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Alexander32

War/Science

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Does war advance science?

I think that it does. Although wars are bad because people die, we wouldnt have half the things we have today if we didnt have wars!

Things like computers!

In World War 2 they were building a computer to calculate attacks!

That started the "technology" and well here we are today!

Do you agree and what are your thoughts?

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War isn't always bad, but it is always an ugly thing. However, there is a saying, "Nothing spurs technological advancement like a war". How many people have microwaves? the Microwave Oven is an offshot of Radar, discovered accidentally when a British scientist working on RADAR during the 1940's found that the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted while working on the radar. they put popcorn in front of the Machine and turned it on, and it popped. the Alarm clock is another military invention. alot of new cars these days are getting DPS systems, which were developed for the US Military. as ugly as war is, it HAS been the cause for alot of technological inovations.

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I agree with Captain Jean-Luc Picard with respect to what determines whether or not a war is good or bad!

In my opinion the conflict in Iraq is not a bad thing, sure many people have died but in the long run I honestly do believe that the world will be a better place as a result of what is going on at the moment!

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Does war advance science?

I think that it does. Although wars are bad because people die, we wouldnt have half the things we have today if we didnt have wars!

Things like computers!

In World War 2 they were building a computer to calculate attacks!

That started the "technology" and well here we are today!

Do you agree and what are your thoughts?

it does... WWII with the submarine technology helped map the ocean floor which made possible the theory of plate tectonics

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I'm sure many medical advancements have taken place during war. New intruments new procedures, because of bizarre injuries. Communications had to be perfected.

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I think it is a circular think war spurs scientific development - science makes war more deadly and effective.

 

I have to agree that war is bad in the sense it is an unfortunate event - it may at times be the only option but that doesn't make it "good" - only necessary.

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War is a scourge on the soul of man, no war is good- wars are always the result of economics-some one has something that someone else wants/needs. But war is a industry and it promotes new technology-in fact I would say that killing each other and breeding are the 2 endeavors man excels at. Finding greater/faster/easier ways to kill one-another promotes technological off-shoots, But think of all the destruction and set-backs to our cultural/technological advancement war has caused...there's no telling how far...or how advanced we could be it we could just get along..the Space race brought about more technological advances than WW2 and fewer lives were lost!

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It depends on the scale of the war.

 

If for example, it is some type of massive global conflict in which factories are destroyed and large scale destruction of cities takes place, then technology will probably not advance because all of the means with which to support is will be destroyed. I am talking something along the scale of destruction of Sherman's march to the sea.

 

However, for example World War 2 spurred a number of technological advances. Take for example, penicillin. It had been known to be able to destroy bacteria since 1896. Alexander Fleming had been experimenting with it to cure diseases in patients. However, his group of scientists could not figure out a way in which to produce large amounts of it. The British were fighting the Germans at the time, so they basically sent Fleming's research over to the United States and asked if they could come up with a way to produce large amounts of penicillin. The U.S. guys actually were able to help the British out. Penicillin is something that saves lives even today.

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While it is true that war does advance science, it sets it back also. Take the Dark Ages for example, all people did would kill each other/taking property, and that was all they were concerned about. There are several times where because of war people just lost many technologies, the greeks and the romans are other examples.

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I think what probably happened with the Romans especially, is that there was a dramatic loss of infrastructure during the decline of the Roman Empire. As the amount of infrastructure decreased, the amount of work that they could expend on exploring new ideas decreased as well.

 

I believe that the reason there was such a great economic boost for many countries after World War 2 is because the U.S. and Russia still had so much infrastructure left to incorporate and adapt technologies that had been developed during wartime.

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War is good for advancing science much like the Cold War did for nuclear research.

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In my opinion, even though most breakthroughs happen in wartimes, peace can be far more productive. A lasting peace would enable complete cooperation between the nations as well as the allocation of more resources to scientific research ( for non-military purposes ). As for the ones that say a war can be a good thing, war is never a good thing for everyone involved. U.S.A has never faced occupation after its creation as a nation. Greece on the other hand did numerous times ( Romans, Crusaders, Turks, Germans ). War was good for the victors at the time, but not for the defeated.

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Yeah, I would agree that war spurs more scientific advancements since there is a pressing need for better technology to help win.

 

As for a war being good or bad, yeah it depends on the reason, but all wars that are mankind vs. mankind are bad in my opinion.

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I agree that war does advance science and technology, and I don’t think all war is bad. Sad for those lost in a war (Remembered and Honored on Memorial Day). But, war is as ancient as the beginning of man. War brings changes (sometimes good and sometimes bad), but it does bring changes. Advancement in science and technology have been great achievements due to war. We should just acknowledge that war is inevitable and we should just hope that the outcome will be positive and you can also hope for world peace. In the mean time, enjoy the technological break-though’s.

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