Kids+Orbiter=Bad?

[Kadet]

Anyone ever have their parents tell you to stop using orbiter saying it's a bad thing?

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"Tobi is a good boy!"Why let HIM join Akatsuki!?

[MattNW]

Considering the educational potential of Orbiter unless someone was using Orbiter too much (like doing Orbiter instead of
their homework or so much that they have no life except Orbiter) it'd be stupid. I often make copies of Orbiter to give to
parents who have kids that are interested in space science. In general if a kid can learn enough to be able to launch any
ship, rendezvous with ISS and dock they will have learned more than most high school graduates about space science. Of course
I tell the parents not to let on that Orbiter is educational. I just tell them to give it to their kids and let them have fun
and they'll never know they are actually learning in the process.

I've taken a few college level astronomy classes as electives before finding Orbiter and even then I've learned things in
Orbiter that were never covered in those classes.

[NukeET]

Kadet wrote:
Anyone ever have their parents tell you to stop using orbiter saying it's a bad thing?

When my grandsons are old enough, and show enough interest, I plan to teach them Orbiter.

That being said, and since both of my parents are deceased, no, I've never had them tell me it was bad.

[James.Denholm]

When I have kids (or, more accurately, the wife-who-hasn't-married-me-yet-and-probably-never-will (I'm being realistic, if I
was a painting I'd be a Picasso), and if they lack a social life (like myself), I will show them Orbiter.

Seeing as I'm still 15, and I plan for it all to be legal, that day is a LONG way off.

[Beerschot]

i made a few copies copies and gave them to a some nephews cause i know they are inerested in rockets and
spacehips, and they think the spaceshuttle is cool and you know how kids are
but they don't use it cause they have a ps3 now little bastards

[James.Denholm]

Wow... this post is starting to make me realise how old everyone on this forum is...

[ar81]

Orbiter is bad.
With Orbiter kids may learn why math is useful.  This is bad, for math must be horrible.
Astronomers and university professors might not like to have someone who can pinpoint their conceptual mistakes in
class...

Orbiter makes loners.  If you watch TV for 3 hours a day, watching violent TV programs, you are having healthy
entertainment, but if you play 1.5 hours a day, learning astrophysics, modding, programming, 3D modelling and math, you are being a loner with no life.  

Astronauts do not have a life.  They spend their lifes piloting, training, studying... instead of drinking beer and get
drunk, having sex, stealing money and getting involved with criminal gangs, and watching soccer games and
becoming an aggressive hooligan.  

You might not want your kid to become an astronaut, you do not want your kid to make a living with a VASIMR or any
exotic propulsion system or space device while being an entrepreneur, it is better that your kid becomes a normal
worker and never gets promoted, so you can always tell people how normal (mediocre) your son is.

You do not want your kid to learn rocket science.  Your kid may ask questions where you should confess your
ignorance and lack of education.



Post Edited ( 03-26-08 16:20 )

[bilbo8888]

ar81 a écrit:
Orbiter is bad.
With Orbiter kids may learn why math is useful.  This is bad, for math must be horrible.
Astronomers and university professors might not like to have someone who can pinpoint their conceptual mistakes in
class...

Orbiter makes loners.  If you watch TV for 3 hours a day, watching violent TV programs, you are having healthy
entertainment, but if you play 1.5 hours a day, learning astrophysics, modding, programming, 3D modelling and math,
you are being a loner with no life.  

Astronauts do not have a life.  They spend their lifes piloting, training, studying... instead of drinking beer and get
drunk, having sex, stealing money and getting involved with criminal gangs, and watching soccer games and
becoming an aggressive hooligan.  

You might not want your kid to become an astronaut, you do not want your kid to make a living with a VASIMR or any
exotic propulsion system or space device while being an entrepreneur, it is better that your kid becomes a normal
worker and never gets promoted, so you can always tell people how normal (mediocre) your son is.

