The Spoils Of Victory
Iran has announced their intentions to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, saying that "This is the legitimate right of the Iranian people."
I agree, but apparently the U.S. government is concerned. I understand that there are fanatics in Iran. But how long does the U.S. believe it can continue to create and enjoy technological advances, while trying to prevent those advances from getting out to "undesirable" parts of the world? We have failed miserably so far, when using methods of diplomacy. We have failed when trying to isolate countries, or cut their supply lines. The use of force is fraught with political and physical dangers, in addition to moral concerns upon which there is no clear consensus in this or many countries.
What are we to do? When will we learn the fundamental lesson that technology cannot be stopped? When do we try to change the living situation of the people and the source of the anger and desperation?
The Human Knows Fear
Perhaps you saw the thrilling final match between Gary Kasparov and Deep Junior on ESPN2 last week. Kasparov admittedly went into the game with one objective: To not lose. That's right. His stated goal wasn't to WIN, it was to NOT LOSE. He was jeered by the crowd when he offered a draw to Junior on the 23rd move, which Junior refused. When Junior offered it's own draw five moves later, Kasparov could barely contain his excitement, and was nearly booed off the stage. Chess experts were said to be quite surprised by Kasparov's lack of aggression in the final match; most expressed the same thought that I had, which was shame for our species.
On the other hand, C3PO, HAL, a Sony PS2, an old Apple IIc, and Data from Next Generation threw Deep Junior a huge party, got him drunk, and goaded him into some Kasparov impersonations that were in quite poor taste.
11:39:52 AM 
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