Kobiyashi Maru

[locutus24]

If there are any Star Trek fans here then you probably have heard of the Kobiyashi Maru Test. In this scenario test a candidate who wishes to become a Starfleet captain must do a simulation that involves an attempt to rescue the passenger ship Kobayashi Maru from a Klingon attack force.

You are in a ship and have two options here below:



1. Attempt to rescue the Kobayashi Maru's crew and passengers, which involves violating the Neutral Zone and thereby provoking the Klingons into hostile action or possibly an all-out war or



2. Abandon the Kobayashi Maru, preventing war with the Klingons but leaving the crew and passengers of the freighter to probable death.



If 1 is chosen than the simulation test is designed so that the commander's ship and the Kobayashi Maru are both destroyed. No way the commander can outgun the Klingons.



2 chosen then you lose by default since it's a violation of Starfleet to ignore distressing ships who need help. 

In all cases, the captain loses this no-win scenario. The objective is just to see how the captain responds to total defeat and destruction. 

Captain Kirk had to take test, however, he didn't want to lose. He won... by reprogramming the simulation so he would win, but it was cheating. Nonetheless the people who ran the simulation gave him high recommendations to become captain for his "unconventional thinking." 

How does this apply to real life to you bros on here? Or does it not apply at all? Are you all stuck in a no-win scenario? Can you cheat your way out of it? At what cost for cheating? Cheating is seen as cowardly or immoral, but sometimes it actually takes guts to cheat since there can be risk, maybe death. And cheating could lead to a big win. It's a gamble. Who on here likes to gamble with life? Or do you play it all safe? Or mix it up?

---

This isn't limited to BB life. I'm talking about anything in life.

[Hans]

If there are any Star Trek fans here then you probably have heard of the Kobiyashi Maru Test. In this scenario test a candidate who wishes to become a Starfleet captain must do a simulation that involves an attempt to rescue the passenger ship Kobayashi Maru from a Klingon attack force.

You are in a ship and have two options here below:



1. Attempt to rescue the Kobayashi Maru's crew and passengers, which involves violating the Neutral Zone and thereby provoking the Klingons into hostile action or possibly an all-out war or



2. Abandon the Kobayashi Maru, preventing war with the Klingons but leaving the crew and passengers of the freighter to probable death.



If 1 is chosen than the simulation test is designed so that the commander's ship and the Kobayashi Maru are both destroyed. No way the commander can outgun the Klingons.



2 chosen then you lose by default since it's a violation of Starfleet to ignore distressing ships who need help. 

In all cases, the captain loses this no-win scenario. The objective is just to see how the captain responds to total defeat and destruction. 

Captain Kirk had to take test, however, he didn't want to lose. He won... by reprogramming the simulation so he would win, but it was cheating. Nonetheless the people who ran the simulation gave him high recommendations to become captain for his "unconventional thinking." 

How does this apply to real life to you bros on here? Or does it not apply at all? Are you all stuck in a no-win scenario? Can you cheat your way out of it? At what cost for cheating? Cheating is seen as cowardly or immoral, but sometimes it actually takes guts to cheat since there can be risk, maybe death. And cheating could lead to a big win. It's a gamble. Who on here likes to gamble with life? Or do you play it all safe? Or mix it up?

---

This isn't limited to BB life. I'm talking about anything in life.

Dr. Weir: "Now what's the shortest distance between two points?" (punches two distant holes into a sheet of paper)
Mr. Justin: "A straight line."
Dr. Weir: "Wrong. The shortest distance between two points is zero." (then folds the paper to connect the two holes)

-- Event Horizon (1997)

If you're given two options, then why should there only be two? It's essentially the hacker's mindset: Think outside the box. And that's what Kirk did.

I'm not a Trekkie, but isn't young Uhura (Zoe Saldana) sexy as hell?

[Navigator]

How does this apply to real life to you bros on here? Or does it not apply at all? Are you all stuck in a no-win scenario? Can you cheat your way out of it? At what cost for cheating? Cheating is seen as cowardly or immoral, but sometimes it actually takes guts to cheat since there can be risk, maybe death. And cheating could lead to a big win. It's a gamble. Who on here likes to gamble with life? Or do you play it all safe? Or mix it up?

In movie Harsh Times Christian Bale character actually get hired to CIA in spite of the fact the he cheated on drug test and lie detector and that he had pretty aggressive attitude - agent recruiter acknowledged his ability to brake the usual norm and find it valuable for covert ops

[TruthSeeker]

"If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying hard enough."

But there are two types of cheating.

The Dreamer Way - does not understand how the system works and thinks he can win the easy way

The Enlightened - understands how the system works and knows that no one is 100% honesty

[locutus24]

In movie Harsh Times Christian Bale character actually get hired to CIA in spite of the fact the he cheated on drug test and lie detector and that he had pretty aggressive attitude - agent recruiter acknowledged his ability to brake the usual norm and find it valuable for covert ops

Never saw that movie but very similar to the Kirk story. 

Sometimes, even bad guys or seemingly bad guys get to have opportunities. Sort of getting reminded of Dexter show.

---

"If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying hard enough."

But there are two types of cheating.

The Dreamer Way - does not understand how the system works and thinks he can win the easy way

The Enlightened - understands how the system works and knows that no one is 100% honesty

So far nothing has come easy when it comes to having an edge over others. Minor instances for me to speak of. Some risk involved and a consequence usually. 

The enlightened way seems based on the issue of trust and reliance on others. Better to be less trustful and reliant I suppose. Independence in terms of having more financial resources, back up plans in case something goes very wrong, and some cleverness when dealing with how one wishes to be better at something. 

Not always the case though if one speaks of helpful family. I can't say the same about regular friends though. Most of the people who were sort of friends didn't seem that honest/trustworthy and were flakes. 

I've sometimes flaked on people so I'm not an exception.

[locutus24]

Dr. Weir: "Now what's the shortest distance between two points?" (punches two distant holes into a sheet of paper)
Mr. Justin: "A straight line."
Dr. Weir: "Wrong. The shortest distance between two points is zero." (then folds the paper to connect the two holes)

-- Event Horizon (1997)

If you're given two options, then why should there only be two? It's essentially the hacker's mindset: Think outside the box. And that's what Kirk did.

I'm not a Trekkie, but isn't young Uhura (Zoe Saldana) sexy as hell?

Event Horizon! Dude I saw that when I was a kid and it freaked me out. Disgusting ass shit in that movie. 
But yeah good analogy on the point in space. 

She's good looking. Yeah Uhura! The Kirk I'm referring to is the one played by William Shatner.

[Hans]

Event Horizon! Dude I saw that when I was a kid and it freaked me out. Disgusting ass shit in that movie. 
But yeah good analogy on the point in space. 

If you like that analogy you (as a mathematician in the making) will love this one:

A man goes for a walk with his dog. On his way back, say at 400m away from his house (units don't matter here), the dog suddenly starts to run to the house's front door, then runs back to the man, then runs back to the front door and so on while the man continues his walk back to his house, say with half the dog's speed.

Now the question is: what distance (in meters) will the dog have run when the man arrives at the front door to his house?

Note: There is more than one solution method (which is the point ...).