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The gunfighter's dilemma

news.bbc.co.uk

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Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#11

Post by DougBTX »

fh wrote: post #7
zck wrote: post #6

>In a series of mock gunfights with colleagues Bohr always drew second and always won. I'm hoping the author of this article just didn't want to elaborate, but Bohr never thought it could've just been that he was faster at drawing than his opponents? Switching it so he was the first to draw some of the time would have been better design.

This part of the article is most likely intended as a funny anecdote, not as an accurate description of a scientific experiment. Rest assured that Niels freaking Bohr would have thought of that.

And possibly decided that it would be more fun to leave a good story behind and not be seen to loose :-)

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#12

Post by Super_Jambo »

So optimally you want to be startled into action by something other than your opponent drawing. Then you get the speed advantage & a head start...

Wonder if anyones done any research on training this for martial arts.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#13

Post by Super_Jambo »

flatline wrote: post #10

I could see this being the case, but it's got to be very narrow timing, and it probably only applies for the same type of action. A friend and I used to do a drill with his Glock 9mm. (After ensuring the gun was unloaded) one of us would point the pistol right at the other's head. The pointee would initiate action by grabbing the gun and the pointer would try to pull the trigger. It was impossible to pull the trigger…

From what I remember of KravMaga gun disarms they agreed with your experiments. They taught moving your head out the way at the same time as grabbing.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#14

Post by jcl »

mattheww wrote: post #3

You can't skip the story about Niels Bohr at the bottom.

In a series of mock gunfights with colleagues Bohr always drew second and always won.

Heh... Considering that all the participants were scientists, I'm surprised they concluded that one event caused the other.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#15

Post by ErrantX »

Super_Jambo wrote: post #12

So optimally you want to be startled into action by something other than your opponent drawing. Then you get the speed advantage & a head start... Wonder if anyones done any research on training this for martial arts.

A friend who does Aikido says it's not explicitly taught quite like that - but that he does train to watch, for example, an attackers shoulders for slight movement prior to their attack.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#16

Post by edw519 »

mattheww wrote: post #3

You can't skip the story about Niels Bohr at the bottom.

I know what you're thinking. "Does the nucleus have six electrons or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this uncertainty I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is an isotope of uranium, responsible for slow-neutron fission, and would blow your city clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#17

Post by arohner »

Super_Jambo wrote: post #12

So optimally you want to be startled into action by something other than your opponent drawing. Then you get the speed advantage & a head start... Wonder if anyones done any research on training this for martial arts.

We had techniques where we try to minimize the "telegraphing" of our own punch. You practice that with a partner, and try to hit the partener's open hand before they can react to it. If the partner notices you moving first, they drop their hand and they "win". Its an effective drill for the partner too, because they have to learn to read your body motion.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#18

Post by dkarl »

RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #5
mattheww wrote: post #3

You can't skip the story about Niels Bohr at the bottom.

Niels Bohr should know something about reactions and reaction times - in 1905 he played professional football (soccer) for Akademisk Boldklub, playing goalkeeper.

Seems like a pretty crappy experiment to pit the reaction time of an ex-professional athlete against (presumably) more typical people.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#19

Post by patio11 »

jcl wrote: post #14
mattheww wrote: post #3

You can't skip the story about Niels Bohr at the bottom.

In a series of mock gunfights with colleagues Bohr always drew second and always won. Heh... Considering that all the participants were scientists, I'm surprised they concluded that one event caused the other.

Somebody tried making that objection but reviewer N.B. blocked his paper during peer review, citing inadequate references to existing literature. The scientist lost his funding, was denied tenure, and now lives in a van down by the river.

Re: The gunfighter's dilemma

#20

Post by RiderOfGiraffes »

dkarl wrote: post #18
RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Niels Bohr should know something about reactions and reaction times - in 1905 he played professional football (soccer) for Akademisk Boldklub, playing goalkeeper.

Seems like a pretty crappy experiment to pit the reaction time of an ex-professional athlete against (presumably) more typical people.

I can't tell if you're joking or not ... are you? Given the context it seems odd that you should interpret the anecdotes as being entirely serious and make such a serious comment, but perhaps I'm just having a sarcasm-detect failure ...
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