[samograd]

Can't we just do that in a computer and pretend that things were destroyed and killed? Maybe calculate the transfer of wealth that would have occurred as a consequence of inferior algorithms leading to the destruction of your virtual societies?

[benologist]

Then you'd need a real army to enforce the victory.

[samograd]

I'm sure the financial sector is ready to take on such a challenge.

[Lockyy]

This only works when both sides are sufficiently advanced and willing to take part in the system. You would still need an army for when enemyCountryX decides that they can just pummel you because you're busy playing video games.

[samograd]

“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”

― Albert Einstein

ie. We are peaceful, they are not, so we must not rest lest they destroy us while we sleep, and we must destroy them while they are.

[melling]

Wasn't this already answered in an episode of Star Trek from the 1960s?

[samograd]

That was the basis of these thoughts, except for the fact that in that episode they would calculate the casualties and vaporize them; my idea is based on the pure transfer of 'wealth' that would have occurred through the destruction and re-allocation of the 'resources' from the 'loser' to the 'winner'. No actual death need occur directly due to violence but only through purely economic and financial means (job loss, starvation), similar to what has already happened after the last 'Financial Crisis' in developing countries.

[toomuchtodo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon