KSP makes people mistake you for a rocket scientist

[Firedtm]

Funny story

I was playing another game, talking to a friend on Team-speak. I was telling him about my latest feat that i learned how to do by my self.

I made a ion probe with all the Science stuff on it, and was talking on how i made "Mars" orbit (yea yea its Duna, i called it mars so my friend knew what i was talking about) at about this time, other people started to join the team-speak, and listen to my story. I was using the terminology I learned from here, told them how i orbited its moon and came back too a low orbit around Mars.

at that time someone joined channel and started to listen, as I was telling I ran the calculations and saw I had Thrust-to-weight ratio higher than 1.25 and still had about 7000 ÃŽâ€v so I landed the probe on Mars, and also talked about how long it took to do it, a hour. and told them how happy I was when there was no broken solar panels. So the guy that joined in later thought I was a real rocket scientist, and started to ask questions about how things was done.

I was thinking he was asking about the game, started to answer his questions to the best I could, after second question I realized what he was thought I was, so going along with it I was able to get to the fourth Question before a few people could not hold back the laughter.

in the end we got a great joke out of it, and hopefully a new KSP player out of it

[Motokid600]

It's amazing how the average Joe can think basic knowledge is advanced knowledge. Its the same with me and Astronomy. Everyime I talk it about the person goes "Wow you know a whole lot, you should teach this stuff" ( maybe I should ) even though what I'm saying is basic knowledge.

[problemecium]

Psh, it's only rocket science, it's not like it's... uh... wait

[SkyRender]

Psh, it's only rocket science, it's not like it's... uh... wait

It's not exactly rocket surgery?

To the uninformed mind, any knowledge above and beyond what they possess is akin to genius, and any technology beyond their ken is indistinguishable from magic. Sadly, these facts have been exploited since time immemorial to manipulate the masses. We who know more than the average person have a responsibility to share that knowledge freely, and to demystify complex processes for those less informed.

[Tw1]

It's amazing how the average Joe can think basic knowledge is advanced knowledge. Its the same with me and Astronomy. Everytime I talk it about the person goes "Wow you know a whole lot, you should teach this stuff" ( maybe I should ) even though what I'm saying is basic knowledge.

This is quite true with so many things. It's always worth keeping in perspective how much you know, as unless you've spend you're life on it, there will realms more between your knowledge, and that of a real expert.

(protip, chat with sciencey and engineery people, and you will often learn a lot, if you ask the right way. Absorb some of what they have discovered through their long work and study. It can be fun.)

[ansaman]

KSP is a wonderful example of Self Organized Learning Experience (SOLE) which is being promoted by Sugata Mitra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugata_Mitra

He has put computers in reach of children in slums and found they would teach themselves everything about the computer so they could play games, but then started to educate themselves using the internet.

In KSP, the best gamers are eventually motivated to go find information about the relevant science so they understand what they are doing. When I was writing official USAF history, I borrowed a Jepperson's private pilot manual and taught myself many of the basics of flight, communications , and navigation in the same way. When I eventually got involved with some of the better flight simulators, I was able to do well and then learn even more. An inquisitive person then moves on to learning about the physics and current events related to space flight and is enriched.

[TythosEternal]

I happen to be an aerospace engineer, and my dad happens to be a neurosurgeon. (Guess which one pays better, by a factor of five...)

My poor younger brother always moans about having a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon in the same family and how expectations are so unreasonably high for him. Then again, he's the Marine, and knowing his luck, hell probably get a Medal of Honor or be elected president or something.

This is all to say that I hate the (anti-?) stigma people attach when they learn my profession. Suddenly, nothing I do is average, acceptable, or good enough. Good grief--it's really just engineering, you just get to engineer the really shiny toys. Yeah, I know, poor me.

[Pecan]

So how basic is your (our) knowledge anyway? Do you understand TWR? Gravity turn? The rocket equation? You appreciate some of the science of rockets - are you sure you haven't become a rocket scientist, even if you've never been a professional?

