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Survivor · 8th January 2003, 01:30 AM

I actually thought that they weren't precocious enough (six years old and they were acting like they were maybe four...on a sugar binge). It may be that Card is just used to really bright, precocious kids by most people's standards.

I have to hold firm on the strategy issue, though. They did teach Ender the tactical mechanics of using the actual weapons and ships when the proper time came (in Command School), but the last thing you want to do to a general is hamstring him with what "cannot" be done. They let the kids loose, and judged by the results. In part, this reflects the fact that as much as being about training, BattleSchool was about selection, finding the kids that could come up with the solutions on their own (for instance, if you ran a math class to find the math geniuses rather than teach all the kids basic math, you wouldn't want to teach them algorithms or have them memorize tables and so forth). But it also is essential to the process of teaching strategic thinking (as opposed to specific tactics) that you force the student to come up with their own solutions under fairly intense pressure.

Tactics can and must be taught, but they should be made secondary to training strategic aptitudes, otherwise you will impose limitations on the ability of the commander to respond to unexpected situations, as well as to create them for the enemy. The art of war is all about doing what the enemy doesn't expect, and responding to his surprises with your own. A predictable commander is certain to lose unless his enemy is a fool.

Looking at what you cite (Roman tactics v. hoplites and phalanxes and such), I guess that you were talking about tactical instruction. Card does go light on it, but it is there, and in the proper place, Tac/Nav/Support and Command school, when the kids have already been trained in strategic thinking. You might want to read Ender's Shadow fairly soon after all, since it addresses those issues in somewhat greater detail (Bean is, at heart, a tactical thinker rather than a strategist--so am I, when you come right down to it).

8th January 2003, 01:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
Survivor Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 188	Re:Orson Scott Card I actually thought that they weren't precocious enough (six years old and they were acting like they were maybe four...on a sugar binge). It may be that Card is just used to really bright, precocious kids by most people's standards. I have to hold firm on the strategy issue, though. They did teach Ender the tactical mechanics of using the actual weapons and ships when the proper time came (in Command School), but the last thing you want to do to a general is hamstring him with what "cannot" be done. They let the kids loose, and judged by the results. In part, this reflects the fact that as much as being about training, BattleSchool was about selection, finding the kids that could come up with the solutions on their own (for instance, if you ran a math class to find the math geniuses rather than teach all the kids basic math, you wouldn't want to teach them algorithms or have them memorize tables and so forth). But it also is essential to the process of teaching strategic thinking (as opposed to specific tactics) that you force the student to come up with their own solutions under fairly intense pressure. Tactics can and must be taught, but they should be made secondary to training strategic aptitudes, otherwise you will impose limitations on the ability of the commander to respond to unexpected situations, as well as to create them for the enemy. The art of war is all about doing what the enemy doesn't expect, and responding to his surprises with your own. A predictable commander is certain to lose unless his enemy is a fool. Looking at what you cite (Roman tactics v. hoplites and phalanxes and such), I guess that you were talking about tactical instruction. Card does go light on it, but it is there, and in the proper place, Tac/Nav/Support and Command school, when the kids have already been trained in strategic thinking. You might want to read Ender's Shadow fairly soon after all, since it addresses those issues in somewhat greater detail (Bean is, at heart, a tactical thinker rather than a strategist--so am I, when you come right down to it).