"When we hear the sound of hoofbeats, should we think horses or zebras?" So asks Gabriel Schoenfeld in her review of Robert Jervis' new book, Why Intelligence Fails. She ends her review by reminding us that "Those pounding hoofbeats might be horses or zebras — or zebras painted to look like horses." Or, as the [...]
There’s No Defense for Not Unlearning
February 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
As a former naval officer, I like to believe I have an appreciation for the national security interests of this country. There is, however, a bit of conventional wisdom I'd like to challenge and it is the idea that spending more money of defense automatically makes us safer. For example, if we continue to spend [...]
The CIA Unlearns
September 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Computer World had an interesting article discussing the CIA’s use of Intellipedia—a Wikipedia-like project for its analysts–a while back. As a former naval intelligence officer, I think it's a fantastic idea but—perhaps not unsurprisingly—the idea has been met with some resistance from within the intelligence community. According to the article, in fact, the founders of [...]
Unlearn By Dispelling Old and New Ignorance
July 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In his famous speech at Rice University where he declared that it was America’s intention to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, President Kennedy said “the greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds,” adding that “the vast stretches of the unknown and the unanswered and the unfinished [...]
The Air Force Needs to Unlearn
July 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The Wall Street Journal had an interesting review of the book, Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel, a while back. It is a history of the world’s first machine gun. Interestingly, although the gun was patented during the Civil War and Mr. Gatling urged the Union Army to adopt it—arguing that it would "save lives, wounds and [...]
Unlearning the Rules (Part 2)
May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Malcolm Gladwell has an outstanding article in this month's New Yorker entitled "How David Beats Goliath." It is an excellent primer on the concept of unlearning and I can't recommend the article highly enough. If, however, you don't have time to read the full article here's the operative quote: "When underdogs choose not to play [...]
Ask a New Question
May 20, 2009 By 1 Comment
On my other blog, www.jumpthecurve.net, I have a posting entitled "The Future of War: Ethical Robots?" in which I challenge conventional thinking. I started with the basic assumption that most people are uncomfortable, if not downright quesy, with the idea of robotic warriors. However, one of the best ways of unlearning something is by simply [...]
