[Gatac]

A good question, but that assumes we sink so far into warfare that we never get our space program in gear without ever fully destroying each other. I predict a societal collapse from lack of resources well before we reach that level of tech, OR we do the smart thing and spread to space first, which will effectively solve any resource problems we might have. Robotic warmachines do make more sense in a space application, but I'd say that likely leaves us with Berserker-esque self-building armies. The Star Trek "computer doomsday" scenario, while evocative, would require that the scenario be constructed that way - it doesn't seem like a likely evolution of fighting tactics, because the solution requires a lot of resources. Resources I'd sooner spend on more weapons rather than trusting my enemy to adopt a similarly wasteful, self-defeating technology. My instinct would be to fight until I can't, at which point my society would be so depleted that it'd leave us in the dark ages. If I adopt any enlightened position here, it would be that war has to stop. Then again, if we talk about an alien species that does not have a concept of "peace", this might work, but we're humans and we do have that concept. That makes this particular episode a bit better for me, because it makes the societies more alien, but it lacks that human analogue.

But feel free to disagree.

Gatac