My last year at school (USA=highschool) was the first year they had a "'micro' computer-thingy" and I fell in love with it but wanted to join the Army. The Army spotted my computer interest and abilities (really? I'd learnt to program in BASIC but that was it) and sent me to specialise in data services (yippee!). They didn't have any suitable jobs for someone as low a rank as me but were interested in what I knew about these little machines that didn't need their own building - would I address a General Officers' Conference (All the generals, admirals, etc.)? I told them this "spreadsheet" thing seemed like a good move (Visicalc, the original, before Lotus 1-2-3 and LONG before Excel) and one day you might even be able to do more, like this crazy-radical "word processing" idea in every office! Other armies wanted to borrow me (I got loads of great trips out of this) and before long I was credited as 'The NATO micro-computer expert' at one seminar and lectured at MIT, amongst others. How did that happen? When did I become a computer scientist, let alone 'an' expert in anything? OK, I might have been the best thing NATO had enlisted at the moment, but 'the' expert was just embarrassing.

Moral: if you know the science, you're a scientist. If you wear it, you're an expert. Never diminish the skills you have - especially on your CV (USA=resume).

Also; never, ever, forget Grace Hopper. She has almost no relevance to spaceflight/KSP that I know of but she was the one REAL expert I ever met.

[samstarman5]

KSP is a wonderful example of Self Organized Learning Experience (SOLE) which is being promoted by Sugata Mitra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugata_Mitra

He has put computers in reach of children in slums and found they would teach themselves everything about the computer so they could play games, but then started to educate themselves using the internet.

In KSP, the best gamers are eventually motivated to go find information about the relevant science so they understand what they are doing. When I was writing official USAF history, I borrowed a Jepperson's private pilot manual and taught myself many of the basics of flight, communications , and navigation in the same way. When I eventually got involved with some of the better flight simulators, I was able to do well and then learn even more. An inquisitive person then moves on to learning about the physics and current events related to space flight and is enriched.

Experience is the best teacher. KSP is rocket science dumbed down for us, as we get the navigation map with maneuver nodes and such, and real astronauts still pretty much have to use straight numbers to figure where they are and where they are going. However, with their experience and education, I am fairly certain they can picture the maneuvers and orbits in their heads to a tee.

I have no doubt an experienced KSP player, who is willing to take in more information in their head, could actually absorb the education needed to learn spatial navigation and such. Building a rocket, though, is definitely much, much simpler for us in the game.

[SpaceXray]

I agree with the OP and everyone here. If you are even a bit above average-people think you are some genius(that is with me at least). Even thigh KSP is dumbed down, it is a great learning tool since everything is visualized. If you want to really go hardcore, you should try playing Orbiter 2010.

[TythosEternal]

Also; never, ever, forget Grace Hopper. She has almost no relevance to spaceflight/KSP that I know of but she was the one REAL expert I ever met.

I'll drink to that!

Thanks for sharing a fascinating experience with us. Unfortunately, if my own encounters are evidence, too few directorates actually took your advice!

[Alshain]

KSP caused me to learn about things related to our own space programs that aren't even related to KSP. I saw the movie "Independence Day" on TV the other day. It opens with a shot of the supposed Apollo 11 landing site (proven by the plaque with the appropriate names on it also shown). I've seen that movie dozens of times but this time I noticed the flag wasn't on the ground. After starting KSP I started reading all about the Apollo program and through that research I read the story of the first flag on the moon and how the LEM knocked it over.

[BadRocketsCo.]

Hahah, that is an awesome story. I once got an extra 5 (for americans-"A") in my nature class (there is physics and chemistry both in it) for a couple of dV calculations I did for my Duna lander and Duna transfer-and-return craft!

[vger]

It's freakishly easy to "out-smart" people, especially when it comes to problem solving. I've been downright amazed whenever things like this happen.

Another science situation, tough not rocket-related. We'd just recovered from a long power outage, and I had a bunch of dry ice in the freezer left over, so I decided to fill the bath tub with hot water and turn the place into a cloud.

About the time the 'fog' reached the living room, one of the folks started getting nervous about getting suffocated by a CO2 overdose. Two things about this: #1. There were cats in the apartment. #2. This person was a freaking chemistry major.

So I asked, "Is carbon dioxide lighter or heavier than air?"

"Heavier."

"Then where is it collecting?"

"On the floor."

"What organism is a tenth your size, sitting on the floor, and showing absolutely no signs of distress or disorientation?"

