As an Artillery Officer, I saw many parallels in the premise of that book. Firstly, the ability of young people to suspend reality or to see answers to real problems in a video game. I managed 42 Forward Observers (FOs). Their job in a combat scenario was to call in grid coordinates for indirect fire support (artillery, air support, mortars). To hone their skills, I would meet in a room called the GUARDFIST which was a video game on a big screen.
My FOs would use the game to learn the art of Field Artillery. By playing a virtual reality of real life combat situations, my FOs were able to calibrate their eye and learn tricks that otherwise would be replicated in an actual life or death environment. One can argue that the GUARDFIST saved lived by enabling training in a safe environment but it also used video games, as in Ender to eventually or potentially lead to killing. The lines are blurred. My FOs were Artillerymen and saw the lethality of war as a profession...a job. The personalization in something that could be hectic or result in loss of life is turned into technical skills performed in a profession.
Video games enable the ability for higher thinking. Real life situations can become intellectual exercise. As I have stated in other blogs, a video game enables specific situations to be reviewed and attempted to the point of changing how one actually reacts. Strategy is refined for moments that were previously so inconsequential that most would never prepare for it. It is observed mostly in sports. In the form of onside kicks, two point conversions, or even allowing an opposing team to score to get the ball back. These strategies are experienced in video games. This can also apply to other strategy games.
I never had the chance to read Ender's Game but did watch the movie. I'm not sure how closely it follows but from your description it does. You connected it to your military experience perfectly. It is better that our soldiers are able to practice their "job" in a safe environment of a video game. They gain an expertise as Ender did. But at the very least, your FOs knew that it was practice for real life. Ender did not. He was tricked to believe that it was only a video game and not committing genocide. Every gamer should know if it is for realty or just a game.
ReplyDeleteThe same applies when out congress to the lethality of war. There is a disconnect between function and technical aptitude versus the empathy for humanity. It is very easy to do in gaming and repetition. Muscle memory suppresses the human element of emotion. Out applies in Enders Game as well in the training of troops. There is a disconnect from the destruction of life.
ReplyDeleteThe same applies when out congress to the lethality of war. There is a disconnect between function and technical aptitude versus the empathy for humanity. It is very easy to do in gaming and repetition. Muscle memory suppresses the human element of emotion. Out applies in Enders Game as well in the training of troops. There is a disconnect from the destruction of life.
ReplyDeleteUnder most maker movement methodology there is requirement of awareness on behalf of the gamer. As in most Combat scenarios, the folks doing the killing are detached from carnage but are very close to technical training and repetition.
ReplyDelete