Re: erm... power armour

 ---- los wrote: 
> tom.anderson@altavista.net wrote:
> 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.

absolutely. just like riding a bike. i remember when i learned, my dad
kept shouting "ride from your navel, not your head!". this was during
his buddhist phase, but even so; at the time i thought he was bonkers
but now i understand what he means. when i cycle, i'm thinking "right,
shall i go along by the railway or through the woods?" and not "left leg
push, right leg push, adjust weight to the left".

> 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.

well, whether we use muscle memory or computer depends on the level of
fusion between man and suit. there's a book called 'hardwired' by (iirc)
walter jon williams, which everyone should read. go and read it now.
now! read it? ok, well in that almost everyone - soldiers, tankies,
pilots, computer operators, stockbrokers, the butcher the baker and the
candlestickmaker for all i know, are 'chipped': they have microchips
interfaced with the brain which add all sorts of skills, knowledge and
even 'muscle memory'. at the end, a rebel airbase is raided by ground
troops, and a character notes from the way they move that they must be
'chipped for small-unit combat'. that is the only actual line i can
remember from the book! anyway, if you can do that (which you might not
be able to), then maybe when you suit up you switch off your regular
muscle memory (some sort of chemopsychoneurohypnolinguistic programming
or summat) and go over to suit mode. anyway, read the book, it's dead
good.

> IIRC I think
> you were planning on having your whole army in PA?

yes. bwahahahahahah! surrender, fools! :-)

> 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.

if you can't do it by neuroprogramming, that is.

> But that's
> pretty advanced chemistry, shutting off all muscle movement while
> keeping the brain and sensation of balance, feeling, etc. 100% sharp.

we have the technology! you only have to shut down the voluntary motor
part of the peripheral nervous system. that's a pretty specific target.
for instance, the central nervous system uses different
neurotransmitters and receptors. i'm not sure about avoiding the
autonomous PNS (sphincters, lungs, etc), but you should be able to make
molecules which only affect the target cells. this is probably doable by
2050, if not sooner.

> 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.

[biology and classical languages interlude]
actually, adrenaline is produced by the adrenal glands, which sit atop
the kidneys ('ad' being a latin prefix which i think means 'above' and
'renal' meaning 'kidney'; adrenaline is also called 'epinephrine', from
similar words in greek; ah, the benefits of a classical education! :-),
which are controlled by another hormone from the brain, whose name i
forget.

this hormone is present in smaller quantities, so it would be easier to
stop. a plastic implant in the jugular vein coated with
enzymes/antibodies to neutralise the hormone might do it. or we could
just switch off the neurosecretory fibres in the pituitary which produce
it.

or, since the adrenaline surge is mediated by a sudden rush in gene
transcription, somehow specifically block the adrenaline gene, using
antisense technology or suchlike.

turning off the muscles is probably a bad idea, but we do not need to
drive the suit off them. if the user's muscles can be run by the suit
computer, then that might help (although it does seem a bit daft). the
user would then have the sleep option.

> It is
> feeling and doing, unconsciously, as well as conscious action that
makes
> us lethal.

the unconscious lives in the brain; it would still be at work in PA.

> An effective suit amplifies these actions instead of seeking
> to replace or circumnavigate them with it's own.

only the brain directs the body, and in my model it directs the suit
equally. the muscles or glands do not contribute to decision-making.
well, not beyond 'i'm getting tired', which isn't much use in PA
(altough compatible feedback from the damage-control subsystem might be
rather good), and 'aaargh! panic!' which is not that much use to a
sentient being anyway.

> 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.

i cannot disagree more. the human being is an unrivalled thinking
machine, and will be so for a long time (i count aliens as human). i
don't think Jon Postel or Tim Berners-Lee used the seats of their
trousers much in developing the internet and web. i don't think Monty or
Eisenhower, or Beatty or Nimitz, used theirs when they won their
campaigns. the neural net, a simple simalcrum at best but with immense
computing speed behind it, is used to take over some of the low-level,
gut-instinct, trouser-seat stuff.

> I also scammed a couple gross of small black ants and spiders.

hang on, a gross is a dozen dozens, right? you have 288 small black
arthropods? as it says in the GenLeg BBV rules, "if you have this many
minatures on the table you need to seek professional help."!

> I took
> some GW epic 40k space marines and am mounting painting and mounting
> them individually as PA for some DS scenarios.

<willing to even admit that gw exists>
i think the terminators look much better. biig suit!
</willing to even admit that gw exists>

Tom

who is pleased to find that he was able to talk biochemistry on a list
that is ostensibly about space combat ...

and who really needs to learn how to write shorter emails.

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