In The Moral Imperative of Our Time, an anthology from thought leader, Brigadier General USA (Retired) Wayne Michael Hall, contends that the United States is woefully unprepared for the future of global competition-conflict. Our nation is facing a severe decline in individual and collective intellects coupled with an overreliance on emerging technologies such as AI/ML to do our thinking and planning. Mike Hall makes a compelling, riveting argument that the United States and its allies need to significantly reconsider current methods of assessing threat and engaging adversaries.

Hall convincingly argues that humankind must aggressively continue to expand mental capacity via lifelong learning. You will find the book’s universal theme of learning “how to think” is an essential and unconditional prerequisite to this end. This cognitive improvement effort must be purposeful and occur within one’s mind, transferred from mentors to acolytes, and deliberately promulgated throughout organizations.

While America has increasingly focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other enabling technologies, our adversaries, both state and non-state, have increasingly adopted blended forms of competition-conflict and statecraft (fighting without fighting). These enemies are gearing up to continue to learn, to change with the improvement of technology, and to fight differently in the information age.

In recent years, there has been an explosion in the use of technology and AI to help people solve problems and make decisions. While this has undoubtedly led to many improvements in various fields, there are also growing concern regarding the associated decline on human cognitive abilities. Part of the reason for this decline lies in overreliance on technology by expecting machines to do our thinking. Dependence on technology such as AI can make us intellectually lazy by reducing our need to think critically and creatively. When we rely on technology to solve problems and make decisions for us, we are less likely to engage in active thinking and problem solving. Instead, we become passive recipients of information, blindly trusting technology to provide us with the answers we need.

Similarly, people accept and receive the vast majority of their intellectual feeds from platforms such as social media and TV with little desire to challenge the validity of the facts provided or exegete the messages presented. There is a pressing need to cultivate essential skills that are indispensable for success. The abilities of critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving stand out as some of the most critical skills to master. These skills enable us to comprehend the reasons why things are as they are, the influential forces and factors at play, and empower us to develop strategies and alternatives to make change.

Hall presses decision-makers to empower the mind to outpace adversaries and competitors. His challenge to us is to learn how to better utilize the human brain to outthink foes and competitors while staying abreast of and leveraging the advantages technologies provide.

Through a compilation of essays written by the author over the past thirty-three years, the book discusses, at length, a variety of workable methods and actions decision and policy makers can take to combat a growing neglect toward learning how to think at high-levels. These include:

– Changing how military school systems cultivate the human mind to learn how to think at sufficiently high-levels to outthink all enemies
– Establishing true, dedicated thought leaders throughout military organizations
– Understanding that the concept of “how to think” proves dynamic and continually evolving
– Recognizing threats before they develop and strategizing ways to circumvent the potential danger they represent

Hall is taking each of us on an intellectual journey of discovery, focused on military intelligence, information, analysis and decision-making. The book while focused on military leaders is applicable to decision makers across the military, United States Government, and foreign partners. Mike Hall has written what should be the standard for anyone interested in disciplined critical thinking. The Moral Imperative of Our Time is an invaluable guide to the coming era of conflict, competition and statecraft and a timely warning that the U.S. is not doing enough to prevail and outpace our adversary.

Ryan J. Whittington
Colonel
U.S. Army, Retired