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Path: utzoo!utcs!clarke
From: clarke@utcs.UUCP (Clarke, Jim)
Newsgroups: can.general
Subject: Re: General research for/by the military.
Message-ID: <578@utcs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Apr-85 12:48:29 EST
Article-I.D.: utcs.578
Posted: Tue Apr  9 12:48:29 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Apr-85 13:48:46 EST
References: <5437@utzoo.UUCP> <487@deepthot.UUCP> <2255@wateng.UUCP>
Reply-To: clarke@utcs.UUCP (Jim Clarke)
Organization: University of Toronto - General Purpose UNIX
Lines: 32
Summary: 

In article <2255@wateng.UUCP> padpowell@wateng.UUCP (PAD Powell) writes:
>In article <487@deepthot.UUCP> julian@deepthot.UUCP (Julian Davies) writes:
>>Since noone else has done so yet, I'm going to go on record as
>>unwilling to accept money from military sources for ANY kind of
>>research.
>
>Julian,   I respect and admire your opinions,  but I am afraid that
>this is one subject on which we disagree.  Julian,  if the DOD was to
>offer me money for rehabilitation, medical, or other non-death-dealing
>research,  I wouldn't hesitate to grab it.

(The comments below are not intended as a reflection on either of the people
quoted above.  The quotations are only reminders of what's going on.)

I believe this discussion started when someone proposed that we should be less
willing to accept criticism of Star Wars specifically from people who disap-
proved of taking military money generally.  Here is a hypothetical debate
that I intend to illustrate the logical status of this claim:

A:  We should repeal the law that imposes hanging as the penalty for throwing
    candy-wrappers into the street.  [I told you it was hypothetical!]
B:  Ah, but you're against capital punishment in any form.  I won't listen to
    any of your arguments.
A:  (faints, throws brick -- whatever you like)

In other words, the fact that a debater would argue against taking military
money under any circumstances, using more general (and presumably weaker)
arguments, does not render suspect his/her using quite strong arguments that
apply specifically to Star Wars.  The suggestion that such comments *are*
suspect verges on the ad hominem, and I'm surprised that certified computer
scientists would use it :-) ....   ("Smiley face" used to indicate that I
have certainly been known to use arguments of similar quality myself!)