Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: What was Channon’s
idea for a First Earth Battalion such a radical concept? Where did he get his
inspiration? And related to this, why might the armed forces have been
receptive to such an “out there” suggestion?
Q2: Do you get the
impression that Ronson believes half the stories that people tell him about the
Goat Lab and the Staring exercises? What is his tone throughout the piece, and
why do you think he decided to write a book about these interviews and experiences?
Q3: Channon says
something interesting in Chapter 3 about the average soldier: “The kind of
person attracted to military service has a great difficulty...being cunning. We
suffered in Vietnam from not being cunning...You might get some cunning out of
other agencies in the American government, but you’d have a hard time finding
it in the army” (31). According to him and others in this book, why might the
conversation about war be more about cunning than fighting? Why
does Channon believe that “cunning” is the future of the American army?
Q4: Ronson poses
four possible scenarios in Chapter 2 for the stories about the Goat Lab, the
last one being, “The U.S. Intelligence community was, back then, essentially
nuts through and through” (10). While he’s obviously being facetious here, what
might he be actually driving at? Why might the various bodies of U.S.
Intelligence be more “nuts” than we assume? And why might it be in their best
interests to be at least a little more “nuts” than the average person?
3.the conversation is more on the cunning side due to it being more dangerous than if you were to start shooting. he believes this due to the fact that the danger truely comes from backstabing.
ReplyDelete4. all of the intel gained and not much to show from it, or like the general trying to run through walls. due to the bodies being subject to believing in wild theories about various topics. this is so they can think outside the box in these instantes
3- Anyone can wield a gun, hes speaking from a more out of the box type concept. To come at someone with the aspect of mind control and having a higher concept of intelligence.
ReplyDelete4- Everyone is trying to unlock unseen potential but not tell anyone else so when the time strikes they can simply blindside the enemy. This follows the same concept of the outside of the box thinking, and cunning type thinking.
Jordan Bussey
Q2: I believe at first the author thought this would be a pretty crazy story, but when people started saying similar things, it wasn't so crazy after all. He realized it was serious and wanted to dig further.
ReplyDeleteQ4: The military has always had crazy ideas, some.have come to reality. The military will try anything to gain the edge on the enemy, even if is "paranormal". We don't want the enemy to ever have the edge.
Noah Parsoms
1. The reason that Channon's idea was so radical is because it was the exact opposite of what an army is meant to be. The military exists for when we have violence that threatens our country, so by making the soldiers less threatening and unable to fight by equipping them with the ridiculous things that Channon suggested, the military would be of no use. You can't beat every enemy with "indigenous music" and "sparkly eyes". Channon acquired his inspiration from the Gentle Wind Project, which is basically just a bunch of loons trying to scam people. The armed forces might have been receptive to such an idea because of the fact that they will try almost anything that they think might help them be better than everyone else; basically because they are "nuts" (see answer to question #4).
ReplyDelete4. Ronson might be getting at the fact that the various bodies of U.S. Intelligence were more "nuts" than we assume because of the things that they have tried in order to gain intel or to get ahead of an enemy during wartime. They have probably tried things that nobody in their right mind would ever think would help them, but they didn't care because of just how crazy they actually were. They would have to be more "nuts" than the normal person to think of any possible, and maybe even impossible, idea or solution in which they can get ahead of everyone else as far as the info that they have gained or in the ways to attain said information.
Coleman King