How would the nation of Rationalia Defend itself?
Yesterday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter revealed ten new names for the Defense Innovation Advisory Board. The organization exists to advise the Pentagon on technology, and its roster includes Alphabet head Eric Schmidt. One of the new names on the list is none other than science educator and astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Last month, Tyson put forth the idea of “Rationalia,” a government oriented entirely around scientific decision making.
What follows is a work of fiction, set in a future where Rationalia is, in fact, a nation, and has to defend itself, like other nations.
The First Rationalia Science Cavalry didn’t know what to make of the soft buzzing mass on the outskirts of their forward operating base. Their sensors, so pristine in the lab, were blotted out, a kind of static appearing where once they’d illustrated plainly the features of the surrounding terrain.
Corporal Jones was the first to spy the swarm, though he had to verify it with Privates Williams and Garcia first. Peer review was essential, even in battle.
“It’s drones, sir,” Jones told Captain Lee. “Lots of them. Small. We don’t know if they’re armed, but they’re close. At the rate they move, they could be over our fences in twenty minutes.”
“And what are they doing now?”
“Resting, we think. It looks like their wings are photovoltaic, and there are only a few hours of sunlight left, but we can’t be sure how much power they have left.”
“Thank you, Jones. Keep an alert eye from the towers, and sound the alarm at the first sign of movement.”
“Yes, sir.”
(continued, Canada will be Rationalia?)
A poor piece of reasoning. Try the same trick with reasonable assumptions about the military.
