<br>Ah, that brings me back.� It was the Grand Challenge that first forced me to take a stand on DARPA, since I could have taken a leadership role in building up the vehicle platform for Stanley, the winning car, while I worked at Volkswagen.� I declined and accepted a setback to my career instead.� I got into a similar debate on dorkbotsf-blabber in February 2006, url here if you are on that list:<br>
<br><a href="http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/private/dorkbotsf-blabber/2006-February/thread.html">http://music.columbia.edu/mailman/private/dorkbotsf-blabber/2006-February/thread.html</a><br><br>I don't think my decision process at the time adds a lot more to the discussion, it was probably more emotional then- I couldn't march down Market Street against the wars on Saturday, and carry DARPA's water on Monday morning.� But I can't help but take the stroll down memory lane, and note with resignation that we've come no closer to resolving this debate in the last 6-7 years.� I'm happy that we're at least having a good discussion about it now.<br>
<br>That dorkbot thread did remind me of the Institute for Applied Autonomy, who started addressing these issues through interventionist art in 1998.� Although it is not overtly political, orb swarm was partially inspired by their technique of adapting military robotic technology for grass roots artistic purposes-<br>
<br><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9RiS5OEBsQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9RiS5OEBsQ</a><br><br>and here's their position paper-<br><br><a href="http://www.appliedautonomy.com/essays/EngagingAmbivalence.pdf">http://www.appliedautonomy.com/essays/EngagingAmbivalence.pdf</a><br>
<br>I'd like to think otherwise, but I won't be surprised if we rehash the same debate in 2018.� Corey, maybe your son can chime in then.<br><br>-Mike<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Corey McGuire <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:coreyfro@coreyfro.com">coreyfro@coreyfro.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Milo, my three year old, and I, watched a special about the DARPA grand challenge. �Apart from the buzz word "DARPA", there was not a single mote of military�propaganda�about it. �There was simple idle mention of military, but that was it.<div>
<br></div><div>What did my 3 year old get from the video, "TERRAMAX!" the name of one of the robots. �He also has an understanding of the pain and work and excitement and the energy and the fun that people experience when working on hard projects...<br>
<br>...and in a world where shit is bought at the store, I think that knowledge is critical for our kids.�<br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 8:46 AM, Lee Sonko <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lee@lee.org" target="_blank">lee@lee.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="h5"><div>The age and maturity level of the students being presented with the DARPA message is important to me.�Is it alright to have, for instance, army recruiters at colleges? How about high schools? How about elementary schools?�</div>
<div><br></div><div>At what age is a person mature enough</div><div>* to go to war (rhetorically the answer is "never" but let's go beyond that)</div><div>* play war games (cowboys and indians, Americas Army First Person Shooter)</div>
<div>* make war machines (case in point)</div><div><br></div><div>The Army currently recruits in high schools (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Board_of_Education#JROTC" target="_blank">except for San Francisco</a>, if I recall correctly). But certainly not in elementary schools.</div>
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<br></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div class="im"><div><br></div>-- <br>Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein" title="Albert Einstein" target="_blank">Albert Einstein</a><br>
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Da_Vinci" title="Leonardo Da Vinci" target="_blank">Leonardo Da Vinci</a><br>
Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry" title="Antoine de Saint Exup�ry" target="_blank">Antoine de Saint Exup�ry</a><br>
Keep It Simple Stupid - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Johnson" title="Clarence Johnson" target="_blank">Kelly Johnson</a><br>
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