Arpanet and Undermining Authority

Under DARPA, the arpanet provided information separated, so that there is not one central demand. The information could be divided into packets and relayed across the country. In class we discussed how this goes against the cold war in terms of undermining authority and control, but I believe it does more than just go against a regime. I think that the arpanet is paradigm shifting for the military in the United States. The military was and still is for the most part a very structured system consisting of individuals having to run decisions up the chain of the command then having the decisions come back down. With the influence of a non linear progression in arpanet helped alter decision making in the military. It proved that technology could interfere and possibly skip steps in the hierarchal form, leading to more decentralized command in the military today.

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