LessWrong (Curated & Popular) "Maybe there’s a pattern here?" by dynomight
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Mar 5, 2026 A lively tour through inventions that reshaped violence and exploration. It covers Gatling’s rapid-fire idea, early rocketry and the VfR movement, and how grassroots tech got pulled into militaries. Stories trace inventors’ conflicted feelings—from Santos Dumont to Nobel and Kalashnikov—and end with Szilard’s role in atomic research and moral pushback.
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Weapons That Promise Peace Enable New Harms
- Technological inventions often promise to reduce human cost but enable different forms of harm.
- Richard Gatling's 1861 hope that rapid-fire guns would reduce armies instead foreshadows weapons transforming rather than eliminating war.
German Rocketry Grew From Hobbyists To Military Programs
- Early rocketry began as amateur enthusiasm with the VfR society building rockets funded by dues and donations.
- The VfR's successes drew military attention; talented members like Wernher von Braun were co-opted and civilian work was suppressed by 1934.
Santos Dumont Turned From Aviation Promoter To Opponent
- Santos Dumont meant his aircraft for many uses but publicly suggested military applications and later campaigned against their use.
- His reversal culminated in despair after seeing planes used against civilians and revolutions near his home.
