Drones will cause an upheaval of society like we haven’t seen in 700 years

Quartz ^ | March 11, 2014 | Noah Smith

[C19fan]

The human race is on the brink of momentous and dire change. It is a change that potentially smashes our institutions and warps our society beyond recognition. It is also a change to which almost no one is paying attention. I’m talking about the coming obsolescence of the gun-wielding human infantryman as a weapon of war. Or to put it another way: the end of the Age of the Gun.

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The human race is on the brink of momentous and dire change. It is a change that potentially smashes our institutions and warps our society beyond recognition. It is also a change to which almost no one is paying attention. I’m talking about the coming obsolescence of the gun-wielding human infantryman as a weapon of war. Or to put it another way: the end of the Age of the Gun.

[RoosterRedux]

What then?

Adios, cruel world!

[Chickensoup]

Fahrenheit 451 comes to mind.....

Actually I think more of DUNE.

[Enterprise]

I won’t post specific targets, but drones have the potential to take us more to your illustration than the opposite.

[kearnyirish2]

The technology really shines when we fight a “total war” (as we did in WWII); it has a long way to go before it can differentiate between enemies and friendlies living within the same building in wars without “front lines”.

[Black Agnes]

Yeah. I’ve thought about the prequel to the Dune series. Where digital tech attempted to take over and was subsequently made illegal.

[cuban leaf]

it has a long way to go before it can differentiate between enemies and friendlies living within the same building in wars without “front lines”.

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Right off the top of my head I imagined a broadcast beacon or rfid type device each “friendly” would wear that could be used by the drone to see them as such. They could even be dna coded, requiring skin contact. And the skin would have to be actually alive.

We are entering a new era where the old rules simply will not apply. It’s one reason I think those movies where we fight aliens are so funny. The tech that the aliens would poses, assuming they can get here in the first place, would be so advanced that we would be like a bunch of 14th century pirates trying to sneak up on a modern aircraft carier in their pirate ship on a moonless night thinking they won’t have a clue the pirates are there because, well, it’s really dark.

And all that that implies.

[Political Junkie Too]

Will it be...

Skynet...

Or...

ED-209? You have 10 seconds to comply... you have 9 seconds to comply... you have 8 seconds to comply...

-PJ

[kearnyirish2]

I was thinking along the lines of civilians; the scenario you describe has been in plenty of sci-fi flicks. Better guard that beacon with your life!

(The movie “Screamers” comes to mind)

[cuban leaf]

Yeah, that is why I say PC is killin’ us.

If someone is in the battle zone, they are probably a combatant. I remember the woman throwing the hat with a grenade in it into an american helicopter in Apocalypse Now.

This is especially true in islamic countries.

[kearnyirish2]

I understand PC limitations, but the fact is that when you occupy a country (Iraq, Afghanistan) then you won’t be fighting a conventional war. These wars are what they will look like for some time into the future.

[cuban leaf]

I think things change a LOT faster now than they used to. Frankly, I think things are changing exponentially. It’s one reason we don’t care that our consumer electronics stuff doesn’t last long. By the time it breaks (a few years) we want to upgrade anyway.

And it is only quickening.

[Seizethecarp]

“Imagine if this thing held, instead of a camera, an explosive charge?”

I a drone is used as a kinetic weapon, no onboard explosives are needed! The mass and velocity can kill or the mass of the drone can be placed where it will cause death, such as in a jet turbine (see tag line).

[Pox]

I’m thinking localized EMP emitters would do the trick, and when countered, I have several other ideas to deal with such “tech”.

It’s always a back and forth game, and the loser is likely going to be the one who fears their government to the point of inaction when action is required. The other alternative is for the government to be the loser.

Which will you choose?

[cuban leaf]

I’m thinking localized EMP emitters would do the trick...

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I could use one of those on the back bumper of my car.

[Squeako]

What then?

There will always be a way to counter whatever creations they come up with simply by the fact that they were created by men. Sure, some will die figuring it out, but if the enemy is a swarm of poisonous drone bees, we can simply look at how deaths are prevented from real swarms of bees.

It will probably be easier to just set your house on fire and shoot you as you flee. Maybe not economical when robots build robots for pennies, but far more certain, which is probably preferable to a tyrant.

[cuban leaf]

Which will you choose?

Christ.

A phrase uttered by a visiting pastor in my old church in the mid-1980’s: Where would the early church have been if they had put their faith in Rome.

And there is a reason I moved out of my home of 45 years, Seattle, to 12 acres (now 32) in central KY in 2011 (I bought the property two weeks before Obama was elected).

[Sherman Logan]

devices that can see through walls of innocent citizens in their own bathrooms.

What devices can do that?

[Pox]

Not generally available at this time, but the tech is out there from what I understand, just not ready for prime time that I know of, or perhaps it is.

[bgill]

There was a thread in the last maybe 3 weeks about it. Basically heat and sound sensing but revved up more.

[Nowhere Man]

Not so fast, a well places shot from a Garand, Mauser or Lee-Enfield could take a drone down or if someone has the means, a World War I “Pom-Pom” gun. Drones need to be banned from doing this.