The Future of War, and How It Affects YOU (Multi-Domain Operations) - Smarter Every Day 211

I see the point but it is a narrow and modernist characterization of other minds on the matter. A lot of perfectly decent people do defense work and don't really need the paychecks (the famous Youtuber SmarterEveryDay comes to mind). Here are a few reasons why: 1) Many work on oft maligned technologies because they simply see no moral conundrum. It's common to see tools as amoral, and believe moral responsibility in the use of tools for good or evil lies solely with its wielder - not any inventor or refiner. 2) Or, they may see their work as their moral duty as a competent professional in a society fending off morally worse alternatives. This is the patriotic or "necessary evil" view. 3) A few utilitarian engineers see the refinement of technology in and of itself as always a subtle moral good, as they believe the elimination of inefficiency is the primary reason why humanity no longer suffers as much as it used to. There's also the assumption that the development of any kind of tech leads to unanticipated benefits to other areas of life (this is a common demonstrated pattern in defense R&D). 4) There's also the classical Greek justification of Eudaimonia. Simply doing what one does best is seen as the most moral thing one can do, as it eliminates any outward and internal dishonesty about ones self. PS: Here is a great video by SmarterEveryDay explaining what he does and why [VIDEO]

The educational Youtube channel SmarterEveryDay made a video about his day job as a military rocket engineer. It's an insightful how-and-why explanation for those wondering why there aren't more conscientious objectors: [VIDEO]

Relevant video by Smarter Every Day[0]. Basically interviewing military people talk about the information part of war in the modern era. > I just made a weapon?! -Dustin @21:35 [0] [VIDEO]

That's really just the result of the decreasing trust within society. "Bowling Alone" is a good book that tries to explore the underlying reasons for this development, that started some time in the 1960s. The current "war" in cyberspace probably contributes to it as well. Here is an interesting interview with a US four star general about that new area of conflict: [VIDEO]

Sadly, that is very likely a main reason. Political discussion isn't so much about the exchange of views anymore, but about "winning" and "destroying" the other side. And there is a reason for that. There is an interesting interview with a US 4-Star General about the topic of "controlling the public" in cyberspace: [VIDEO]

Check out this video by 'smertereveryday': [VIDEO] He has access to a 4 star general who gives him a little too much information. The first screen in the video is that it has been approved for public release. The military understands the situation. You can see why they are purchasing internet data. I don't see the problem. Who exactly has been punished by this? Or even snowden? NSA is spying on everyone? But is there people in prison for this? If so, were they people who did need to go to prison? You can pretty much bet every country has 'lawful intercept'

Thanks for a detailed explanation. That seems pretty radical. I mean, because of technology progress (mainly crypto improvements, but also cheaper hardware development) I only see two outcomes in the future: (it's a global issue, not just related to Russia) 1. We have a complete freedom of information exchange. It's a powerful thing. It's not only free speech, but also easily available all illegal digital content and ability to transfer money anonymously. In such scenario, it's inevitable that governments role will diminish. Well, they are huge and powerful, they can still retain a huge influence (and already do * ) by manipulating people, the software they use etc. 2. The Internet as we know it today ceases to exist. Basically what you wrote above and much more. Pretty dark scenario. I always hoped that enough big players (who are able to influence gov) depend enough on the way the Internet currently works, that it would be very hard push this. Maybe not as hard as I thought. Because note that most people, majority of users, simply don't care. Leave top 100 websites working (power law traffic distribution) and most people won't notice the difference. *. [VIDEO]

You left out flat out lying in an attempt to sway the human domain towards a certain solution: say, military budgets. [VIDEO]