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Stiegler (the German pilot) was exactly one shot down enemy machine away from getting the Knight's Cross. So that machine would have been easy prey - maybe too

Stiegler (the German pilot) was exactly one shot down enemy machine away from getting the Knight's Cross. So that machine would have been easy prey - maybe too easy for his sense of honor? I think it's interesting that he justified his action with his commander telling his men that shooting enemy pilots that have parachuted out of their machines is dishonorable, and that he essentially saw the almost defenseless machine with most of the crew killed in a comparable position. There's a sense that technological abstraction makes warfare more evil, because people don't see each other anymore, and killing becomes even more abstract. That's even noticeable in non-war situations like car traffic, where people can become pretty aggressive behind the glass windows of their metal boxes. Even more obvious with drone strikes from a safe place halfway around the world. But for some reason those early days of airfight (probably more so in WW1 and less in WW2 though) convey this notion of "chivalry", which is somewhat counter-intuitive. Maybe the common shared experience of having to deal with these complicated flying machines created this kind of respect for the other side?

pandaman 10y ago
The term "chivalry" originates from medieval knights, who had been operators of devastating war machines of the time. And sure, they were warmongers, sexist, oppressors of working class etc. etc. but there is historical record of honorable behavior. I don't see anything counterintuitive in modern operators of devastating war machines behaving in similar way. Not every warrior is a murderous psychopath. In fact, I have never seen one so they are probably quite rare. While an infantryman, for example, could go through wars for years without ever killing anybody, a pilot is likely to be killing people regularly, just like knights of the past. I imagine the chivalry is the way to cope with killing. People in traffic don't need to develop it because they are not really killing each other (except for rare road rage incidents). On the other hand, samurais, the warrior caste in Japan developed similar behavior, bushido. Likewise, Vedic tradition also speaks of strict warrior code for khatriya, Indian warrior caste.
- elcapitan 10y ago
  > sure, they were warmongers, sexist Lol. No real bad guy without that feature these days, right.

pandaman 10y ago

The term "chivalry" originates from medieval knights, who had been operators of devastating war machines of the time. And sure, they were warmongers, sexist, oppressors of working class etc. etc. but there is historical record of honorable behavior. I don't see anything counterintuitive in modern operators of devastating war machines behaving in similar way. Not every warrior is a murderous psychopath. In fact, I have never seen one so they are probably quite rare. While an infantryman, for example, could go through wars for years without ever killing anybody, a pilot is likely to be killing people regularly, just like knights of the past. I imagine the chivalry is the way to cope with killing. People in traffic don't need to develop it because they are not really killing each other (except for rare road rage incidents). On the other hand, samurais, the warrior caste in Japan developed similar behavior, bushido. Likewise, Vedic tradition also speaks of strict warrior code for khatriya, Indian warrior caste.

elcapitan 10y ago
> sure, they were warmongers, sexist Lol. No real bad guy without that feature these days, right.