US Army applying new areas of math • Hacker News Board

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#131

Post by celrod » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 5:38 AM UTC

someotherperson wrote: post #95

joejerryronnie wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good to know you speak for “most asians”.

I think the political situation in many of those countries speaks volumes. There are very few countries or peoples which have a genuinely positive view of Western occupation. Most countries that have a positive view of "Western" nations above Russia are the ones that are bribed (weapon contracts, free defense, release of political pressure) or bullied (application of political pressure) to have it. If you spend some…

While Germany isn't an Asian country, my Grandpa was German.

As you can imagine, he had a far more positive view of Western occupation than Russian occupation.

He was not a member of the Nazi party, but was in the military. The story, as best as I can recall: After they ran out of gas, the soldiers were given bicycles and panzerfaust, and told to head East, because the Russians were invading.

He hid in a hole as Russian tanks drove past. He deserted, and went West as fast as he could, deliberately getting himself captured by the invading US forces.

He said he was treated better by the Americans as a prisoner of war than he was by the Nazis as a soldier. I don't think any soldiers captured by the Russians would say the same.

Not long thereafter, the war in Germany ended. While the soviets plundered East Germany, the Americans with the Marshall plan helped rebuild West Germany. My grandfather, having not been a member of the Nazi party, was also treated very well during this period.

Even though allied bombs destroyed 80% of his home city, this earned the US enough goodwill in his eyes (and probably many of his generation) that throughout the rest of his life, he supported the US (even while he didn't agree with everything they did). His daughter ended up marrying an American.

If enemy soldiers thought you'd treat them better after they surrender than they're being treated now, they're not likely to fight very hard. Unfortunately, I think we have an instinctual urge to punish enemies. We like negative sum games.

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#132

Post by geomark » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 6:24 AM UTC

vasili111 wrote: post #74

geoka9 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just am embarrassed when I tell people I work for the military because they think I make bombs or something. Personally, I don't understand this, but I'm from an ex-Eastern Bloc country which I was all too happy to escape. I'd rather the US (and the rest of the Western world) made bombs than only Russia and China did. Vacuums of power in the world will always be filled and a Western invasion/expeditionary force i…

I am from the same boat and tottaly agree with you. Many people dont understand how real Russian threat is.

I used to work for a defense contractor and I remember the boogie man of the Soviet Union and how the intelligence community was constantly saying there was likely to be a breakout in new Soviet technology. So our budgets remained fat to fund lots of new spook technology programs. Right up to the day that the Soviet Union collapsed. I started looking with a more critical eye at the supposed threats.

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#133

Post by cf498 » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 6:57 AM UTC

galaxyLogic wrote: post #113

mattigames wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, traditional sources suck, in America; universities should be way more tightly controlled, in a decent society taking 56% of grant money should put some people in jail. In the year 2019 working for the US military should feel embarrassing, after the Iraq fiasco, support to journalist-killer Saudi crown prince; support to genociders that use child soldiers such as Idriss Déby (Chad), plus many other mistakes make…

Let us not blame the military. The military just works for the government. And the government works for we the people.

They are however killing people. Lets not skip over that part as nice and cuddly as "just doing their job" sounds. I highly doubt the dead would care that their murderers were paid to do it.

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#134

Post by beambot » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 7:24 AM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #75

throwaaaway1231 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say he is joking, but that person does know. I work at a research lab and at our yearly reviews, we have to day how our work directly contributes to a war fighting capacity. If that person thinks they do not contribute they are very seriously naïve or they are filling themselves. Military labs do not try to make euphemisms for what they do, they want to make sure they directly contribute to a war fighting capabil…

There are varying degrees of "military lab," my favorite example being the National Ignition Facility.

The NIF has a military mission too. Straight from Wikipedia:

> NIF's mission is to achieve fusion ignition with high energy gain, and to support nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear weapons.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ignition_Facility

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#135

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 7:38 AM UTC

CarlSchmitt wrote: post #126

sidcool wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny. I wrote a blog post sometime back claiming that an external real or perceived threat is a unifying factor for societies and nations. So if we want to unite the earth, we need an extra terrestrial threat. It could be asteroid or alien invasion. Now these are less probable, hence we should set up Martian colonies and then just allow the earthlings to do their thing. They will eventually treat Mars humans as a th…

> This is our only option to unify the earth Why do we think that a unified earth will be a good thing? It seems too utopian to me...