You do not want your kid to learn rocket science.  Your kid may ask questions where you should confess your
ignorance and lack of education.

just say lol ....

but btw i'm pretty sure a few astronauts ( in the past for sure ... ) drank beer, get drunk and ... yes ... had sex

LOL

See ya high

[Simonpro]

Wow, ar81, is there anything you cant turn into a political rant?

ar81 a écrit:
Orbiter makes loners.  If you watch TV for 3 hours a day, watching violent TV programs, you are having healthy
entertainment, but if you play 1.5 hours a day, learning astrophysics, modding, programming, 3D modelling and math, you are
being a loner with no life.  

In my opinion anyone who spends more than one hour per day looking at a screen that doesnt involve work is being a bit of a
nut
I also think that it is important to discourage children from spending time lpaying computer games. They should be out
interacting with others. A lot of the social skills you need later in life can only be fully developed during adolescence, so
it's important not to spend that time sitting in frront of a computer.

Astronauts do not have a life.  They spend their lifes piloting, training, studying... instead of drinking beer and get
drunk, having sex, stealing money and getting involved with criminal gangs, and watching soccer games and
becoming an aggressive hooligan.  

Actually if an person did nothing but study, piloting etc then they wouldn't get to be an astronaut in the first place.
Astronauts require exceptionally strong social skills as well as a wide range of hobbies. It's rare to find an astronaut who
doesnt play at least 2 or 3 sports. A lot also play musical instruments, just about all of them go get drunk now and again.
Many go to sporting events. As far as I remember from news coverage there were 7 or 8 at the superbowl this year, for instance.

You might not want your kid to become an astronaut, you do not want your kid to make a living with a VASIMR or any
exotic propulsion system or space device while being an entrepreneur, it is better that your kid becomes a normal
worker and never gets promoted, so you can always tell people how normal (mediocre) your son is.

What's wrong with normal? In my view the only people who are truly bothered about promotion are the ones who need to feed
their egos (assuming they already have enough money to live on). A lot of people would be satisfied with living a quiet life,
enjoying their family and friends, doing a 9-to-5 job and then working on their car or watching the game on a saturday
afternoon. I can't say it's for me, but lots of people do like it. Good for them, if they're happy then that is excellent news.

[BluryBlue]

Well, unless Orbiter gets really really really fun, with astronauts blowing up and their every limbs flies off into space, I
have no idea why anyone would think this. It's the most coolest simulator though, I must admit.

[Frogisis]

I just discovered Orbiter about three weeks ago, so yes, it pretty much has consumed my life recently, but I've always been a
really in-depth kind of person.  Even so I've managed to leverage it into a kind of productivity - Just keep the time
compression low and go about your day, checking in from time to time to make sure you're still on course.  I just got back
from a sketch comedy rehearsal to find my DGIV is still on course to the ISS.  Whee!  

I wonder what I'd have made of Orbiter as a kid, though... Microsoft Flight Sim came out when I was about 13, but I tired of
it pretty quickly.  It never came close to the views or experience Orbiter offers, though, and now as an artist I'm always
trying to balance myself out with a little hard science now and again, so my priorities are a little more mature.  The kid in me does wonder what a combat sim based on Orbiter would be like, but most of me doesn't want to see it tainted by something like that.



Post Edited ( 03-27-08 03:41 )

[ar81]

In my opinion anyone who spends more than one hour per day looking at a screen that doesnt involve work is
being a bit of a  nut

I also think that it is important to discourage children from spending time lpaying computer games. They should be out
interacting with others. A lot of the social skills you need later in life can only be fully developed during adolescence, so
it's important not to spend that time sitting in frront of a computer.

My father failed at discouraging me to play Atari.  The more he pushed, the more I opposed.  I won.  I play whenever
I want.  And I even make addons.

He also failed to discourage me to be a fan of Star Wars.  Now I have the 3 movies, the soundtracks, the books on
the arts used for the movie, a scale model of Millenium Falcon, played X Wing Alliance...  Probably if he had not
attempted to discourage me, he might have succeeded.  I would have get bored on my own.  And if not, he should
have tried to seize the skills I learned as a fan.

