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Training From America's Army Game Saved a Life
russoc4 writes "Most people who play the United States Army's freeware FPS sit through training simulations so that they may be able to get into the action and rack up some kills. The medic skills learned in the training allow you to heal teammates in the game, but it seems that they also apply in real life situations. According to Wired and the America's Army forums, 'a North Carolina man who saw an SUV flip and roll on a highway last November was able to provide medical aid to the victims with skills he learned from the America's Army.'" See? We learn things from videogames! Feign Death works sometimes, too.
Of course it comes from a press release, do you think that ABC/CBS/CNN/etc would ever print something positive about either the military or a recruitment tool?
You are not a medic.
Please tell me you guys aren't buying into this crap. With the US at war, an all time low for military enrollment, and the army desperately trying to recruit people through a fucking video game, this is just propaganda bullshit.
Please someone recognize it for what it is.
insightful?
what the fuck is insightful about this drivel? fucking mods are on crack....
No amount of laws will stop stupidity. What we need are LESS laws, and MORE responsibility. Responsibility will not occur until the safety net of government backup disappears. Then, and ONLY then will "illegal immigration", shitty products, dangerous foods and other such ridiculous things disappear.
While I'm a Ron Paul supporter and normally a believer in personal responsibility, you have to draw the line somewhere I think. This is why we have things like the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal crash standards, etc.
While it'd be great if everyone was far more active in researching their purchases, there's a limit to how much a typical consumer can do in determining if a product is safe or not. Most people aren't engineers or other technical types. Even people who are engineers can't know everything about every product they buy. For instance, how do you know that the food you just bought at the grocery store isn't tainted with bacteria or heavy metal pollution? Have you tested it? Do you test every piece of food you get? I thought not. I certainly don't have the expertise or equipment to test my food for safety, and I imagine most other people also don't.
Similarly, most people aren't automotive engineers, and don't know much about vehicles. They just get in, start the engine, put it in "drive", and go. Most Americans can't even operate a manual transmission vehicle. While we certainly need more driver training in this country, like some other countries do, there's still a limit to what you can expect from a lowly vehicle operator. You can't give regular consumers a car which is extremely tail-happy and expect them to operate it safely; such a vehicle simply shouldn't be available to purchase, or if it is, some sort of certification should be required so that the person doesn't pose a safety hazard to himself and others. This is similar to aircraft, especially helicopters. Anyone who knows about helicopters knows they simply CANNOT be flown by an untrained pilot, even an experienced fixed-wing pilot. Flying a helicopter has been compared to juggling while walking on a beach ball; many of the maneuvers are counterintuitive, and failure to react properly and quickly means certain death. These machines are extremely dangerous, but people with a large amount of training fly them safely all the time, but this depends on training, and testing and certification from the FAA. There's no similar program for SUV drivers as there is for pilots, nor do I think there should be since cars, station wagons, and trucks are already available for consumers which aren't as top-heavy as SUVs (or, in the case of trucks, aren't normally meant for carrying families around, only work equipment and cargo). There's also "hybrid SUV" designs available which aren't as top-heavy as some. Helicopters are a special case since they do things that no other machine can, and through their cost have a very high barrier to entry.
Part of living in a society with a government means giving the government the power (and responsibility) to ensure some of these things are safe for our consumption, so we don't all have to waste our own time and effort trying to do so ourselves (and most of us not doing it at all and being shafted). There is a cost to society through taxation, yes, but it's worth it for the economic and social benefits it brings us. Unfortunately, our government is failing us with SUVs by allowing the top-heavy models to be sold, in spite of their extremely unsafe designs.