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There's a funny Asimov short story about improving technology for guided missiles. The solution: put a pilot in each guided missle. The entire story is tongue-i
by SavantIdiot 6y ago
There's a funny Asimov short story about improving technology for guided missiles. The solution: put a pilot in each guided missle. The entire story is tongue-in-cheek, but characterizes the ebb and flow between ethics and military technology.
- owyn 6y agoBack in WW2 the US worked on pigeon guided bombs but it never got very far. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon
- beaconstudios 6y agoAnd the Japanese had torpedoes with actual pilots https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiten https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiten
- holbue 6y agoI didn't know about the story yet, but the reality was already very close to that terrible scenario: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachem_Ba_349 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachem_Ba_349 (One of the launch sites is quite close to where I live)
- ceejayoz 6y agoThat looks like the pilot was intended to survive. A better comparison would be the Japanese approach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze
- evgen 6y agoMore specifically, the Ohka: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY-7_Ohka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_MXY-7_Ohka
- vijayr02 6y agoIf people are interested, the story is “The Feeling of Power” [0]. I remember reading this as a child and feeling a profound feeling of sadness. Now I tell myself I’m older and more cynical, but being reminded of it brought a rush of those feelings back... human memory is a strange thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feeling_of_Power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Feeling_of_Power