The Trigger Effect

[DuckHunter]

[ The guy wasn't discussing ANYTHING of complexity, I would be willing to pay attention longer if there was anything of value in the first half of the video, or he was trying to make orbital ballistics palatable, but he wasn't.

Holy shit!  That's the friggin' point!!!!!! It wasn't supposed to be about complexity!!!!  Grrrrrrr!  Please excuse us then if you've got better things to do with your time.

[hereticmonk]

When <i>Connections</i> was first aired on PBS I became interested in survivalism. I was 9. Burke made a great point about what it takes to make a civilization, and its a great history of how all our technology and systems came to be. It got me thinking about what stuff matters and what is fluff, which was the whole point.

There are several very interesting episodes in the series, my all time favorite having to do with armor. Its an example of how armor and weaponry make each other obsolete until the other changes to get around that problem. Spears and bow until leather armor. Broadsword cuts leather armor until chain mail. Chainmail stops swords until the Mace bashes through it to break bones and burst organs, replaced by plate armor and then full suit armor where the gaps in the plates are patched up. Eventually it evolved into a bizzarre twist with horses and lances and rules around 1100 AD, the race car driving of its time. Less about war, more about gambling. Then crossbows were invented, able to shoot right through that armor and arquebuses followed, grenadiers, canons, and those castle walls tumbled down. Star forts rose to defeat canon and artillery just got better until it was able to blow the snot out of them so living inside walls and ramparts was pointless. And now we have tanks and planes and kill lots of civilians in war.

That was in one of his episodes, but he said it a lot nicer than I did, and showed great examples of how an idea can be refined until a change comes making it obsolete... which is the point.

[DuckHunter]

Its an example of how armor and weaponry make each other obsolete until the other changes to get around that problem.

Kinda reminds you of an episode of the Simpsons when the aliens take over because Lisa went and wished for world peace and all weapons were destroyed...until someone chased after the aliens with a board with a nail in it, then the aliens fought back with bigger boards and bigger nails, and started the whole boards and nails arms race...

[berkeley]

Thanks for posting the link to this show.  Very cool. 

It would be nice to see a 2007 production of something which conveys the reality and genuine danger of systemic failure.  Of course, the general population would probably just dismiss it as fear propaganda.

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

My world is go-go-go, if you can't make a point without belaboring the obvious for nearly half of your presentation, then your presentation stinks, and any point you might be trying to make gets lost when people tune out.

Call me crazy, or just a typical miniscule attention span American, but if you can't get with the program then get outta the way and let the fast movers through already. The guy wasn't discussing ANYTHING of complexity, I would be willing to pay attention longer if there was anything of value in the first half of the video, or he was trying to make orbital ballistics palatable, but he wasn't.

I just banned PONow for 30 days for being a condescending ass right from the get go. If you've been posting for a while and you want to be a condescending ass I'm willing to cut some slack. But to come at the forum with your condescending ass guns blazing right from the get-go?  Come back in a month when you've learned some basic social skills.

"My world is go-go-go" Oh puh-lease . . .

[Petey_Canuck]

We should make a condescending asshat wall of fame!

[HowlinJack]

Maybe "I'm A Condesending Ass" hats and t-shirts.  Or a condesending ass virus that could be sent out to new ass's like that.

I thought it was great the way everyone on that train busted out their snacks and had themselves a little "I Ain't Afraid" party...

[imbicilic]

When the big icestorm of '98 took the power out to much of Eastern Ontario and Quebec (including Montreal), it was a real wake-up call for much of the folks.  The power was out for weeks - in the middle of January in below zero weather.  People froze to death in their homes.  Many others died of carbon monoxide poisoning when they tried to use BBQ's and various propane heaters inside their homes to keep warm.  Many farmers lost their dairy cows and pigs when milking machines and ventilation systems went down.  Those who were lucky enough to already have generators had to keep a watchful eye out for thieves.  The army was called in to help out.

this video reminds me of the ice storm. i was 16. a small fraction of people on the island did keep power throughout. but i wasn't so lucky,after 3-4 days we had to abandon our home and sleep in a shelter. which was a local school powered by gasoline generators. i can still remember walking down one deserted street after another at night. entire neibourhoods with no one. blackness except for the moon light. almost total silence aside from the cracking ice all around. you couldn't walk on the sidewalk because of the falling ice. i remember talk of evacuating the entire city. had this been a total blackout without support from surrounding areas then a large number of people would be dead within weeks.

[imbicilic]

did anyone else click on the next video? this is hilarious;

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=lwzge004pk

[DuckHunter]

My world is go-go-go, if you can't make a point without belaboring the obvious for nearly half of your presentation, then your presentation stinks, and any point you might be trying to make gets lost when people tune out.

Call me crazy, or just a typical miniscule attention span American, but if you can't get with the program then get outta the way and let the fast movers through already. The guy wasn't discussing ANYTHING of complexity, I would be willing to pay attention longer if there was anything of value in the first half of the video, or he was trying to make orbital ballistics palatable, but he wasn't.

I just banned PONow for 30 days for being a condescending ass right from the get go. If you've been posting for a while and you want to be a condescending ass I'm willing to cut some slack. But to come at the forum with your condescending ass guns blazing right from the get-go?  Come back in a month when you've learned some basic social skills.

"My world is go-go-go" Oh puh-lease . . .

Matt, I couldn't figure out how to explain the point of The Trigger Effect anymore more simply to PONow...so a big THANK-YOU  for banishing him to the condescending ass badlands.  And once again, anyone who claims their "world is go-go-go"  needs to SLOW THE HELL DOWN - something we'll all have to do when TSHTF.  I spent the better part of my day planting beans and squash...

Cheers

[Petey_Canuck]

When I think of a "go go go world" I keep envisioning the Coyote running off a cliff and suddenly realising that he is suspended in the air... the Newton kicks in...

[Dennis from Oregon]

Just 2 EMP weapons..   

Iran took a Shehab missile, launched it 2000 klicks downrange and detonated it at 200 klicks altitude.  The Iranians said it was a great sucess, Western media said it blew up in midair...

Then the Iranians launched the same missile in the same scenario off a ship, then a sub...  same 2000 klicks downrange and 200 klicks altitude, same claims of sucess by Iran, same claims of midair failure by MSM. 

Are you getting whats going on here???

[hereticmonk]

First: remember that Persians love to brag, and whether they're bragging about actual or imaginary accomplishments is a matter for historians. We don't know who's lying about these rocket tests.

Second: building a non-nuclear EMP is trivial. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMP_weapon

Nuclear models have better range, but its not hard to pull this off.

[in_recovery]

Just 2 EMP weapons..   

Iran took a Shehab missile, launched it 2000 klicks downrange and detonated it at 200 klicks altitude.  The Iranians said it was a great sucess, Western media said it blew up in midair...

Then the Iranians launched the same missile in the same scenario off a ship, then a sub...  same 2000 klicks downrange and 200 klicks altitude, same claims of sucess by Iran, same claims of midair failure by MSM. 

Are you getting whats going on here???

No.......
but you ARE making me hungry for shish-khe-bab....  

[suburban_junkscape]

The phrase "my world is go go go" immediately brought to mind one of Dmitri Orlov's writings in which he states that back in the post Soviet collapse period it was the "go getters" who ended up committing suicide as the means to get ahead evaporated.

...and what the hell are "orbital ballistics?" I guess I'm not as nerdy as I thought.