2022 Connections Wargaming Award

“I had at my disposal, in the form of my colleagues, three powerful intellectual weapons with which to fight mystical thinking, none more powerful than Doctor Stephen Downes-Martin. He brought to bear his deep analytical experience … to many of the problems the Navy and other organizations brought to CNWS. He also served as my intellectual foil, calling me out when my own thinking strayed into mystical territory. In this capacity he aided me when I assumed directorship of wargaming and later deanship of CNWS. Stephen eventually became the intellectual conscience for the whole College, not only hectoring intellectual miscreants but offering courses on clear thinking. As a conscience, especially one that is unyielding in the matter of logic and intellectual ethics, Stephen has won few popularity contests, and thus has not been exactly showered with recognition.

That changes right now. Stephen, would you join me up here?”

Robert “Barney” Rubel — Keynote at Connections 2022