Re: erm... power armour

Tom, hope you don't mind but I'll also post this to the list since it's
pertinent.

tom.anderson@altavista.net wrote:

> las you may have guessed, that email was supposed to be to the list.
> my mail system is convinced that i am not on a mailing list, but that
> every day dozens of people send me personal messages, so i have to
> type in the list address *every damn time*. that time i missed. sorry.
> you might think about sending your mail to the list, it was good.
>

I know I make that mistake a lot since I conduct lots of private email
with list members and I always forget what's going where!

> anyway, you have a good point about the disuse of muscles. i was
> thinking either that the user would have to have serious neural/mental
> training, or use some sort of neurosuppressant on his PNS. or, his
> muscles could keep acting, but just wouldn't be doing anything useful.
>
>

There was one other thing I thought of also. A lot of military training
is based on attaining "muscle memory" or unthinking action to cause a
certain function, as this has been found more effective than having to
think of stuff. Even in the non-military world. For instance I play
guitar. A lot of stuff, especially when playing leads, is based on
establishing muscle memory with your fingers. (i.e. learning the
scales)  Then while you are racing along the fret, your mind, is
thinking along a more "holistic approach" to the piece you are
performing, while you're fingers are carrying out the instructions
without being micro managed. This is hard to explain, but lets say
during a lead, I want a certain 3 second long riff, containing a dozen
notes and bends, to be followed by a different 4 second riff, then end
up with a 2 second thing. I don't actually think of every little note.
(Which could contains over 100 individual movements on each finger! (Or
maybe I feel the whole piece and that's as far as the thinking goes) In
any event, it is like your <ctrl> meta K example. I think of the sounds
and my fingers carry out each memorized little preprogrammed riff
without further conscious effort. It's kind of interesting. I see a
neural interface taking advantage of that type of learned muscle memory
also. I mean, that's how we walk run etc. etc. I have a weapons jam,
I've recognized it somewhere in my subconscious, my fingers perform the
operation while my mind is thinking of other things like assessing local
threats, etc.

I think if you take advantage of muscle memory you are gaining two
advantages:
1. It sure as hell makes programming the suit software a hell of a lot
easier and alleviates memory storage requirements.
2. It makes training easier since you are not forcing people to unlearn
muscle memory by disassociating willed action from "doing or feeling".
This speeds up training and puts more guys in the field. IIRC I think
you were planning on having your whole army in PA? This speeds up
training and candidate suitability as well as replacement of casualties
amongst other things.
3. Use of the muscles multiplies the range of responses and actions that
the suit can perform (simultaneously).	It's "unnatural" not to use the
muscles, which makes training doubly long and difficult. In particular
in any situation where stress and danger are presented, it is natural
human instinct to revert back to baser responses and instincts. That's
what make muscular action such a plus.

Now, not that I haven't thought on your scenario for a bit. To make it
work, then you do have to go the nuerosuppressant route. But that's
pretty advanced chemistry, shutting off all muscle movement while
keeping the brain and sensation of balance, feeling, etc. 100% sharp.
And while you are at it, you will have to shut down the flow of
adrenaline and other chemicals that are sent to the body by the brain to
get those muscles cranking. All those things floating around could very
well work against a non functioning body. But what is that buying you?
What advantage does that have? Might as well just knock the guy out all
together and have the suit work on it's own, using select functions off
the  guys brain. Not turning off the muscles could lead to injuries
particularly in very stressful situations and at the very least will
distract the user.

But frankly I don't see any advantage whatsoever to not using the
muscles to assist in operation of the suit. That's the thing about all
humans since the beginning of time. Fight or flight. Combat remains a
visceral event when it is our hide at stake. The body and mind is are
specifically designed to perform at their best in this situation. It is
feeling and doing, unconsciously, as well as conscious action that makes
us lethal. An effective suit amplifies these actions instead of seeking
to replace or circumnavigate them with it's own.

The neural net is a great idea for anyone operating a piece of military
equipment
 It should strive to reduce our actions in combat back down to "stick
and rudder" or "seat of the pants", which is how humans were designed to
operate. Take away all the higher level distraction which comes from
sensory overload. There's your advantage.

> the trouble with the RPV is the comms link. this is why we have manned
> vehicles today. i assume that jamming will keep up with comms
> security, and that's another argument

I agree. And we've had this discussion on the net a while back
pertaining to fighters.

> altogether (although DS2 does specify that unjammable comms exist).
> the 'big suit' is a good idea, but the size might be a problem - the
> bigger you are, the easier you are to hit, etc. you start down the
> mecha route. the macro comands were really intended as an adjuct to
> immediate-mode control.

Particularly in the Mecha example, (Well I can only speak towards your
more popular type of mechawarrior or battletech universe examples) you
are piloting this thing rather than wearing it. You are using your hands
and feet to operate certain controls, like a pilot. The neural net is
tapping into your brain for several vital functions. One, it is using
your internal sense of balance to keep the mech upright, and it's also
tapping into your head for higher function thought like targetting,
communications etc. etc.

Anyway, it's quite fascinating to banter about. I'll be addressing PA in
my story within a few chapters (as the main assault on Rot Hafen begins)
so all this discussion is coming very handy.

I also scammed a couple gross of small black ants and spiders. I took
some GW epic 40k space marines and am mounting painting and mounting
them individually as PA for some DS scenarios.

Los