Paper: GS – IV, Subject: Ethics, Topic: Other Case Studies, Issue: Ethical issues related to military technologies.
Context:
Mythological imagination, especially from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, is increasingly being appropriated by modern military and surveillance technologies.
Key Highlights:
Corporate Appropriation of Myth and Symbolism:
- Reflect Orbital: A private company planning to launch a satellite named Eärendil (a Tolkien character), to reflect sunlight for solar energy efficiency.
- Raises issues of orbital debris, energy governance, and light pollution.
- Palantir Technologies: Founded in 2003 with CIA backing; named after Tolkien’s “seeing stones”.
- It is used for predictive policing, counterterrorism, and mass surveillance.
- Anduril Industries: Named after “the Flame of the West” from Tolkien’s world, it develops autonomous drone systems for U.S. defence.
Ethical and Political Concerns:
Indian scenario: Similar trends are emerging in India also. For e.g., Varunastra, an autonomous torpedo system by DRDO, drawing from Hindu mythological symbols.
Way Forward:
- Need for public discourse on how myth and culture are used to justify technological militarisation.
- Academia and media should unpack these cultural appropriations critically.
- Establish international norms on AI, surveillance, and space militarisation with ethical and human-centric frameworks.
Conclusion:
While myth can inspire innovation, its misuse risks romanticising domination and violence. As Tolkien intended, the true moral of Middle Earth lies in resisting the corrupting lure of power.
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/from-middle-earth-to-military-earth/article70183649.ece
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