[Wanderfound]

This is all to say that I hate the (anti-?) stigma people attach when they learn my profession. Suddenly, nothing I do is average, acceptable, or good enough. Good grief--it's really just engineering, you just get to engineer the really shiny toys. Yeah, I know, poor me.

Heh; hang around scientists long enough (ex-neuroscientist here) and you'll probably hear the phrase "rocket science isn't rocket science".

But we are grateful for the engineers, despite the occasional teasing (ever hear Sheldon Cooper's description of engineers as "the semi-skilled Oompa-Loompas of science"?). Y'all make all the best toys.

BTW:

[BagelRabbit]

<snip>

I have a volunteer job as a docent at a major museum. One time, this twelve-year-old kid came in and asked me which of Saturn's moons had the highest eccentricity, with the "lowest periapsis" and the "highest apoapsis." (Of course, this impressed all around him, as he's spouting these terms that aren't in the general vocabulary, and he understands them.) I asked whether he played KSP. Of course, he did. KSP may "just" be a computer game, but it is a crash course in physics that's remarkably accurate and quite powerful while still being very, very fun. Good stuff.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Specialist290
Removing references to off-topic prohibited discussion.

[regex]

KSP taught me enough to know how bad it is at being what it is. Thankfully mods can fix most of that.

E: I take that back, KSP is very good at being an unrealistic simulation. Just drives me crazy when people say it's realistic because it's far from.

Edited August 10, 2014 by regex

[Tw1]

KSP taught me enough to know how bad it is at being what it is. Thankfully mods can fix most of that.

E: I take that back, KSP is very good at being an unrealistic simulation. Just drives me crazy when people say it's realistic because it's far from.

Relax, mate. Realistic can be a relative term. Noone here thinks KSP is an 100% approximation of reality. It just shows you the basic principles of real space travel.

Compare it to most "space" games people will have experienced, and it's leagues more realistic.

[Padishar]

...is an 100% approximation of reality.

What on earth (or even Kerbin) is that supposed to mean?

[cantab]

Heck, people were taking me for a rocket scientist long before I played KSP!

In the end my academic interests looked the other way - I graduated in Geology,

[Pecan]

...I have a volunteer job as a docent at a major museum. One time, this twelve-year-old kid came in and asked me which of Saturn's moons had the highest eccentricity, with the "lowest periapsis" and the "highest apoapsis." (Of course, this impressed all around him, as he's spouting these terms that aren't in the general vocabulary, and he understands them.) I asked whether he played KSP. Of course, he did. KSP may "just" be a computer game, but it is a crash course in physics that's remarkably accurate and quite powerful while still being very, very fun. Good stuff.

You should nudge Rowsdower with that story - he's on the lookout for examples where KSP = education.

Regex - every model of a situation is an approximation. It's not possible to model "real" in all it's glories on a home PC. Even a building full of heavyweight simulation machines used by real scientific institutions won't even try to model everything - you just have to accept any approximation on its own terms and decide whether that's useful or not. While I know what you mean, I think you have to live with the fact that KSP has to be a game that Squad can sell before anything else.

[regex]

While I know what you mean, I think you have to live with the fact that KSP has to be a game that Squad can sell before anything else.

Yeah, sucks that money is the motivating factor because they definitely got the VAB/SPH right (that's why I haven't bothered trying Orbiter). My point really being that KSP is a great teaching aid that eventually leaves you wanting because it doesn't do realism very well (E: and how that relates to the OP), and that mods can take up the slack.

[TythosEternal]

Science: the art of figuring out how miracles happen.

Engineering: the art of figuring out how to make miracles repeat on demand.

I'll even take it one step further:

Science: The art of figuring out how miracles happen.

Engineering: The art of figuring out how to make miracles repeat on demand, and then selling those solutions for money!

[Wanderfound]

I'll even take it one step further:

Science: The art of figuring out how miracles happen.

Engineering: The art of figuring out how to make miracles repeat on demand, and then selling those solutions for money!

Engineering: the art of using inaccurate approximations to achieve a solution that's good enough to get the job done.

Science: the art of being good enough at academic politics to keep the research grants flowing.

[Bothersome]

Psh, it's only rocket science, it's not like it's... uh... wait

We have to use the term "It's not brain surgery." Cause rockets are simple.