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In article ,
(ScotFraser) wrote:
Like we did in Hiroshima? Tell me there was a reason, other than
vindictive, hateful, annihilation.
The reason was twofold:
(A) Scientific. It was a safe way to test a technology on a civilian
population
with little ethical restraint because the testers were locked in a desperate
war. The atomic bomb had no strategic military relevance at this point, since
the war's outcome was certain.
(B) Political. The US knew that as soon as the Axis was dispatched it would
be
facing the Soviet Union & the atomic bomb was seen as an important means of
telling the Soviets to back off.
Scott Fraser
Unfortunately, (B) had the opposite effect, much as it is having today. Once a
technology is developed, it's available to anyone who wishes to apply the same
diligent research and development. It's impossible to sequester knowledge. And
a little spying can save an enormous effort by those who follow. [We have some
examples of this in our own industry, don't we?]
It's time to realize that just because we _can_ pursue certain lines of
research, perhaps we shouldn't blindly do so.
-Jay
--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ------x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x
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