea what it needs and what it doesn't, but they're sure they need less of it, you know, because... reasons.
I would love it if somebody with Eisenhower's abilities were in charge again and could intelligently make the armed forces leaner without gutting them. DoD could really use that.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
http://www.pdfernhout.net/recognizing-irony-is-a-key-to-transcending-militarism.html ... There is a fundamental mismatch between 21st century reality and 20th century security thinking. Those "security" agencies are using those tools of abundance, cooperation, and sharing mainly from a mindset of scarcity, competition, and secrecy. Given the power of 21st century technology as an amplifier (including as weapons of mass destruction), a scarcity-based approach to using such technology ultimately is just making us all insecure. Such powerful technologies of abundance, designed, organized, and used from a mindset of scarcity could well ironically doom us all whether through military robots, nukes, plagues, propaganda, or whatever else... Or alternatively, as Bucky Fuller and others have suggested, we could use such technologies to build a world that is abundant and secure for all. "
"Biological weapons like genetically-engineered plagues are ironic because they are about using advanced life-altering biotechnology to fight over which old-fashioned humans get to occupy the planet. Why not just use advanced biotech to let people pick their skin color, or to create living arkologies and agricultural abundance for everyone everywhere?
So, what we need is the right sort of mutants...
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Oh, we were fed the same line when I was in the US Army. Snopes says 'no', and to be honest I think any suppression was due to exhaustion from four hours of sleep and twenty hour training days.
Prepare for sci-fi grade stuff the ennemy may prepare? This remind me of The Men Who Stare at Goats.