[ExI] for technomancers

Adrian Tymes atymes at gmail.com
Thu Aug 3 07:49:11 UTC 2017


On Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 4:41 PM, William Flynn Wallace
<foozler83 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ah, I see you are not a fisherman.  Going fishing with your son is not about
> catching fish at all.  Sitting back and letting machines do the work?

Oh, it's not about letting the machines do everything.  It's about
fishing with the aid of the machines.  Just like the old AI trope:
it's not about robots instead of humans, but humans augmented by and
working with computers and robots.

Or, y'know, maybe tending some robot catchers while shooting the
breeze with the person you're sharing the boat with.  It's not like
there's all that much to putting bait on the hook, plopping it in the
water, and reeling in once there's a bite.  Either way, it's an excuse
to get out there and talk for a while.

> I suppose the old professor came out in my post.  The idea of killing aliens
> is fine, but what are you learning?  It doesn't take hundreds or thousands
> of hours for your thumbs to learn, does it?

There aren't that many individual games that warrant a hundred, let
alone a thousand, hours of play.  Those that do have play as deep as
chess, at least.

> Glory in video games?  Some kind of oxymoron there, I think.  Still, if
> that's all a person can succeed at, they will find some fans somewhere.

And money.  https://www.esportsearnings.com/history/2016/games shows a
bit over $95 million in prizes in tournaments in various games
throughout 2016.  Win just one of the bigger tournaments per year, and
that can make for a decent living...so long as you keep winning.
(Actually, win big enough and you can get enough to invest and get a
modest retirement.)

> Can
> you imagine a hirer being impressed with video game expertise?  I cannot.

Depends on the job.  Obviously, apply to a job where the specific
games played are relevant.  (Not all games are alike; not all games
train the same skills.)

> Could the person keep his hands off the
> games while working for me?  Apparently many can not do so.

Do you have data for this?

> Which is why
> they have the keystroke software, eh?

No.  They have the keystroke software because they wish to treat their
human employees like robots, usually because they misunderstand the
work they are requesting.  (And honestly, many games create as much
keyboard activity as "real" work anyway, so just measuring keystrokes
per second wouldn't reliably detect when someone shifts applications
like that.)

> Also, the obsessive reader came out as well.  Many might say that I waste
> most of my time with my head in a book, but I have learned mucho from them.

Indeed - but if we were to apply the same lens that you have, then I
would ask how spending all your time reading harlequin romances and
political manifestos prepares you to help run a 3D printing shop.  (As
an example of how far off base your lens is.)

> I also suspect that the skills learned in one game do not transfer that well
> to another one.  Data needed here.

Depends on the game.  There are large genres wherein the skills are
transferable - but between genres, there tends to be limited
transferability, much like how driving a car (racing games) does not
by itself make you an expert at playing a musical instrument (music
games).



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