In today’s video called The Truth About Graphene-what’s the hold up? on Undecided with Matt Ferrell, Ferrell talks about the material graphene, its uses, and why it’s not being widely used. This led me to think of a common phenomenon in our world, the development of technology in wartime compared to peacetime.
During wars, technology is developed faster and on a greater range then technology in peacetime. Many technological breakthroughs have been made during wars. Technology that might have not existed otherwise were developed during wars or for military purposes. Jet propulsion and rocket technology were both invented and made operational during World War II. Nuclear fission was discovered just before World War II, and was greatly enhanced to make the atomic bomb. The Global Positioning System(GPS) and the Internet both began as military projects under the U.S. military that were later given to the public domain. These are all examples of technological advances made in war.
The reason for this phenomenon is quite simple. In wartime, no expense is spared on any type of technology that might be instrumental in winning the war, and there are two parts to that. One is developing better technology than that of your enemy, and the other is developing new technology that nobody else has. In peacetime, however, technological development is mainly driven by consumer demand and very little new technology is developed.
Not all of our technology was born in war, however. It is certain that our world would look very different if we never waged war at all. It is my wish that the pace of technology would not be restricted by warfare, and that we would be able to be just as productive in peacetime as well.
