[lit-ideas] Warfare and Digital cameras

From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Lit-Ideas " <Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 09:57:54 -0800
I have known people who collected or liked to use old guns, knives and
cameras.  I have a neighbor, for example, who belongs to a black powder
club.  Not only do they have shooting competitions, but they periodically
dress up in Civil War or Frontier clothing.  A longing for earlier, less
complicated times is understandable.  Also, to collect old weapons has
always had its appeal, but there is considerable angst in the photographic
world in regard to leaving beloved 35mm cameras and moving into the digital
world.  There are still some diehards that refuse to move, but their numbers
are dwindling.   Others acquire digital cameras and then feel guilty about
them.  They long for the times when you had only 24 or 36 shots and needed
to concentrate on making everyone count - sort of like the days when a
father would send his son out to hunt squirrels with a single-shot 22, a
handful of cartridges, and similar instructions.

 

In the battle at Waterloo, Wellington and Napoleon and many of their
officers made serious mistakes. The potentially critical analyst needs to be
reminded that they had very little technology back then. Neither side had
any way for spying on the enemy.  Wellington said, "All the business of war,
and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you
don't know by what you do; that's what I call 'guessing what is on the other
side of the hill'."

 

Modern generals, don't need to guess what's on the other side of the hill.
They can check satellite or drone images and see. This of course means that
no modern general can ever prove himself to be as good as Wellington or
Napoleon at guessing what's on the other side of the hill.

 

Shall we give up our modern technology, go back to film cameras in order to
be purists, "guessing what's on the other side of the hill"? Modern military
officers still read the details of Waterloo and second guess Wellington and
Napoleon, but if there is a war and they are called to fight it they will
use modern technology. The same may be true for most of us. It is nice to
take down the old 35mm camera from time to time, but for the "business of
life" we are going to use modern technology.

 

Lawrence
[lit-ideas] Warfare and Digital cameras

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