At 22:21 12/15/2001, Thermopyle wrote:

Actually, going this route presents a problem:  why would they bother to
include the ability to feel pleasure?  It's certainly doesn't add anything
to what basically amounts to a humanoid robot designed for killing.

       That's not QUITE true. Pleasure acts as a goad. If something
is sufficiently pleasurable, you head towards it, try to obtain more
OF it. How this can be used in warfare is quite simply.

       People (or things) who take pleasure in killing.

       If that gives you pleasure, you usually want to do more
of it. And get better AT doing it, so you'll be offered more
opportunities to do it. Witness some of the more sadistic
prison camp guards in Germany and Japan during WW II. Or, for
that matter, some of the more sadistic camp guards in the USA.

       As for the ability to feel pain? Even simpler. Pain is nothing
more than a warning signal. An alert that you're taking damage, and
that if you don't WANT to take damage, maybe you should alter course.

       When you've got a COSTLY killing unit like an Ifurita unit,
you don't want it to damage itself _unnessesarilly_. Sometimes yes,
finishing the mission means taking damage, but whenever possible,
you want your unit to pull off the mission with no damage at all.
It's _cheaper_ that way.

       Now, if an Ifurita unit were cheap and disposable, you
wouldn't care. But if it's like a B-1 bomber, in excess of $200
million dollars per unit, you take CARE of the thing, and you
try to plan - within limits of common sense - to use it in such
a way that it won't require costly repairs, or even MORE costly
replacement.

       Just a soldier's viewpoint of what an Ifurita unit is,
and WHY, and the rational behind some military design choices.

       Take it with a grain of salt.

       Ed Becerra

       "Dreamers may die, but the Dream is eternal..."

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