Tweet
One particular problem with the current issues of governance is a growing and widespread belief that many government officials and workers are unqualified for the positions they hold. There are several ways of remedying this, the most effective being a regimen of knowledge and aptitude tests being required for various positions. This is easy to implement within the bureaucracy and could, with some effort, be applied to elected candidates. Who would administer the tests and how they would be graded/judged in an impartial manner is a matter of serious debate, but I am positive an equitable and practical solution could be found.
However, there is one sector that people never think of testing. That is the psychological fortitude of the people inhabiting these important positions. I hereby propose a remedy that would ensure that bureaucrats and elected officials are psychologically stable and prepared for their stressful careers. This remedy would be especially applicable for situations involving national security.
This remedy consists of applied stress simulations, administered to the subject at random intervals and consisting of several situations tailored for effectiveness. The simulation(s) applied would depend on the importance and gravity of the subject's position. A President would need far more severe applied stress simulations than would a file clerk dealing with the cataloging of national security documents.
Naturally, the subject would have to be unaware of when the simulation occurs or of its reality. This limits how many times such simulations may be used; it may be that the subject will have to go through a series of them at once instead of having them occur randomly over a period of time. It is essential that the subject believe the simulation is real when going through it.
Examples of applied stress simulations are hereby provided in order of increasing severity. They are all currently in the realm of possibility, especially with the current state of entertainment technology today.
1) Subject Is Implicated In Murder: The subject is linked to a series of murders. Several dozen photos of bloody crime scenes and bodies are presented for inspection by a spectacled doctor. Two visibly armed guards watch the proceedings. The doctor talks at length with the subject, trying to gently goad a confession from him. If the subject does not confess, the doctor confides that he might as well: the case is practically open and shut, fingerprints and blood recovered from the scene match the subject's, and eye-witnesses and video evidence have made a positive identification of the subject as the murderer.
2) Execution Scenario: The subject is awakened in the middle of the night and dragged outside by a group of dark-suited men and military officers. He is instructed to lie face down with his hands behind his head. A gun is cocked and placed at the back of the subject's head, then a second gun out of view of the subject fires into the air.
3) Terminal Disease Scenario: The subject is treated normally for several days while extensive medical testing is done. On the fourth day, after a prolonged period without contact in a locked room, the subject is visited by several people in bio-hazard suits who say that the facility has been contaminated with a deadly biological agent and that many of the staff are dead. The subject is left in the locked room for one day without food or water to consider the situation.
4) Presidential Assassination Scenario: The subject is immobilized with a paralyzing nerve agent and is briefed by his "case officer", who informs him that because his work in the past has been so marvelous, he has been chosen for a special mission. Several case files are shown on a screen, portraying the subject in places he's never been, with people he has never seen, while the case officer drones on and one about the subject's impressive record of assassination. The case officer finally says "Your next target." and then displays a photograph of the President.
5) Alien Intrusion Scenario: The subject is paralyzed by a nerve agent and then is seemingly disassembled by "Grey" aliens on a mock up of an alien space ship. They remove organs, legs and arms, and even the brain, although the subject can still see and hear.
6) Subject Immersed In Snakes & Vermin: The subject is thrown into an industrial vat filled with harmless insects and snakes. Although it is possible to stand in the container, there is no place to climb once the lid is closed. Four hours pass before the subject is released.
7) Simulated Schizophrenic Degeneration: The subject is seemingly incarcerated in a mental facility. While everything seems fine at first, the staff begins dotting their speech with non sequiturs, misuses of common words, and bizarre statements. This continues over a period of days while the staff pretends to not understand what the subject is saying or writing. Likewise, all reading materials, TV broadcasts, and other forms of writing are updated daily (while the subject is being sedated) to read consistent gibberish.
8) Disjointed Environment Scenario: The subject is drugged during his evening meal and is transported to an arctic relay station. Although there are enough supplies to last indefinitely, there is no radio or transportation, or even a map to indicate location. The environment will need to be sufficiently hostile and remote that the action of leaving the station would be suicide. On one wall, a series of slashes indicates that the last resident, whoever they were, spent three years there. The subject is not to be retrieved for two weeks.