And I found Star Wars games at www.bruneras.com and I still play them a lot.  Lucas discouraged me when he
released Episode 1 and added Jar Jar and the young Vader...

If you want your kid to socialize, help him to organize a fan club of his favorite game.  That way you have people and
your kid will be happy.

What's wrong with normal?

It means that you are a brick on the wall, you are just another robot.
If you read Erich Fromm, who was disciple of Sigmund Freud, you might notice that he points that being "normal"
leads to disfunctional behaviors.  You are unique in a certain way, I am unique in a different way, and I seized my
uniqueness.

I wonder where are those who were popular in high school.  There was that handsome guy who teased me and had
all the girl crazy about him, and today he is a fat man working for a radio station.

Instead I have an abnormal life, since I try to help other people, make this world better, I have taught poor kids
about drawing comics, so they spend their time in the universe of imagination, instead of the small and miserable
world of drugs.  I was part of a show to raise funds to bring poor kids from the countryside to the planetarium of my
country.

The fat man goes from work to home and viceversa, living his normal life in boredom, and he does not stop to see
what's in the middle...  I prefer not to be normal.  I prefer to make a difference.

[Dig Gil]

ar81 wrote:

What's wrong with normal?

It means that you are a brick on the wall, you are just another robot.
If you read Erich Fromm, who was disciple of Sigmund Freud, you might notice that he points that being
"normal"
leads to disfunctional behaviors.  You are unique in a certain way, I am unique in a different way, and I seized my
uniqueness.

I wonder where are those who were popular in high school.  There was that handsome guy who teased me and had
all the girl crazy about him, and today he is a fat man working for a radio station.

Instead I have an abnormal life, since I try to help other people, make this world better, I have taught poor kids
about drawing comics, so they spend their time in the universe of imagination, instead of the small and miserable
world of drugs.  I was part of a show to raise funds to bring poor kids from the countryside to the planetarium of my
country.

The fat man goes from work to home and viceversa, living his normal life in boredom, and he does not stop to see
what's in the middle...  I prefer not to be normal.  I prefer to make a difference.

In spite of disagreeing with Ar81's first post (I spend 2 hours a day at the computer) I agree with this one: we need
to evolve better and faster.

[Simonpro]

ar81 wrote:
If you want your kid to socialize, help him to organize a fan club of his favorite game.  That way you have people and
your kid will be happy.

This is true. However I still maintain that it is important for children to be away from screens (be they computer or
television). Too much sitting around in childhood can lead to a very sedentary life as an adult, which has all manner of
health implications.

What's wrong with normal?

It means that you are a brick on the wall, you are just another robot.

I wonder where are those who were popular in high school.  There was that handsome guy who teased me and had
all the girl crazy about him, and today he is a fat man working for a radio station.

If he is a happy fat man then is that really so bad? Not everyone can (or wants) to do something special. We need radio DJs,
we need office workers, we need receptionists etc. They may not be the most exciting or glamorous jobs in the world, but we
still need people to do them.
And if those people enjoy their job, and enjoy their life outside of work then is that really a problem? I'd much rather have
a lot of people doing jobs they enjoy (and hence jobs they are probably good at) than lots of people doing lots of
extraordinary jobs that the don't enjoy or excel at.

The fat man goes from work to home and viceversa, living his normal life in boredom, and he does not stop to see
what's in the middle...  I prefer not to be normal.  I prefer to make a difference.

The phsychologist in me is thinking that you like to be different not because you enjoy the other activities so much as you
like to be able to say that you are different. You don't like being labelled as the same as everyone else.
Nothing wrong with that, I am the same, but you have to understand that not everyone is like this. A lot of people enjoy
their simple (and in your view, boring) lives.

