Well, being a couch potato is an intricate art in its simplest form. Just like a general who needs his lucky sword as he enters battle, I need my best remote control. The best one with the least of all flaws, so that I can navigate through all the channels in a quick click.
Teehee. I just described my most laziest stance.
Anyway, History has always been my favourite channel. I never miss an opportunity to catch History and today I was lucky to be introduced to "Hitler's Secret Science".
I've always been intrigued by all these dictators and their crazy but brilliant minds.
So, anyway, the story is about how Hitler was so engrossed with winning the war that he placed an extremely high importance on science which destructs. The Germans were the first to create a missile, X-Rays that could laser across 25 miles, auto-pilot aircrafts, kamikaze planes, etc. It was genius actually. He gave the scientists large funds & slaves to come up with destructive machines that were many many years ahead of those times. They even had an island which was the "Testing Grounds" for their weapons of war. This island was the place of birth of the weapons of mass destruction during the World War. Apparently, scientists who opt to leave the place were killed, for fear of sharing their knowledge to other enemy countries.
This somehow reminds me of an old story about a King who made sure all the scientists in his country was killed. The only ones that were left were artists and probably tradesmen. This was because the King believed that science was destructive almost like witchcraft.. In the end, he lost his kingdom to another King whom obviously have better weapons and knowledge. Moral of the story, keeping the scientist alive is important for a nation's development.
So everything seemed to be going well for the Germans. They succeeded in bombing London during peak hours which cost thousands of lives. They were feared. No one knew what was their next step.
Then it happened. I believe it was due to the overwhelming boost of new weapons that the Nazi government decided to have a certain degree of bureaucracy when it comes to the weapons' production approval. The prototype has to be sent to the supervisor, to the minister, then to Hitler, etc etc. It was definitely straining the scientists. Not only they have to be the think tanks of the weapons, they have to do those unnecessary red tape (& I'm sure that required a great amount of politicking too) and live in such a stressful war environment.
In the end, not only the Germans failed to create defensive weapons (most of their weapons were offensive ones), they failed to create the nuclear bomb. As much as Hitler wanted quality weapons, his brood failed to create the greatest weapon - the atomic bomb.
Soon after, German was bombed and Hitler committed suicide.
Pls bear with me, I am really cutting the story short here.
In the midst of all that bombing, Hitler's most intelligent scientist was given an ultimatum, to drink cyanide or to pledge loyalty to a new country, United States of America. The scientist, together with his troop of trusty assistants decided to pledge loyalty to their new home country. In actual fact, this scientist was a true scientist. He memang had no intentions of creating weapons but he wanted to experiment more in the name of science. Due to all those red tape, he didnt have the opportunity, thus, jumped at the opportunity with the USA when given the chance. In the end, this famous scientist (Van..something somethiing) was the brains behind rocket science and was pivotal in US's first attempt to send a man to space. He won the Nobel prize and was the scientist of the year.
Point of my post today, it really got me thinking real hard. Funny isnt it? What bureaucracy can do to you?
Has this every happen to you or perhaps to someone you know, at work, at college, etc? There is a brilliant idea proposed. So brilliant that no one has ever thought about it or proposed it ever before. He gets excited. The team got excited. Instead of adopting the idea, he was thrown to fill up a huge pile of papers. To come up with a proposal, a budget, a timeline, a case study and some other bullshits.
In the end, he decided to give the whole idea up. What's the point anyway? The excitement had gone cold. Plus, the proposal could just jolly well be rejected.
The next thing you know, that same person who came up with that brilliant idea leaves to a new place. A new place that accepts his great ideas and produces it. Perhaps even mass produces it. Then, the boss regrets and turns to you and scream "CANT YOU FREAKING THINK OUT OF THE BOX AND COME UP WITH SOMETHING MORE CREATIVE?"
Vicious cycle eh?
It didnt begin yesterday.
But den again, paperwork is important in an organization. It gives a clearer picture otherwise, you will be shooting in the dark. If only whoever holding the red tapes can loosen it a little then perhaps, we may have a win-win situation. And German would almost have definitely continued killing the Allies.
Pictures are from Google images.
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