Thoughts with boats

Okay, I'm writing this sort of intermittently while I do my boats homework, because if I don't, I won't ever get the chance to write what I like like I said I would.

I really enjoyed that lecture by the CNR last week. He was a very good speaker, had a great topic to talk about, and I honestly think that he would make a great Forrestal speaker not only because the Brigade wouldn't fall asleep during the lecture, but also because a presentation like that is something that would encourage many people to further pursue careers in math and science research (something that there has been an expressed need for). It was really funny to me to listen to the lecture after thinking about the Internet and it's information spreading capabilities because that was a big point of the Admiral's talk. In fact, the first point he made was how our easy access to information and communication has changed our enemies and changed exactly how we must maintain our superiority. It's harder, but C2 (Command and Control) has changed recently, to C4 (Command, Control, Computers, and Communication), and we must establish and maintain superiority in all four of those areas in order to keep on top of the battlefield situation.

The other great thing that the CNR talked about (and what he spent most of the lecture on) was some of the new programs and technologies that the Naval Research Laboratory are working on (in many cases separately from DARPA, the other great defense science promoter). Of course, the 'guy' part of me sat there with my mouth open, drooling at the cool toys they were coming up with; but the other, scientist part of me was also absolutely amazed at how they have broken down the problem into distinct areas, and have started to solve them in new and super-imaginative ways. I think it's great.

Anyway, here's some good quotes that the CNR used in his power point:

"It is by devising new weapons, and above all by scientific leadership, that we shall best cope with the enemy's superior strength."
-Winston Churchill
China, anyone?

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
-Albert Einstein
That, I think, goes along well with the philosophy of Jump In! Even if you don't know how to swim. A lot of the things we want to do in life just come down to trying it or to walking out on a limb, putting ourselves outside our comfort zone to try something new.

"If technology doesn't seem like magic; it's probably obsolete."
I think this is why I love Google so much--because every few months, they come up with something new that I couldn't even imagine. The Internet, too. It's absolutely amazing the things that I have seen develop in my lifetime (there's just too many to name). What I worry about is that younger generations don't have that same appreciation because they've always had it. My brother and sister, for example, don't remember a world without the Internet and without a computer in the house. Nowadays, kiddos have a seemingly innate ability to absorb and integrate technological advances in their lives without much trouble at all. I'll admit that I like technology and try to use available resources whenever I can and whenever I know about them; but it takes, I think, more effort for me than for my brother or younger friends to learn about and how to use new, seemingly magical technologies. It kind of makes me feel old, but at least I can appreciate the feeling of living in a magical, wondrous world.