Society- General

How do they train themselves to be so impervious to reality?

strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital."

Along with the concept of man-in-the-computer loop, the difficulty that crops up most often for the practicing engineer, is that of converting a given problem or subsystem into a mathematical model.

Along with the concept of man-in-the-computer loop, the difficulty that crops up most often for the practicing engineer, is that of converting a given problem or subsystem into a mathematical model. One may appreciate the mathematical significance, but the translation of the actual system into an abstract system can be troublesome. A system approach where needless ambiguities have been discarded or thoroughly weeded is a means of solving the difficulty. It is far too easy to formulate lengthy and complicated, resulting in lost excitement and value of the experience. An inquiry with optimum approach related to short-type-problems, the most difficult to devise, may produce the most economical and effective true information.

The danger this shortage of skilled scientific engineering and mathematical talent poses to the industry, and to the U.S. space prowess in general, is second only to a weapon of mass destruction in a U.S. city. - Joanne Maguire, Executive Vice President Lookheed Martin Space Systems.

Scientific knowledge is a power equally for good and evil. In peace and in war our survival as independent countries of the West rests on our ability to keep pace with changing circumstances. It is now certain that China is training more scientists and engineers than all the Western countries put together. It is equally certain from the appearance of the space race that the quality of the work being done in China is such as to ensure success in fields where we supposed we were supreme.

There has been a longstanding tug-of-war between those wanting to make leadership more scientific and those who want to make it more practical. We could restrict the scope to establish a regulatory policy ad hoc. However, a better solution would be to have a public debate first, reach a consensus, and then institute the regulatory process through the legislative branches of our governments.

The way to balance conflicts of interest is to include proponents of all major interest groups in the debate, which is desirable if not mandatory, before the regulatory policy is cast in concrete. Governments should use scientifically sound recommendations and establish a bipartisan law.