As someone who’s done the whole military thing (am I alone?), I agree with your view that most members of the rationalsphere would struggle immensely in bootcamp, both in turns of physicality and culture (I’m referring mostly to the Army and Marines here, which focus on actual combat training vs. the Air Force and Navy that don’t).
I totally agree that you would have 0 problems (other than patience with the stupid parts) as you have a high degree of physical ability, emotional resilience, and general cognitive ability. You would very likely excel. I could say the same of Val and Pete, and I’m sure Eli would do well (I don’t know the others you listed well enough to venture a guess).
I have never met Eliezer. However, I suspect he would struggle a great deal and be unlikely to succeed from what I’ve read and been told. I can’t imagine Eliezer playing say football well either. My model of him just says he’s simply not optimized for that kind of environment where his intellectual strengths would be limited and his weaknesses amplified. It’s just not a remotely optimal environment for someone who is (according to my model of him) built like a race car, extreme performance within strict parameters (flat track, maintenance, etc.).
And that’s okay. The military enlisted system at least typically focuses on taking both physical and intellectual generalists and training them to perform a specific job. It’s all about the averages. The cockpit is decidedly not adjusted for individual needs or specialized performance for the vast majority of military personnel.
I do hope you’re at least somewhat right about the long-term, increasing-marginal-returns sorts of gains, since that’s my current strategy for achieving high impact on important matters.
As someone who’s done the whole military thing (am I alone?), I agree with your view that most members of the rationalsphere would struggle immensely in bootcamp, both in turns of physicality and culture (I’m referring mostly to the Army and Marines here, which focus on actual combat training vs. the Air Force and Navy that don’t).
I totally agree that you would have 0 problems (other than patience with the stupid parts) as you have a high degree of physical ability, emotional resilience, and general cognitive ability. You would very likely excel. I could say the same of Val and Pete, and I’m sure Eli would do well (I don’t know the others you listed well enough to venture a guess).
I have never met Eliezer. However, I suspect he would struggle a great deal and be unlikely to succeed from what I’ve read and been told. I can’t imagine Eliezer playing say football well either. My model of him just says he’s simply not optimized for that kind of environment where his intellectual strengths would be limited and his weaknesses amplified. It’s just not a remotely optimal environment for someone who is (according to my model of him) built like a race car, extreme performance within strict parameters (flat track, maintenance, etc.).
And that’s okay. The military enlisted system at least typically focuses on taking both physical and intellectual generalists and training them to perform a specific job. It’s all about the averages. The cockpit is decidedly not adjusted for individual needs or specialized performance for the vast majority of military personnel.
I do hope you’re at least somewhat right about the long-term, increasing-marginal-returns sorts of gains, since that’s my current strategy for achieving high impact on important matters.