Slashdot Mirror
Ender's Game Influences US Army Training
PortWineBoy writes "Although we've been bombarded in the last few weeks with techno tales of the U.S. Army, I found this
story in the NY Times (FRRYYY) to be quite interesting. The director of the Army's simulation technology center said that Ender's game influenced how and what they will build for future training." Begin Mazer Rackham Analogies...
Given the skillz of the Iraqi army, "whack-a-mole" is a better training simulator.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I read the book about 5 years ago, so I might not remember correctly, but didn't a giant ant tell Ender that everything was cool afterward?
Yes, because nonsentient creatures build massive space fleets all the time.
In other news, many birth order analysts have also been heavily influenced by Ender's Game, and have written a new book entitled Seeking the Third, in which they compare children's traits to the three Wiggin's children based on the order of their birth.
"First-borns tend to have strong world domination tendencies" says Dr. Oliver Knapthf, one of the contributors to the book, "they are frequently deceptive geniuses who should be watched closely and never trusted."
In chapter five, "Embracing the Seconds", second-borns (called "Valentine's") are referred to as the glue that often holds families together.
Though the book seems to favor third-borns (a surprising number of the authors are "Thirds"), giving them such titles as "the Saviors of mankind" and "misunderstood saints", Dr. Knapthf claims this is not true. "They are all necessary. The evil first-borns and the torn, empathic second -borns; you can't achieve a Third without a First and a Second."
My hippie parents have told me my whole life that the video games I've been playing are just part of a government scheme to train an entire generation into an army of super-soldiers. Because locking, loading and firing an M-16 is just like pressing the CTRL key. Yeah, I thought it was funny too, until I got drafted. The B2 I fly controls just like Star Fox.
Those who plan their wars based on Ender's Game are doomed to fight wars based on Dune.
+4 Informative?? H'okay, but I figured that the third book being called Xenocide was a bit of a give-away. (I did meet OSC back while he was trying to think of a name for that book. I suggested "Dead Ender". He did did seem to ponder that for a moment, but perhaps he was being polite.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
The rush to Baghdad. The enemy's goal is down!