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[SalmonGod]

Those images seem to always be really popular, but it's a stupidly easy trick.  Maybe I should make a whole bunch of them and be internet famous.

I know that this sort of thing can be easily done in blender, but that's about it for me.

Any 3d program.  Just render two shots from slightly varied angles and alternate quickly between them.

[FearfulJesuit]

Yes this is a serious movie, why do you ask?

It's like...it's like...what meets what? Not sure...

[GlyphGryph]

Man, you folks don't have any experience with TCDCS? (trans-cranial direct current stimulation)

It's fucking awesome. Makes you smarter, more focused, happier. It's MOSTLY used by the military because of how much it increases learning rate. Its also remarkably safe, at least when applied properly. Of course, it needs more research all around.

http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2012/02/09/better-living-through-electrochemistry/
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328501.600-zap-your-brain-into-the-zone-fast-track-to-pure-focus.html
http://www.jove.com/video/2744/electrode-positioning-and-montage-in-transcranial-direct-current-stimulation

[Leafsnail]

So uh... no consideration of the placebo effect, eh?  Seems like it would be a pretty damn big factor.

And leaving that aside, that article is really freaking me out.  I mean, being able to honestly assess your own weaknesses is important.  As is being able to, say, consider the consequences and morality of your actions rather than just focusing on doing them.

[lordcooper]

And leaving that aside, that article is really freaking me out.  I mean, being able to honestly assess your own weaknesses is important.  As is being able to, say, consider the consequences and morality of your actions rather than just focusing on doing them.

Those things are major drawbacks for a soldier.

[612DwarfAvenue]

Yes this is a serious movie, why do you ask?

It's like...it's like...what meets what? Not sure...

Oh god...

That was cringe-inducing...


As for that tDCS, that sounds pretty damn interesting, i gotta say.

[Siquo]

So, I'm designing a magic modular rune-system that works a bit like electricity diagrams. When I come back into the room after doing other stuff, right below my component definitions there's suddenly a completed diagram. Obviously drawn by 3yr old mini-Siquette copying my designs, but still a bit WTF.

[MaximumZero]

See what she does with the schematics to a Stargate.

[Leafsnail]

And leaving that aside, that article is really freaking me out.  I mean, being able to honestly assess your own weaknesses is important.  As is being able to, say, consider the consequences and morality of your actions rather than just focusing on doing them.

Those things are major drawbacks for a soldier.

Well, major drawbacks if you're there to indiscriminately kill people.

[kaijyuu]

A soldier's job is to "follow orders," nothing more. Indiscriminately killing people is (hopefully) not what they're ordered to do.

Second guessing is indeed a major drawback when your purpose is to do what you're told. A soldier isn't acting as a person, they're acting as a tool in someone else's hand (and all the resulting implications).

[Simmura McCrea]

A soldier's job is to "follow orders," nothing more. Indiscriminately killing people is (hopefully) not what they're ordered to do.

Second guessing is indeed a major drawback when your purpose is to do what you're told. A soldier isn't acting as a person, they're acting as a tool in someone else's hand (and all the resulting implications).

Not in every case. I believe (but have no real evidence beyond "I think I read it somewhere") that your average soldier has a fair idea of why a given mission is made, in case their superiors die and they have to take some initiative. Pretty sure this was a strength of blitzkrieg too.

[Leafsnail]

They won't make every decision for you.  I'm pretty sure a lot of snipers would be told to "take out threats" (with part of their job being to identify those threats) rather than always be given individual targets.  Assuming this electric thing actually works, what it seems to do is make you amazingly good at shooting people without having to think about anything else.  In other words you could end up happily shooting everyone in the area without first gauging whether they're actually a threat to the mission.

Although having thought about this more recently it occurs to me that the far greater problem is the possibility of permanent side effects.  As in, this procedure is meant to have a lasting impact on the brain.  Even if we were to assume that having all background thoughts switched off is useful for a sniper and that they can be kept under control while in that state they could well be stuck like that permanently.  And being stuck constantly focusing is no way to live a life.

[GlyphGryph]

Except you're reading way more into it than actually resulted. The effects are, from everything I've seen, fairly equivalent to Adderall. It does not diminish your ability to make intelligent decisions. It just drowns ou the background noise. And most smart people? They can already turn that shit off. This probably won't even do anything to help them.

Even then, this already happens naturally for most everyone now and again! Like the article says, this happens whenever someone goes "into the zone" - a state many professionals spend a lot of time seeking out, and those who are really good can almost slip into it at will. It does not make you start shooting people indiscriminately or otherwise turn you into an unthinking machine. :/

And the effects last only as long as the current does (though there are supposedly general increased mood effects for a couple hours afterwards in some subjects)

[Skyrunner]

I get into that state when I take a test OR be a DM. Now if only I could apply the DM state to studying.

[kaijyuu]

Ultimately I don't see it as any different than what they normally do to soldiers, only now with Mad Science. If we're concerned about morality, maybe we should stop training them to be sociopaths in the first place. Except then they wouldn't be as good at shooting people we don't like.


On a different note, this could have applications outside of the military. There's such a thing as too many inhibitions. ADHD and anxiety sufferers could benefit from added focus.