<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 Exupéry" target="_blank">Antoine de Saint Exupéry</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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