[deleted]

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#136

Post by Fomite » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 7:40 AM UTC

noobermin wrote: post #44

To be very honest, count me in as one of these. I am someone who works for a gov't lab, but I do "very pure" scientific research. It's not that our research doesn't have "defense applications," it might eventually, but we are definitely a few steps removed from say CFD modeling of airplane wings. The thing is traditional sources of funding suck, and gov't labs give researchers a much better environment than the endle…

For the record, given I'm at a university with 56% overhead, this is:

- Often less than corporate research. I know because I've also worked with them.

- Pays for things like startup packages for new faculty, administrative support, things shared by multiple groups, etc. (as well as, without a doubt, some waste, but I mean, private research companies have that too).

- Is negotiated in advance with the government.

- Is often less than the cost of doing research.

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#137

Post by Fomite » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 7:42 AM UTC

mattigames wrote: post #71

noobermin wrote: post #44

To be very honest, count me in as one of these. I am someone who works for a gov't lab, but I do "very pure" scientific research. It's not that our research doesn't have "defense applications," it might eventually, but we are definitely a few steps removed from say CFD modeling of airplane wings. The thing is traditional sources of funding suck, and gov't labs give researchers a much better environment than the endle…

Yeah, traditional sources suck, in America; universities should be way more tightly controlled, in a decent society taking 56% of grant money should put some people in jail. In the year 2019 working for the US military should feel embarrassing, after the Iraq fiasco, support to journalist-killer Saudi crown prince; support to genociders that use child soldiers such as Idriss Déby (Chad), plus many other mistakes make…

"in a decent society taking 56% of grant money should put some people in jail."

A decent society made this a law because it makes the separation between "Money spent directly on research" and "Money spent on things like the copy machine, internet, keeping the lights on, etc." transparent - unlike how it works in most private industry.

Trust me, universities would love to be able to get rid of the concept of indirect costs. It's mandated by the government, and negotiated with them (at my university, at a slight loss sometimes).

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#138

Post by Fomite » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 7:44 AM UTC

sigstoat wrote: post #36

hopler wrote: post #15

Frankly this sounds like some bureaucrat who likes HTT made up an excuse to fund it. It's a mil/gov version of a corporate engineer who decides to build a project in a language they read about on HN.

> this sounds like some bureaucrat who likes HTT ...did you read that after you typed it? do you think there is a actually some US federal government bureaucrat running around who has an opinion on HTT?

...I know some US federal government bureaucrats who have opinions on things like that.

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#139

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 7:47 AM UTC

celrod wrote: post #131

someotherperson wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the political situation in many of those countries speaks volumes. There are very few countries or peoples which have a genuinely positive view of Western occupation. Most countries that have a positive view of "Western" nations above Russia are the ones that are bribed (weapon contracts, free defense, release of political pressure) or bullied (application of political pressure) to have it. If you spend some…

While Germany isn't an Asian country, my Grandpa was German. As you can imagine, he had a far more positive view of Western occupation than Russian occupation. He was not a member of the Nazi party, but was in the military. The story, as best as I can recall: After they ran out of gas, the soldiers were given bicycles and panzerfaust, and told to head East, because the Russians were invading. He hid in a hole as Russ…

[deleted]

Re: US Army applying new areas of math

#140

Post by freyir » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 8:28 AM UTC

noobermin wrote: post #44

To be very honest, count me in as one of these. I am someone who works for a gov't lab, but I do "very pure" scientific research. It's not that our research doesn't have "defense applications," it might eventually, but we are definitely a few steps removed from say CFD modeling of airplane wings. The thing is traditional sources of funding suck, and gov't labs give researchers a much better environment than the endle…

While working in defense R&D, I did my most interesting work and met some of my best colleagues.

Eventually I moved to SV and its greener grass: a better salary and a clearer conscience.

The truth is, I miss the interesting work, the competent managers, and having an office. Working to keep people addicted to their screens didn’t do wonders for my conscience or the state of the world.