But you have to factor in the unseen opportunity costs. What about all the capital that has of been lost due to war? The burning of the Library in Alexandria might have set human civilization back hundreds of years. There is nothing inherent in force creating innovation or being unique only to it.
Wel; the Burning of Alexandria was rather a result of religious christian fanatics. Surely there is nothing inherently in force that creates innovation but there is definitely in competition. War is competition on steroids.
Innovation in cooperation is very doable; this is why many innovations stem from government-funded research, not just military. And there's Linux.
War is competition by other means, no argument there, but war also leads to a whole nation cooperating in the war effort, with different companies normally at each other's throats now cooperating in full to churn out what the war machine needs.
Maybe there is another side to this, namely that war leads to full cooperation within a nation to innovate, and the normal, non-wartime, competitive goings-on within a nation are actually a break on innovation.
Most definitely.
A bit of a shame, then, that we need wars to achieve these levels of cooperation. I sometimes wonder what we could achieve in global cooperation in stead of competition.
Anyhoo, I am not entirely convinced that competition is the best possible driver of innovation. Natural curiosity and cooperation could also go a long way. I know I design stuff for the fun of it, sometimes with friends.
Is it just fear and greed stopping us from having a go at it?
Right. Back to surpressing my idealism. Time for a beer.
This. Competition.
War is an arcane means to an end. It's impact on innovation is unsustainable and has now taken us to the point that we can guarantee MAD- Mutually Assured Destruction. Humanity will have to evolve to higher state of functioning if we are to survive as a species.
I was having a discussion with my uncle, I was describing the potential that Blockcian can have on humanity and my vision of a world where, with a new world economic model, technical innovation, and efficiency, everyone on the planet could be provided for.
He responded that "until the root of all evil i.e. "competition", is eliminated we will always be in a state of war. Not until we evolve into a state that we are all functioning primarily from a position of love can war and competition be eliminated."
I believe this statement to be true, and I am seeing the evolution happen before my eyes. My son, his friend's and younger generations are being raised with more love and are learning to be more tolerant and empathetic toward others. Our future generations will evolve to this higher state of functioning and will create a world free of war and with the help of AI increased innovation.
War is competition at an infantile level, so I guess it's similar to people who take steroids versus those who develop their body naturally. It takes sophistication and humanity to compete peacefully.