Posted on 01/18/2008 7:15:08 PM PST by fr_freak
Think playing video games is little more than a great way to waste time? Then you haven't met Paxton Galvanek. Last November, the twenty-eight year-old helped rescue two victims from an overturned SUV on the shoulder of a North Carolina interstate. As the first one on the scene, Galvanek safely removed both individuals from the smoking vehicle and properly assessed and treated their wounds, which included bruises, scrapes, head trauma and the loss of two fingers.
(Excerpt) Read more at us.i1.yimg.com ...
My wonder is: How come we can’t apply these same learning techniques to America’s classrooms?
Gee—and I’ve been trying to discourage my grandson from spending so much time playing games with his X-Box.....
Actually I believe that many agencies and at least one branch of the military use games as instructional materials. The British and our own Navy had a game company create games that would simulate emergency situations. I don’t know the specifics but believe the “emergencies” had something to do with practicing responses to terrorist attacks. So clearly this is an excellent device for learning.
statistically speaking, this is probably what they call a "black swan."
just what we need, a still more effective way to turn young people into leftists.
Because it’s Army training. The NEA would freak out lol
This is a planted story.
There is absolutely no doubt that it was the American’s Army military PR staff that contacted this reporter Ben Silverman and spoonfed him this story. Absolutely no doubt that the America’s Army PR staff coached and fed the hero of this tory his quotes for publications. Having done the entire 10 minutes it takes to do the “medic training” in the AA game, this story comes off as beyond a disgusting sham, reeks of desperation on the part of the AA development staff, and is outright pathetic.
Erm... Not so much.
Most people my age grew up playing video games. One of the things I’ve noticed with my generation as opposed to those that came before is that in cases of crises, those who grew up being thrown shock after shock and surprise after surprise are a lot less likely to lock up in a sudden emergency.
Why? Because when Cthulu jumped out of a dark corner at you at 2am on your computer - and you BEAT him, having a car accident happen in front of you isn’t much of a shock by comparison.
There was a kid in FL who used the two-gun technique plus the tactics he’d learned from Halo 2 to save his family from an armed home invader. Kid 1, perp 0, furniture 0 (perp shot up furniture kid was using for cover.)
Because automated teaching like this would render 90% of teachers useless and unemployed. And the NEA wouldn’t like that.
A computer program is fully capable of teaching most subjects to a student without supervision.
because a make-believe cthulu jumped out at you from a make-believe corner on a make believe night, some misguided kid is going to it, too. I suppose it's a good thing you're prepared for him, but a guy who grew up in a very real world has to wonder, doesn't life present enough challenges and opportunities without having to make pretend?
In other words, the "reality" you're prepared for is a product of the unreality you grew up in.
So if that's a good thing, Cheers.
Only people who grew up in closets without normal human interaction can really believe this.
get some fresh air. take a saturday morning and go fishing. Take that freaking iPod out of your ears and go to a coffee shop. Start a conversation with a human being -- a conversation whose end you don't know from the beginning with a being you cannot control.
It's called "living."
You are aware that the military is using video games to train its officers and enlisted now, right?
But, you say, how can this be? It doesn’t prepare them for the realities of combat, since it is not real.
Well, it turns out it’s more effective than many of the “traditional” advanced training techniques. Surprise!
Let me guess. You’re about 50 or older, right?
Hm. So, you’re saying that people should be outside having conversations with each other.
Why are you on FR, then?
Your reaction presumes -- invokes the unannounced presumption -- that if growing up with a joystick duct-taped to your palm is not a good thing, then any and all "virtual" training is not a good thing. Don't recall saying that.
Please consider your presumptions, I'll consider mine.
The military has pioneered intensive training for intensive situations since before even I was born. But intensive situations are not normal life. Or at least they weren't, before two generations were raised to believe they were by the media age and its pernicious child, the "gaming" culture.
In NYC, it's after midnight and below freezing. Is that a good enough reason not to be out "having a conversation?"
Nope. If games and the virtual world have no benefits, then that’s not a good enough reason.
There are always 24 hour coffeeshops in New York City; you could also view the cold and misery you have to endure to get there as “character building.” So, get off FR and get thee to thy coffeeshop for a conversation.
Or be labelled a hypocrite. Your choice.
All fallacies.
as someone once wrote about the digital age, "you're either a one or you're a zero.And, given that humans' view of the world is colored by their view of themselves, ergo, it's all ones and zeros.
Not!
It's fun to go out into a city where everyone wears earbuds or stares into their Blackberries.
Many companies use computer training for new hires; saves other employees having to spend time bringing someone up to speed on the inner workings of the company.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.