War has changed by leaps and bounds in the past decade due to the introduction of truly inexpensive robotics technology. War no longer requires sending a human soldier into a hostile battlefield. Robots that cost only a few thousand dollars are now able to engage enemies either with assistance from a human remote operator or even completely autonomously. If a machine were to be destroyed during a mission there are few repercussions for the force that owned the machine, other than the need to order a replacement. This contrasts greatly to wartimes in the past where casualties resulted in funerals and grieving families. As the use of mechanized soldiers increases, humans will no longer be required on the front line, causing the removal of all moral judgment from military actions.
The force with the best machines has Read more…
College
essay, Robots, war
Even a hundred years after this story was written, mankind (as a whole) still does not have a healthy respect for nature. We have created immensely powerful machines that can literally change the face of the earth, but at the same time we are still dependent on the very planet we are pillaging in order to stay alive. Our polluting of the planet is comparable to the man’s disregard for the cold weather. We ignore warning signs, similar to his spit turning to ice in the air, and proceed onward in our path of self-destruction until nature forces us to stop. Jack London was attempting to warn humanity about being so secure in our knowledge that we disregard all warnings and charge forward with our god-like powers, only to destroy ourselves in the process.
Read more…
College
College, English, essay
In the not-so-distant future dwindling crude oil production capability will cause economic devastation on a large scale. This is not what I personally believe will happen, but what could be considered a worse case scenario. Peak Oil is a theory that was introduced in 1956 by Marion King Hubbert that is used to accurately predict the rate of oil extraction of a single oil well, oil field, region, country, and most recently applied to the entire world. Peak Oil is defined as the idea that the rate of oil extraction from a well follows a bell curve, starting off slow when the well is first discovered, rising exponentially as more equipment is used to extract the oil, reaching a peak, and then equally as quickly declining in output due to the increased difficulties of lower pressure, lower quality of oil, and other such issues. This is a proven concept on the individual oil well, field, region, and nation oil production level.
For the purpose of this essay it is assumed that the theory of peak oil applies to global production rates as well. It is a common misconception that reaching peak oil means that the world is running out of oil. In reality, that is far from the truth. Peak oil simply means that the maximum production RATE of oil has been reached, and then irreversibly declines from that point on. This would have a disastrous effect on the world.
Read more…
College
essay, peak oil