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Computers can calculate at staggering speed, but cannot match the human visual system's uncanny ability to assemble a coherent picture from ambiguous fragments in an image. The brain seems to home in effortlessly on the correct interpretation by using built-in knowledge of the statistics of the world to eliminate improbable solutions. (V. S. Ramachandran/Scientific American Mind )

What are the lessons from the past

Technology can easily become a double-edged sword. There is no doubt that technology is a vital component in national security. The question remains though, to what extent should it be used, and what is the right dose and mix of machines and real people to achieve the best results. There is no recorded evidence that the system, as a whole, has ever initiated a more in-depth look at the existing arsenal of hi-tech systems and sophisticated devices used on a daily basis in national security. This is because of ongoing events, the daily pressure and urgent developments, and because self-critique is a difficult task. Nevertheless, given the nature of the subject, homeland security, it must be done, preferably by external auditors.
Have we ever truly and honestly re-evaluated, using methodological tools, how much more quantitative and qualitative "security" is actually gained by using very complex and outrageously costly systems? In other words, do we really need all that technology, ranging from traditional to futuristic systems, to be able to effectively deal with the security challenges we are faced with today?

Since biblical times and earlier, enemies were conquered, countries succumbed, and war was won by gathering better real-time information, by applying deception and diversion methods, and by attacking the weakest link. Like Gideon and his 300 "special forces", like David who outsmarted the Philistines by killing Goliath thus preventing a battle where the Israelites had a slim chance of winning, or in the monumental trick of what came to be known as "the Trojan horse", winning was never a matter of only "in-your-face" brutal force, but a game in which the other side was outplayed, much like in a chess game. Outsmarting the more powerful enemy brought victory in many global events triggering regional and global changes. True, along history, wars were also won by armies outnumbering and overwhelming the enemy, but even then, some important victories came after hammering out

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