Developing a "Spidey Sense"

Started by LongBlade, March 12, 2012, 07:38:43 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

LongBlade

QuoteOrdinary soldiers have sometimes shown a battlefield sixth sense that has saved lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the U.S. military wants to better understand that "spidey sense" and train troops to tap their inner superhero instincts.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/06/us-military-seeks-spidey-sense-training/
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Gusington

If not done properly I could see this not ending well, like Army LSD experiments from the 50s.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

bayonetbrant

they've been working on this since at least 2008.  Smuck was involved w/ an outfit in Cleveland doing CTAs on Marines that were downrange trying to ID what subliminal cues guys were picking up to make decisions.

There was also an article in the NYT (IIRC) about 3 years ago that covered much of the same ground.  I think we discussed it a bunch in the olde countrie.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

besilarius

I love this kind of stuff, but have to wonder how much is just the "old pro" lat work.
Knew a really gnarly old PO1 who worked the boilers on the oiler USS Truckee.
He bunked over the number two fireroom, and one night bolted out of his rack and hightailed it below.
He got to the bottom of the ladder and just listened for a minute, shushing the watch.
Then he ran over to the feedwater controls and started opening the mains.
After a minute or so, he set them back and gave the senior watchstander a hard time.
Turned out that a new fireman had retarded the feed without knowing he had to check it constantly.  It hadn't reached the point that the boilers were going to explode, but it was headed that way.
Next day, the XO asked Gonzalez how he had known.  All he could say was that the steam "sounded funny."
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been playing with two queens all along".  Terry Pratchett.

During filming of Airplane, Leslie Nielsen used a whoopee cushion to keep the cast off-balance. Hays said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro"

Tallulah Bankhead: "I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."

"When all other trusts fail, turn to Flashman." — Abraham Lincoln.

"I have enjoyed very warm relations with my two husbands."
"With your eyes closed?"
"That helped."  Lauren Bacall

Master Chiefs are sneaky, dastardly, and snarky miscreants who thrive on the tears of Ensigns and belly dancers.   Admiral Gerry Bogan.

Sigma One

Listen, in the 80s I played around in radioactive ooze to be a ninja turtle, and you know what happened?

I had to pay medical and trespassing bills.

Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Staggerwing

Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Martok

Quote from: besilarius on March 13, 2012, 06:16:18 PM
I love this kind of stuff, but have to wonder how much is just the "old pro" lat work.
I was wondering that as well. 

Some of this has to come by simple experience.  Others just seem to have a stronger "sixth sense" than others.  I don't know that it's something that can really be learned. 




Quote from: besilarius on March 13, 2012, 06:16:18 PM
Knew a really gnarly old PO1 who worked the boilers on the oiler USS Truckee.
He bunked over the number two fireroom, and one night bolted out of his rack and hightailed it below.
He got to the bottom of the ladder and just listened for a minute, shushing the watch.
Then he ran over to the feedwater controls and started opening the mains.
After a minute or so, he set them back and gave the senior watchstander a hard time.
Turned out that a new fireman had retarded the feed without knowing he had to check it constantly.  It hadn't reached the point that the boilers were going to explode, but it was headed that way.
Next day, the XO asked Gonzalez how he had known.  All he could say was that the steam "sounded funny."
Cool story, besilarius.  Thank goodness for Mr. Gonzalez! 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

MikeGER

#9
"spidey sense" and "inner superhero instincts" are misleading expressions >:(

(...that's more like Sheldon is able to sense Mandarine from Orange flavored chicken while Lenard is even just about unpacking the paperbag from their local takeout ;) ) 

spraying a young tadpole with salt doesn't make hims a salty Sarge

i think those stuff came only with real experiences or exercises that are as close to reality as it get.
simulations are better then none, but the tiny -noises, -airpressure changes, -smells, the total exhaustion, hours of watchfull boredom interupted by splitsecond firefight and the 'restrained mortal fear' (the later three heavily individual altering the soldiers biochemistry in his unique brain, while the developing situation is sucked in) cant be wargamed ... yet!

INHO: we get close to a time, were its better start investing more in AI and semi-autonomic robots and send them in first through the door will be more effective, then trying to develop a 5-sense-VR-simulator, which - may or may not - be able to hone a 'sixth sense'.  ...better call it Subliminal Situation Awareness

(first step wold be kind of 'Walking Predator' drones ... steered from a local FOB ...early models maybe not on two legs so, who will get more and more SA for autonomic-self preservation like seeking cover&concealment...and picking out target...  while weapon safety on/off switch will stay human remote control"      ...well, 'Clones' are not an option ;) ...and personaly i would trust an "Eichelhäher"-Rheinmetall SentryBot more then an ANA-guy guarding a mixed encampment in Stan these days)

     

spelk

We don't need a "spidey sense" we need SUPER SOLDIER SERUM!!!

And a shield made of Vibranium! :)

Mr. Bigglesworth

Lots of people can develop their 6th sense with years of training. They have trained themselves for years to ignore the primitive parts of their brain. It must be undone.


Black belts go from being a couple yards away to slamming a fist (or whatever) into an opponent in about 2/10ths of a second. Basically twitch speed. If you wait to see or hear it you get a massive bruise for your foolishness. You will never be able to accelerate away in time after see, move. It must be feel the decision to strike, move. Both movements are twitch speed at the same time. Even blindfolded, with a strike from behind, its the same thing. You do this 1000s of times for years and it is instinct. It will save your ass when others will be seriously injured trying to think about it.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; "
- Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598

MIGMaster

I often wondered why Peter Parker didn't join the Marines ? Is Captain America the only superhero with time in the services ? What about Bucky ? I remember reading an issue of Iron Man ( I think I was 7) where he was fighting in either Vietnam or Korea with the military....

Superheros and military service...where do you stand on the issue ?

LongBlade

Quote from: MIGMaster on March 28, 2012, 09:34:25 PM
Superheros and military service...where do you stand on the issue ?

It's difficult to slip into a secret identity to go fight crime when you're supposed to be in the field training.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

meadbelly

I wonder how often a sixth sense turns out to be a false positive. In other words, is a sixth sense essentially just a heightened state of awareness that is identified as a sixth sense when the patrol is ambushed, but isn't if the patrol ends without incident.

I'm not dismissing the phenomena at all.