[ a semi-random response to current correspondence as I also make a
commitment to catch up on a MONTH of backed-up in-box contents . . .]
In a message dated 10/5/00 4:39:22 AM Central Daylight Time,
eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de writes:
> That would make him the guard dog, not the wolf. Notice that he's not
> immune from delayed onset of (<forgot the terminus technicus>)
> symptoms (Jerry Leaf, another data point). Despite the conditioning,
> the majority of us can't kill humans with impunity. (I do wonder about
> paintball and VR type of combat simulator games, media violence being
> a relatively minor point).
Interesting observation. Having grown up with firearms and having had early
formal training in gun safety at my dad's insistence, I had an experience
bearing on this a few years ago. Playing paintball with some friends, I had
gotten myself positioned as a "forward scout" protecting our flag-theft team
from a well camoflaged position near the main route to the Bad Guy's goal.
We had infiltrated through the Bad Guy's flag-guards without detection. I
suddenly saw the opposing player who would be the one to detect our
infiltration team's return from grabbing the flag. He didn't see me and I
had a clear shot at him through the heavy East Texas brush. I drew a bead on
him but, for a moment had the oddest sensation of deep safeguards within my
mind kicking in: "Don't Point Guns at People. Don't Shoot People" a strong,
clear voice from my childhood spoke in my head. I had to consciously tell
myself that the weapon in my hand wasn't a "real" gun before I could pull the
trigger.
I'd played paintball before and hadn't had this experience. The difference
was the "cold blooded" nature of the shot I was about to take. In the "heat
of battle" it had never been difficult to shoot a paintball at someone . . . .
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
ICQ # 61112550
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:15 MDT