3 ms·

What have formed your opinion? Do you have any evidence?

peteradio 6y ago
It's a conspiracy theory so obviously evidence would be nigh impossible to present. Doesn't mean he or she is wrong though. Doesn't it seem somewhat realistic that some technological advances would be kept secret? There is shitloads of less valuable information that is kept secret (only to be discovered later) so it stands to reason that if an extremely valuable advancement was discovered then it might be concealed.
- colechristensen 6y ago
  I don't know how a basic understanding of how military technology is developed fits into "conspiracy theory". I'm not projecting that a sinister cabal of technologists are hiding some great truth, just that the department of defense and defense contractors are obviously developing this technology and that new military tech is usually highly classified. There's no great mystery there.
  - SiempreViernes 6y ago
    Indeed there is no mystery: the article even mentions that the bulk of the effort at NIF is for testing nuclear weapons. Same as it ever was.
  - peteradio 6y ago
    I'm not suggesting a sinister cabal, I'm suggesting there is a literal conspiracy, a group coordinating in secret. And that group is the government. And the secret would be that highly classified information. In my mind we are seeing things the same, but I can see how the words I put to it might give a different impression. I really don't like the current "conspiracy theory" understanding in modern usage. It completely screws over the literal usage of those two words together. If you wish to, please reread my comment without the common connotation of "conspiracy theory" and see if we then agree.
colechristensen 6y ago
Lockheed Martin is openly working on shipping container-sized fusion reactors, it does not take a stretch of the imagination to think that the results of such a program would be kept classified quite a while after success. It would likewise not be surprising if there were other prime contractors working on the same technology. https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/compact-fusion.html https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/compact-fusion.htm...
- SiempreViernes 6y ago
  Making a net energy producing fusion reactor container sized is a feat, making your first prototype container sized is just starting out. The first tokamak had a radius of 0.7m, so could easily fit inside a standard shipping container.
- DickingAround 6y ago
  I don't think they have the ability to keep a secret like that. A couple reasons: 1. The act of keeping the secret makes the tech useless. If it's not incorporated into equipment that could use it (e.g. a naval vessel, an isolated firebase) then what good is it? And if it is incorporated and there's a bunch of 20 year old techs working on it, it's going to leak. 2. I don't think they're that bad of people. If they could save us from global warming with fusion tech, not doing so would be a great tragedy. And historically at least the US military just isn't that selfish. For example, they opened up GPS even when they didn't have to. I think they get that a richer/stronger public means a richer/stronger military.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
  No, they wouldn't be issuing press releases if this was a black program. You're also not just taking Lockhead's claims at face value, which themselves have not be established with evidence, and going further to imagine that they're lying/slow playing their claims and actually are even further ahead. None of this is motivated by evidence.

It's a conspiracy theory so obviously evidence would be nigh impossible to present. Doesn't mean he or she is wrong though. Doesn't it seem somewhat realistic that some technological advances would be kept secret? There is shitloads of less valuable information that is kept secret (only to be discovered later) so it stands to reason that if an extremely valuable advancement was discovered then it might be concealed.

colechristensen 6y ago
I don't know how a basic understanding of how military technology is developed fits into "conspiracy theory". I'm not projecting that a sinister cabal of technologists are hiding some great truth, just that the department of defense and defense contractors are obviously developing this technology and that new military tech is usually highly classified. There's no great mystery there.
- SiempreViernes 6y ago
  Indeed there is no mystery: the article even mentions that the bulk of the effort at NIF is for testing nuclear weapons. Same as it ever was.
- peteradio 6y ago
  I'm not suggesting a sinister cabal, I'm suggesting there is a literal conspiracy, a group coordinating in secret. And that group is the government. And the secret would be that highly classified information. In my mind we are seeing things the same, but I can see how the words I put to it might give a different impression. I really don't like the current "conspiracy theory" understanding in modern usage. It completely screws over the literal usage of those two words together. If you wish to, please reread my comment without the common connotation of "conspiracy theory" and see if we then agree.

colechristensen 6y ago

Lockheed Martin is openly working on shipping container-sized fusion reactors, it does not take a stretch of the imagination to think that the results of such a program would be kept classified quite a while after success. It would likewise not be surprising if there were other prime contractors working on the same technology. https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/compact-fusion.html https://lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/compact-fusion.htm...

SiempreViernes 6y ago
Making a net energy producing fusion reactor container sized is a feat, making your first prototype container sized is just starting out. The first tokamak had a radius of 0.7m, so could easily fit inside a standard shipping container.
DickingAround 6y ago
I don't think they have the ability to keep a secret like that. A couple reasons: 1. The act of keeping the secret makes the tech useless. If it's not incorporated into equipment that could use it (e.g. a naval vessel, an isolated firebase) then what good is it? And if it is incorporated and there's a bunch of 20 year old techs working on it, it's going to leak. 2. I don't think they're that bad of people. If they could save us from global warming with fusion tech, not doing so would be a great tragedy. And historically at least the US military just isn't that selfish. For example, they opened up GPS even when they didn't have to. I think they get that a richer/stronger public means a richer/stronger military.
jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
No, they wouldn't be issuing press releases if this was a black program. You're also not just taking Lockhead's claims at face value, which themselves have not be established with evidence, and going further to imagine that they're lying/slow playing their claims and actually are even further ahead. None of this is motivated by evidence.