Gunshots by Computer

reply to post by Hedera Helix


You might be on to something there, the stakes are that high, that perhaps this particular brand of PTSD, is in actual fact a whole new form of performance anxiety which is disguising itself as the former.

I would suspect that in several years this particular brand of 'PTSD' will be classified in it's own right in the mental health textbook.

reply to post by Big Raging Loner

It is the detachment that is the real problem here. If you are not willing to get yourself dirty, doing the dirty work, then maybe the war isn't worth it in the first place.

And it's that statement there that disregards the entire history of warfare. It's always been about detaching one's self from the humanity of the enemy be it from when the caveman threw a rock instead of using his club to when the rifle was first fired and the sword became obsolete. War is about finding the easy way out by killing the enemy without having to actually know their suffering.

It's conditioning of ourselves to think that battle is for the glory but one has to strive to obtain it. What we're seeing right here is the natural progression of warfare mentality and regardless of whether one thinks it right or not it's going to happen.

As for recent incidents where the drones have preformed less than satisfactory is again yet another but in the progression of warfare. All technologies run along the same line as airplanes and the machine gun of seen as "novelties" and not viable war weaponry when they were first debuted.

It would be wonderful to see this technology used to condition the children of today to use their skills into positive means in the civilian world and it will happen, but it's going to be primarily for warfare first.

Check out Peruvianmonk's thread on the latest Wikileaks release. Gives an insight into the true nature of military operations in Afghanistan.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Some great info and a good dicussion taking place!

reply to post by mistafaz


That's the way it is technology is developed for a nation's military primarily then few years down the line it is released to the average Joes.

I think you are over simplifying the detachment that has occured through past instances of warfare though. What we are seeing now is it becoming like a computer game, and I believe these operators should be fully educated in the consequences of their actions.

Although I suspect they are not, as they would be more effective if they had a certain degree of emotional distance, this would make them more ruthless. They would make better informed tactical decisions if they were fully educated in the possible outcomes of their actions, in particullar civilian lives could be saved.