[MUD-Dev] Killology (Was: Retention without Addiction?)

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

From: "Sasha Hart" <hart.s at attbi.com>

> Since Grossman is not exploiting any of the strengths of the
> technical terms, he ought to use plain english.

Grossman was an officer in the United States military.

Hence, he does not speak plain English. ;)

Specifically, "operant conditioning" in military-speak means
"pretending to do it over and over so you don't even think about it
when you have to really do it". But that doesn't mean you simulate
it on a computer; it simply wouldn't help. A military flight
simulator is operant conditioning, because you wire in the actual
motions necessary to control the plane in an emergency. But playing
Quake is not operant conditioning, because you're wiring in motions
that have nothing to do with firing a real gun. You can read books
about how to walk silently for years, and unless you go practice,
you're going to be just as stupid about it as anyone
else. Intellectually knowing what to do is not the same as actually
doing it.

Grossman fails to recognise that the various violent games may get
you used to the *idea* of killing someone, but the reality is very,
very different.  Whether you can program macros is an important
question in a game of Quake, but it's not going to mean squat when
you pick up an M1911 and rack the slide.


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