[ar81]

First of all I clarify I have nothing against fat guys.  I indeed see the problem of discrimination and social rejection fat
people suffer because of their weight.

The "fat man" I mentioned in my previous post used to be the handsome guy at school, muscle guy, green eyes, girls
upon his feet.  He also was a tall, very disrespectful guy who slapped defenseless people in the face.  I was one of
them.  I was the guy with medium-high grades, and he was the popular guy.  The last time he slapped me with a
metal plate in the face.  It hurts...

People at high school pushed me not to be a "loser" but be a "winner" like him, and I disliked him for what he used to
do to defenseless people.  I would have expected him to turn into a movie star.  But no, he is not Madonna or the
president.

I only hope that he have found a different way not to get bored, other than slapping people in the face.

[n0mad23]

Normalcy is highly over-rated.

Consider the history of the last hundred years: how many normal people have killed other normal people because the leaders
told them the "other" is evil and must be stopped?

Where I live, normal people are intimidated by people who exhibit any kind of difference.  The problem here is of course that
anger is a secondary emotion to fear.  Scared normal people have brought us hundreds of wars.

I become more intolerant of intolerant people every year.  I no longer have any patience for stupid belligerent people.

Hurray for Orbiter.  I've found other like minded mutants scattered across the globe!

[Simonpro]

One could argue that just about all of those wars originated with one or two non 'normal' people who had a crazy idea. The
normal guys were just doing what they were told.

[n0mad23]

This is of course the idea behind the original hashishim (assassins).  Kill the generals and leaders the night before
military engagement and the war will be canceled in the morning.

[Dig Gil]

Is impossible 2 people be the same. There's too many variables; the entropy increases with time. Then everybody as
different ideas of "What's perfect". If that guy thinks that punching people is good, then is normal you think that it
isn't. You are better than he at (I don't know) programming for example, or making great Tutorials and advices.
Because saing that he is wrong that's excelent enough, many people fear giving opinion even for the most brilliant
idea. Whatever happens the present is more important than the past, because is what decide the future and is
where you are now, the past is only our mistakes that you use to learn. Notice! He is some unknown radio worker,
but you are the one we (at least me) like for being so good  programmer and helped some much at creating AddOns
(still under development).

[Dig Gil]

This topic gonne

[Dosage]

Topic en mousse hygiénique

[ar81]

Our idea of perfection is still imperfect...

[SlyCoopersButt]

It's been an educational experience for me to use Orbiter (I'm almost 19). Without it I never would have trully been
able to grasp and understand basic orbital mechanics as well as I do now. And it's fun while you're at it. I think it's
great for children and as soon as I meet some I'll tell them about orbiter. I use orbiter far more than my fancy computer games nowadays. There's always something new and educational to do. Like copying missions or going where no man has gone before!



Post Edited ( 04-02-08 21:38 )

[Robert H]

I have a friend who has a teen that was always getting into trouble. The guy could never, really sit still. He was always all
over the place. He was loud, and very disrespectful to most people, and he had an additude problem that was epic, but besides
all of that this person also was very intelligent.  I found out one day that he was really interested in space flight and
flight simulation, so I gave him a copy of Orbiter.  This was back in 2006.

 Since 2006 he's been a very quiet loner.  I guess he now spends most of his time locked away in his room playing orbiter,
and for some reason has ceased to be annoying to everyone around him.  His parents keep asking me what did I tell him, or
give him that shut him up.   I never bother to answer them because I find the whole thing very funny.

[unknown.exe]

Lol.... I had a kid at school that has a higher IQ and GPA then all the MIT kids have combined. I gave him a copy of
Orbiter and the next day in the library he was completing a round trip from Jupiter to Earth... something I havn't even
fathomed (funny word)... also I got Orbiter about 2 weeks before a major space test from NASA... the one they use
for potential astronauts. I got a C+... the average APPROVED Astronaut gets a B+.... so I guess Orbiter pretty much
taught me almost everything. Kick ass sim !