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Old 10-08-2016, 09:56 AM   #201
jason taylor
 
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Default Re: bending stereotypes

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Socrates was a hoplite in the Peloponnesian war.

Luke
Hoplites were militia and served for their city not for a job. That phenomenon was already accounted for.
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:11 PM   #202
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Hoplites were militia and served for their city not for a job. That phenomenon was already accounted for.
And if you include such compulsory service*, Michio Kaku has you well covered in "really smart guy serves a term in the military."

* I think Greek service was compulsory, but it may have just been so expected as to otherwise face being permanently branded a coward.
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:17 PM   #203
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And if you include such compulsory service*, Michio Kaku has you well covered in "really smart guy serves a term in the military."

* I think Greek service was compulsory, but it may have just been so expected as to otherwise face being permanently branded a coward.
It was required for citizenship rights. This became awkward when oarmen-who did not need to equip themselves-demanded enfranchisement on the basis of their contributions. Athenian politics can sound weirdly like American politics sometimes. But yeah being branded a coward would also do it.

The author however specifically mentioned soldiers serving as a temp job to beef up their future careers. That excludes both professionals and militia as well as conscripts and volunteers that come from all classes during a big war and often include intelligent people. It would probably also exclude nobles as "noble" is just a fancy way of saying "military brat". Sometimes distinctly emphasizing the brat part but that's another story.

That said it must have been known in the past. Some Alexandrine troops probably were of this kind. Collect a bit of loot, buy your way home and set oneself up in Attica where one can mingle with philosophers in the agora. Or become a local boy-a lot of the dozens of Alexandria's were probably supply stations and it is on record that the retirees hung around each other and simply stayed put and formed their own communities probably around such places giving. Giving Old Al a superb extra force to suppliment his regulars for keeping natives in line and giving retired troops protection in civilian life. All that really would be needed would be to plop a warehouse and a fort in a convenient area and call it a "city" and it would take on a life of it's own.
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:30 PM   #204
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I enlisted in the Air Force in 1986 because I thought it would help me get a job in software engineering without a degree later. After I got out, I came to find that I was mistaken - HR managers don't care what you've done, they care about whether you have certification. But essentially, that was a case of someone with a moderate education (2 years of college at that point, which got me enlisted as an E-3) going into the military as a "temp job".
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:32 PM   #205
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I enlisted in the Air Force in 1986 because I thought it would help me get a job in software engineering without a degree later. After I got out, I came to find that I was mistaken - HR managers don't care what you've done, they care about whether you have certification. But essentially, that was a case of someone with a moderate education (2 years of college at that point, which got me enlisted as an E-3) going into the military as a "temp job".
There are certification programs for vets with related MOS training, I don't know if there were in 1988 though.
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:34 PM   #206
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Athletic child is misunderstood by nerdy parent, who can't understand their obsession with "sportsball" and pressures them into joining the chess club.
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:43 PM   #207
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Default Re: bending stereotypes

Janisary Tree is an inversion of the "evil eunuch" stereotype.
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Old 10-08-2016, 05:44 PM   #208
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Athletic child is misunderstood by nerdy parent, who can't understand their obsession with "sportsball" and pressures them into joining the chess club.
That would be a good one.
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Old 10-08-2016, 07:33 PM   #209
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Trance Gemini on Andromeda if I remember turns out to be the Genus Loci of a star whose avatar is an amiable pinkish-purple alien getting a job as a free-trader.
That character's nature and abilities wobbled all over the place. Other than one way off genre episode here and there where she exhibited time control powers or immortality that were ignored in every other episode, she was mostly a near useless mascot level crew member.
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Old 10-08-2016, 09:49 PM   #210
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Athletic child is misunderstood by nerdy parent, who can't understand their obsession with "sportsball" and pressures them into joining the chess club.
I could see that making a good story. Maybe bonding when they both discover the joy of sports statistics and absolutely dominating the fantasy football leagues.
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