Pangpei: Technological Ethics and Civilizational

Pang Pei
(China Zhi Gong Party Central Cultural Committee)
 
      As we mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, the pain of war remains vivid. The souls permanently scarred by war, as depicted by Hemingway, continually remind us that war brings about the dual destruction of both body and mind. When the "Global Drone Unlimited Combat Championship" takes center stage with its dazzling technological showdowns, an unprecedented possibility emerges: can war finally escape the brutality of bloodshed and determine victory through non-contact combat? This is not just a leap in technology, but a profound questioning of the essence of war and the fate of human civilization.

       From a deep cultural anthropological perspective, drone racing, hunting, and warfare all stem from human aggression. They fight for interests, dignity, and order, carrying a sense of crisis and ancient symbolism. Drone racing incorporates this ancient impulse into the modern arena with "game rationality," ingeniously blending the game spirit of prehistoric culture with the legal connotations of natural justice. It also transforms the ritualistic elements of Western dueling culture into a natural, aesthetic expression. This transformation is not a simple replication of violence but a creative "dissolution" of extreme struggle impulses through civilization - resolving extreme struggles in a gamified manner amidst the roar of virtual combat, suspending real killing.

 

 

 

       Technology is reshaping the nature of warfare with unprecedented "intrusiveness." From the combination of drones and unmanned boats on the Ukrainian battlefield revolutionizing combat modes, to the "macroscopic view" incorporating electromagnetic, cyber, and outer space into the battlefield; from "new cognitive domain warfare" targeting opponents' will and beliefs, to "virtual societal warfare under intelligent unmanned perspectives" opening up new dimensions of confrontation.


       Technology has created a "non-contact" battlefield far from human bodies, with its core ethical dilemma being: can the power of life and death decisions be delegated to algorithms? Will the abuse of autonomous weapons trigger a new type of rule-less arms race? However, technology can also be used for good. If artificial intelligence is subject to strict war ethics and international norms, it can become a powerful tool for "offset strategy games" - as demonstrated by the US military's AI-driven F-16 air combat tests or China's military modernization process, using disruptive technologies to establish asymmetric advantages, replacing hot war confrontations with "war game"-style technological competitions, determining victory and defeat on drone tracks or virtual sandboxes. 

       Without sending soldiers to the battlefield, without war casualties, advanced military technologies can be opened up to civilians, benefiting current humanity, and strategically reserving space technology for future generations to deal with potentially larger disasters that Earth may face in the future.

 

 

 

       Although the technical path has become apparent, its spiritual foundation is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom and contemporary ideals of the human community. Laozi's "non-contention" philosophy resonates like a great bell, directly pointing to the extreme form of "contention"—the harm of war—and calling for major countries to take on the responsibility of "being able to entrust the world." This remarkably converges with the dilemma and solution revealed in the American sci-fi blockbuster "Alien: Covenant": when humanity faces a lack of faith and future disasters, the only right path is to transcend divisions and unite to address common crises.

       The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is precisely the modern echo of this Eastern wisdom—it requires us to transcend zero-sum games and transform the "win-lose mentality" of technological confrontation into a "force for good" that fosters collaboration and mutual benefit. Now, as the risks of AI militarization grow ever larger, only through international cooperation can we build a strategic stability framework of "forward defense," uphold ethical principles first, and establish binding global guidelines to truly make the drone arena the end of human violence.

 

 

 

       The indicator lights on the drone race track have turned on, and their significance extends far beyond a mere technological competition. It is an ethical path through the fog of war, pointing towards a peaceful future of non-contact confrontation. When victory and defeat no longer hinge on lives, when great powers can lead humanity's shared destiny with the responsibility of "non-contention," the sharp edge of technology can truly transform into a sturdy shield to protect civilization. On this track, what we should be competing for is not the power of destruction, but the wisdom of creation and the courage of coexistence—this is the civilizational posture humans should adopt when facing the endless expanse of the cosmos.

       When drones light up the track, humans extinguish the fires of war on the battlefield - this is not only a victory of technology, but also civilization's triumph over its own violent genes.

责任编辑：P ang pei