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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...

6 of 493 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hmm by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Informative

    Xenocide in Ender's case.

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    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  2. Why is this so hard? by corbettw · · Score: 5, Informative
    People, if you insist on submitting stories from The NY Times, replace 'www' with 'archive'. This isn't rocket science. Hell, it doesn't even count as computer science.

    Like so

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    God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  3. Re:Hmm by SpectreGadget · · Score: 5, Informative

    Only at the end. What made Ender a really successful tactician was his ability to think wwwaaaayyyyyyy outside the norm (for them at the time) for strategy. He displayed it right away when he was heading to the station and automatically re-oriented himself when gravity went away. In the zero-g battle room, he was so successful because he threw everyone off by being so innovative.

    In the end, xenocide was a result of his actions, but not his intentions. That's what the rest of the books were about!

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    Jim Harry
  4. Re:What I remember of Ender's Game. by JASP2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Get a Grip... and read the article. For one thing, yes in "Enders game" there was confusion and the "enemy" was destroyed, when in essance they were supposidly peaceful. However, they attack Earth first, unknowingly, and assumed we weren't a true life-form. Earth defended itself the best way they could...

    This xenocide correlation bullshit is just assanine, that's not what the article is saying. It actually says very little about "ender's game", but... the point is using High-Tech Simulations to train Army and MARINES. The post says Army when a big part of the article is talking about Marine sims too.

    As a former Army Captain... Sims work, and save you tax money. Our Military is the best fighting force in the world... and the most compassionate and ethical. Simulations also help soldiers learn how to deal with media, civilians and wounded enemy. That's why we are the best.

  5. Leadership by FFtrDale · · Score: 4, Informative
    It's also on the U.S. Naval Academy's reading list for prospective Marine Corps officers. The reading list [sorry, please cut & paste] is at

    http://www.usna.edu/Library/Marineread.htm

    The main focus of the book for me was that Ender's primary character trait was the ability to get people to want to do as he asked them to do (OK, ordered - it took place in a military setting). As they did so, they learned that their abilities were more than they'd ever imagined. The conclusion of the book is a warning that Nuremburg was real, and that everyone is responsible for his own actions. And yes, that war is not a game.

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    Think, write, think, edit, think...then post.
  6. Re:Americans? Imperialist? Don't make me laugh! by Evil+Pete · · Score: 3, Informative

    What an enormous chunk of hubris.

    After WW2 America had enormous goodwill in the minds of many nations. That stayed even after Vietnam (though a little faded). But now no-one trusts America. Which is really sad, and scary too. After the Cold War there was no fundamental reason for the West to stay together, in fact I remember Gorbachev saying to a reporter that the days of the West were numbered because they [Russia] had removed the main reason for it to hold together. But it didn't have to be sabotaged the way it was! The next 10 years could be very dangerous for us all because of Bush. I fear this far more than the 9/11 attacks. There is no fundamental reason why in 10 years the EU / Russia / China could not be pointing nukes at the US and banning imports from the US. The USA now needs the world more than the world needs the USA , it isn't the 1950s anymore.

    Just my 2 cents.

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    Bitter and proud of it.