Hi Weirdbeard,
We had a fairly long discussion on them when the article came out (here). As to the differences, after cooling down , I think the main difference is in spin and purpose. The basic idea behind the HTTs is that you would have an Anthropologist or Sociologist doing active research that would have both an immediate and a long term benefit in terms of better "understanding".
Now, I'll admit to being biased and thinking that getting Anthropologists (and occasional Sociologists) into the field is a good idea. I think we have a lot to offer in the current war effort, despite what some of my <shudder> colleagues may say .
To actually answer your question, I think the real differences between HTTs and THTs is in the temporal dimension - we (aka Anthropologists) think in a very different time horizon from Intel people - ours tends to be in millenia even if it has immediate applications.
Marc
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