Africans can use Technology !

Africa is a place of many problems. Africans have been described by more than one person working in a governing capacity as lazy, stupid, and barbaric.

 I’ve begun to question whether the so called civilized world’s big problem is Africa is our own moronic prejudices, rather than glaring inferiority of the African people.

 Watching the World News the other night, I heard about the plane crash in Nigeria and the news people were sent photos of the crash from someone using an IPHONE. I rejoiced because it showed me that Africans are indeed capable of using modern technology.

This is quite a leap seeing as less than a decade ago, Jeffrey Sachs put an anecdote in his book about an person on a development mission insinuating that Africans didn’t know how to tell time.

 Maybe, we’re the ones who need to have our priorities examined.

Instead of talking to the African states like they are our misbegotten stepchildren, we should actually talk to them instead of talking down to them ?

 I’m not saying it will make Africa Disneyland, but if we’re not even on equal footing, how can we make anything better?

War is Still Human, Damn It!

Christian Science Monitor has a fascinating report on what could be the future of warfare. Really cool read available here: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2011/1022/Unmanned-drone-attacks-and-shape-shifting-robots-War-s-remote-control-future

Although the article points out many fascinating innovations with robotics and weaponry, I’d like to keep in mind that war is still going to be a largely human enterprise with factors that even our greatest technological advantages can’t account for.

That is perhaps the greatest take-away from the original execution of the Iraq War. Rumsfeld among others was looking towards the future of war, with smaller forces and a greater reliance on technology and contractors.  Eventually, we went back to a more conventional force structure with the added technological components.

I think anything that has the potential to put less soldiers in harms way is a victory for humanity. However, war is a bloody business and there will still be death, no matter how good the technology gets. If one needs a proof of this point, consider the discontent that the NATO night raids in Afghanistan has caused.

The problem with technology is that it is controlled by humans, and humans are not perfect. The technology can and will commit errors if its’ overlords make a mistake in its’ programming, coordinate information, or any number of untold variables. Humans make war, not robots.