Comment by dirtyv

2 years ago

This reminds me of when I was in basic training. The drill sgts would give us new recruits a task that none of us knew how to do, purposefully without guidance, and then leave. One guy would try and start doing it, always the incorrect way, and everyone else would just copy that person.

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dirtyv

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nomilk  2 years ago

I wonder if this is exacerbated by human tendencies to not want to look bad relative to others, even if it leads to silly outcomes like intelligent people following a bad or rushed idea.

Something similar happens in public economic forecasts because those who get it wrong when others get it right are treated much more harshly than those who get it wrong when others get it wrong too.

zeroonetwothree  2 years ago

What was the goal of this?

  • didntcheck  2 years ago

    "Don't jump off a cliff just because everyone else is doing it" basically

    I guess the next logical exercise would be asking them to do something with instructions that are complete, but incorrect or at least inefficient, to teach the lesson of questioning superior orders rather than just peers. Actually, I'm honestly not sure it that's desired in military discipline or not (no direct experience here)

    • PH95VuimJjqBqy  2 years ago

      I drove a forklift one summer for a manufacturing plant.

      I had a supervisor tell me to do something that was clearly not right and I refused. I came in the next day and they tried to write me up and I refused to sign the paperwork for it.

      The one thing no one could accurately describe is why the supervisor was right.

      I agree with the idea of being willing to go against authority but disagree that it's always a good career move :)

      Of course it was easier for me, it was just a summer job, I was going back to Uni in the fall.