Why does Zakharov have extra drones?
- Thread starter zarus
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MilesBeyond
Prince
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- Nov 10, 2011
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He's not portrayed as being exactly, uh, ethical.
In my mind, the stability issues are as a result of Zak's willingness to test/experiment on his own drones, pursue questionable and controversial paths (Retroviral Engineering quote comes to mind), and all in all become so caught up in his pursuit of science that he neglects the well-being of his people.
To me, Zak has always represented the pinnacle of intelligence without wisdom.
Matt the Czar
Chieftain
magic9mushroom
Chieftain
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Zak both has a free media and stuff for people to get outraged about. That's a recipe for dissent if I ever heard one.
I look at it this way.
Everybody in a society wants to do better, be happier, and have a fulfilling position in society. However, academia offers no chance for promotion except for a select few. Add to that most of Zak's population probably had compulsory college under the impression they would have a lay out job in the base versus the actuality that most of them would end up carrying impact rifles or scraping the transport foil...
Yeah... intelligent, mad drones who thought a degree was a promotion. Just like real life.
Academia has it's good points, but it also is unethical and lies sometimes and can be full of ego.
Solution? Virtual World Project! Give them 20th gen MMOs so they can at least pretend! No drones and everybody is a special snowflake.. that is, at least online.
Everybody in a society wants to do better, be happier, and have a fulfilling position in society. However, academia offers no chance for promotion except for a select few. Add to that most of Zak's population probably had compulsory college under the impression they would have a lay out job in the base versus the actuality that most of them would end up carrying impact rifles or scraping the transport foil...
Yeah... intelligent, mad drones who thought a degree was a promotion. Just like real life.
Academia has it's good points, but it also is unethical and lies sometimes and can be full of ego.
Solution? Virtual World Project! Give them 20th gen MMOs so they can at least pretend! No drones and everybody is a special snowflake.. that is, at least online.
In the Alpha Centauri Gurps book, they portray the distribution of personal wealth to be fairly equal, with the economic surplus going to science and industry rather than luxuries for the elites, but social divisions according to intellect and accomplishment in the University are as important as economic divisions in Morgan Industries. Everybody has the basics, more or less, but intellectual clout is all-important. You're less likely to be selling your organs to pay for cable than amongst the Morganites, (or the Americans) but the leaders are less likely to pretend to read the suggestion box than in, say, modern corporations.
I was reading the "48 laws of power" and the first law was about not outshining the man in charge. The example of a transgression of this law was Louis the XIV, whose finance minister was brilliant at manipulating the treasury and was punished for having behavior that was too lavish. King Louis the XIV was a young and insecure king and therefore one could not afford to make him jealous, even with generosity.
The lesson I took away from this example, which was not the lesson that was intended, is that if you want people to feel free to display their talents, you must prevent those who have no skills from attaining any sort of prominence. Basically, if you want your country to flourish, you must make sure that there are no King Louis XIV's. Zakharov would obviously place a premium on creating an open market for talent, and so the University would, consciously or unconsciously, obstruct the advancement of anyone who both
1. Lacks talent
and
2. is prone to envy
which leaves out, oh, 97% of people. That means no Committees on Bureaucratic Redundancy, 50 vice presidents at every company, or dinner with the Academician in return for hefty donations or town hall meetings or well-funded "civil rights" organizations or any number of the other million ways people inflate their importance in our society.
The lesson I took away from this example, which was not the lesson that was intended, is that if you want people to feel free to display their talents, you must prevent those who have no skills from attaining any sort of prominence. Basically, if you want your country to flourish, you must make sure that there are no King Louis XIV's. Zakharov would obviously place a premium on creating an open market for talent, and so the University would, consciously or unconsciously, obstruct the advancement of anyone who both
1. Lacks talent
and
2. is prone to envy
which leaves out, oh, 97% of people. That means no Committees on Bureaucratic Redundancy, 50 vice presidents at every company, or dinner with the Academician in return for hefty donations or town hall meetings or well-funded "civil rights" organizations or any number of the other million ways people inflate their importance in our society.
Buster's Uncle
AC2 Owner
Louis grew up, and was a very sucessful King - I don't think that part of your conclusion was fair. I'm not knowledgeable enough of the time/place to assert that he was talented, but if not, he was lucky in the ministers he kept.
And on point 2. -That doesn't sound like any academic institution I ever heard of.
And on point 2. -That doesn't sound like any academic institution I ever heard of.
I think we found a volunteer for our next round of pioneering medical trials.
I look at it this way. In a system where academia is EVERYTHING, there comes the problem there is not much room at the top.
If everything was only as good as you could test, you would have a lot of otherwise successful people feeling left short. Who knows, waiting on someone to die so YOU could get research credit?
You would have a huge requirements and hurdles to do anything. Even working a fryer at Mickey Ds would probably require a 4 year degree in Restaurant Management. Plus, you have to wait for someone to die to operate the grill.
If everything was only as good as you could test, you would have a lot of otherwise successful people feeling left short. Who knows, waiting on someone to die so YOU could get research credit?
You would have a huge requirements and hurdles to do anything. Even working a fryer at Mickey Ds would probably require a 4 year degree in Restaurant Management. Plus, you have to wait for someone to die to operate the grill.
Buster's Uncle
AC2 Owner
Plus, the further you advance, the more longevity treatment the person in "your" spot can afford. That's a revolution waiting to happen right there.
I think it boils down to this: scientists, as a whole, make every attempt to understand the alien element and exploit its nuances, while humans instinctively fear the unknown. That's what really sets Sister Miriam's people apart, her entire purpose is based on setting humanity against all those things that "threaten" it. I highly doubt it's because "everything's academia." They're on a new planet where old institutions don't matter, I highly doubt it's because of the baggage they brought from Earth. The reason the Cybernetics don't have this problem is because their citizens are conditioned not to have these prejudices.
