I was at an academic retreat this weekend. A guy I met told us about his friend in the Navy. Apparently, this navy guy took a psychological test, where one of the questions was: "if during a war the only choices you had were to destroy the entire world or surrender to the enemy, which would you choose?"
He chose surrender.
He got the wrong answer, so he's currently being re-educated.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Well.....that is the whole point behind nuclear deterrance, the ultimate scorched earth tactic. Make the enemy think that you would rather choose nuclear armmageddon than defeat, and he's a lot less likely to risk conventional war.
Thats why India doesn't wipe Pakistan off the face of the Earth.
The question of whether one "should" choose armageddon is largely academic for those in the US military. Its hard to imagine a scenario where the US would face total military defeat.
Its less academic for those the US might consider invading. Kind ironic.
Posted by E. Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Glad to see the old "war isn't about who's right, it's about who's left" axiom is still faithfully being spoonfed to recruits during their... reconditioning.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Oh, looky another "friend-of-a-friend" spreading a minutely-revised edition of a Clinton-era Urban Legend.
Used to be the question was "are you willing to fire upon American citizens if ordered to?" and the question was being asked of soldiers who were going to serve on a UN peacekeeping force.
Really, we need better UL's.
Posted by Solommagnus de Pym (Member # 239) on :
There's was a girl, and she was a friend of a cousin of mine, and she had this Hot Dog, and she...
Posted by Tora Ziyal (Member # 53) on :
You can think that if it makes you feel better.
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
If you train your troops so hard they lose all sense of identity, you don't need to ask such silly questions.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
I don't need to "think" it. It's a bona-fide UL.
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
"Cunt: a declaraction of independence" I read that book. Boy, was it funny!
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
quote: I don't need to "think" it. It's a bona-fide UL.
When we call something an Urban Legend, we usually have a web page to prove it. I've looked for this, but I haven't found anything even close to it.
Got Link?
Posted by Herr Kapitan Mike (Member # 709) on :
because we all know that, before the advent of webpage 'documentation,' (for lack of a better term) there were no such things as urban legends, right?
Posted by Snay (Member # 411) on :
Yep. Actually, I'd like to know why Rob dismisses it as an urban legend (aside for his unexplainable demand to deny anything that looks bad to the US).
Posted by Solommagnus de Pym (Member # 239) on :
I've heard the peacekeeper one before. Except with Canadian Peacekeepers as the focal. So, I suppose the question was: "Would you hug everyone in the world, or give them money?"
Because we are supernice. And slow.
But nice!
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I had made a post, but be danged if I know where it is... Maybe another forum....
I hadn't heard of the DLAB before I took it either, so this 'question' may actually be on a test that we haven't heard of....
Posted by EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
i met a guy who knew a girl who knew another guy who knew a gypsy who knew a clown who knew another guy who tortured bajorans. and it's real.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Okay, I insisted when I should have speculated.
I am wrong. I have no documentation that this is, in fact, a full-fledged UL of its own (although, as I said, the parallels to the original UL are unmistakeable.)
However, I have put the nice folks at snopes to work on this, and I expect a useful reply shortly.
Considering the "correct" answer violates the Code of Conduct for American soldiers taken prisoner, it is most likely a myth. I seriously doubt armageddon falls under "means to resist." Blowing up the entire world (USA included) is hardly "guarding my country and our way of life."
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, better dead than red.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Yes, but that's different! 8)
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
***stabbing myself with a fork***
Fuck your canoe, fuck your canoe.....
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Chandler reacted better than that.
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
True, but then the Lord Flasheart was never happy to see him. Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Woof!
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
Bark!
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Well cover me with eggs and flour and bake me for forty minutes.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Curry cake?
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Is that a baked Daryus in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me???
Excuse, the Badmitin World Cup is on, and I must turn off the TV...
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Badmitin? Is that like, some sort of contest for poorly-knitteed gloves? 8)
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
or a nicely made typo.... Yes, Lee, they are the same...
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Curry cake is a hallowed food, we shall not speak of it before the infidels again.
Sticky buns however, are quite acceptable for public discussion.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
and sticky buns are much more fun to play with....