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It's a fine sentiment. Tor is another good example of innovation ran by the (US) Navy. Which is to be expected, as navies traditionally were big into crypto. T
by dexen 7y ago
It's a fine sentiment. Tor is another good example of innovation ran by the (US) Navy. Which is to be expected, as navies traditionally were big into crypto.
The military has long history of both doing their own research (logistics & management, and cryptography being good examples), running research institutes with civilian employees (as it seems to be in this case), and contracting out R&D to run-of-the-mill civilian institutions (half of the SV on a good day).
It's worth remembering that the military in typical country is set up with certain similarities to free market economy: it negotiates budget with the "customer" (government), it has several major branches that fiercely compete with each other (typically air force, army, navy; US also rolls with marines as a separate branch), and there are vertical & lateral transfers of employees at times. Lastly, there's always the competing militaris abroad ;-)
Heck, one of common view of the Cold War is that of NATO bankrupting the Soviet block via military arms race.
- umvi 7y ago> Tor is another good example of innovation ran by the (US) Navy. But is it ethical to use military-developed innovations?
- Diederich 7y agoThe US Government did not develop Tor, they 'only' funded it. I understand that funding something often effectively imbues a project with whatever mojo the funding org has associated with it. That's certainly not the case here though. Tor's ideals and direction was established and set before said funding, and have remained steadfast since. To the bigger point: > But is it ethical to use military-developed innovations? That's complicated in the real world. Many good, moral things have been created or encouraged by immoral organizations, and vice versa. The US Government has sponsored the development of many different good, useful technologies over the years. The reverse is true as well, though perhaps to a lesser extent.
- dexen 7y agoYes, it is ethical to put military research to the best use we can. Whether logistical systems, trauma medicine, personal weapons, or encryption, all those improve our efficiency, our safety, our leisure, and our privacy. Wars aside, the military is a place where practical problems are encountered daily, and the solutions battle-tested at scale. It's reasonably safety-minded and cost-aware (spicy anecdotes aside). Moreover, it's helps a lot when the research isn't walled off by stringent IP regulations.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- XaoDaoCaoCao 7y agoIs it ethical to be the beneficiary of the military keeping supply chains safe and keeping supply chains open worldwide? In this world your existence is "unethical", in regards to a question like that, unless you want to live on a mountain peak above the messiness of ordinary human moral calculation and compromise.
- yumraj 7y agoYes. You're yourself posting this comment via a medium that was funded by DARPA.
- ryan_j_naughton 7y agoThe end of WW2 saw the Americans and Soviets rushing to take over Germany so we could acquire as much Nazi tech and scientists as possible. Our ICBMs technology was based upon this Nazi technology, and now SpaceX and NASA tech is based upon that as well. While the origins of it are based upon a destructive goal, they have enabled the Mars rovers, Moon landing, Hubble telescope, etc. Technology should be evaluated on its own merits and not its origins.
- pssflops 7y agoAnyone connected to GPS is guilty of such.
- briffle 7y agoThat is pretty hilarious to post on the internet, a DARPA developed innovation..
- antepodius 7y agoWhy does it matter who 'developed' it? The idea always existed in the space of possible ideas. The military-backed researchers just found it first. You're going to deprive yourself of using it just because of who found it? That makes it pretty easy to deprive you of tools, if someone else using them will stop you from doing so.
- Diederich 7y agoAgreed, though with one minor clarification: > Tor is another good example of innovation ran by the (US) Navy. The US Government funded Tor development; Tor was certainly not 'run' by the Navy or any other government department.
- nicoburns 7y ago> It's worth remembering that the military in typical country is set up with certain similarities to free market economy So are other governmental organisations in lot's of cases. Is the military special here?