9) Forced Participation Scenario: The subject is forced at gunpoint to place a gun to the head of an elderly man who is tied to a chair. The subject is told if they do not fire the gun at the count of three, both will be killed. Both guns are loaded with blanks.
10) Subject Causes Relative's Violent Death: The subject wakes in a facility without any memories of the previous day and is informed that they are responsible for the death of a loved one or close friend in a car accident (or similar). Photos are shown of the wreck including graphic, recognizable pictures of the deceased and news reports of the accident. This culminates with the viewing of the badly-damaged body of the loved one for identification purposes. The subject is then left alone in a room with an attached bathroom, in which packaged razor blades are clearly visible.
I already know that the liberal contingent of the forum will be opposed to such psychological testing, but I am sure the libertarian and conservative elements will see how this could heighten national security and job preparedness for our government employees. While harsh, they provide a level of surety that cannot be denied.
However, there is one sector that people never think of testing. That is the psychological fortitude of the people inhabiting these important positions. I hereby propose a remedy that would ensure that bureaucrats and elected officials are psychologically stable and prepared for their stressful careers. This remedy would be especially applicable for situations involving national security.
This remedy consists of applied stress simulations, administered to the subject at random intervals and consisting of several situations tailored for effectiveness. The simulation(s) applied would depend on the importance and gravity of the subject's position. A President would need far more severe applied stress simulations than would a file clerk dealing with the cataloging of national security documents.
Naturally, the subject would have to be unaware of when the simulation occurs or of its reality. This limits how many times such simulations may be used; it may be that the subject will have to go through a series of them at once instead of having them occur randomly over a period of time. It is essential that the subject believe the simulation is real when going through it.
Examples of applied stress simulations are hereby provided in order of increasing severity. They are all currently in the realm of possibility, especially with the current state of entertainment technology today.
1) Subject Is Implicated In Murder: The subject is linked to a series of murders. Several dozen photos of bloody crime scenes and bodies are presented for inspection by a spectacled doctor. Two visibly armed guards watch the proceedings. The doctor talks at length with the subject, trying to gently goad a confession from him. If the subject does not confess, the doctor confides that he might as well: the case is practically open and shut, fingerprints and blood recovered from the scene match the subject's, and eye-witnesses and video evidence have made a positive identification of the subject as the murderer.
2) Execution Scenario: The subject is awakened in the middle of the night and dragged outside by a group of dark-suited men and military officers. He is instructed to lie face down with his hands behind his head. A gun is cocked and placed at the back of the subject's head, then a second gun out of view of the subject fires into the air.
3) Terminal Disease Scenario: The subject is treated normally for several days while extensive medical testing is done. On the fourth day, after a prolonged period without contact in a locked room, the subject is visited by several people in bio-hazard suits who say that the facility has been contaminated with a deadly biological agent and that many of the staff are dead. The subject is left in the locked room for one day without food or water to consider the situation.
4) Presidential Assassination Scenario: The subject is immobilized with a paralyzing nerve agent and is briefed by his "case officer", who informs him that because his work in the past has been so marvelous, he has been chosen for a special mission. Several case files are shown on a screen, portraying the subject in places he's never been, with people he has never seen, while the case officer drones on and one about the subject's impressive record of assassination. The case officer finally says "Your next target." and then displays a photograph of the President.
5) Alien Intrusion Scenario: The subject is paralyzed by a nerve agent and then is seemingly disassembled by "Grey" aliens on a mock up of an alien space ship. They remove organs, legs and arms, and even the brain, although the subject can still see and hear.
6) Subject Immersed In Snakes & Vermin: The subject is thrown into an industrial vat filled with harmless insects and snakes. Although it is possible to stand in the container, there is no place to climb once the lid is closed. Four hours pass before the subject is released.
7) Simulated Schizophrenic Degeneration: The subject is seemingly incarcerated in a mental facility. While everything seems fine at first, the staff begins dotting their speech with non sequiturs, misuses of common words, and bizarre statements. This continues over a period of days while the staff pretends to not understand what the subject is saying or writing. Likewise, all reading materials, TV broadcasts, and other forms of writing are updated daily (while the subject is being sedated) to read consistent gibberish.
8) Disjointed Environment Scenario: The subject is drugged during his evening meal and is transported to an arctic relay station. Although there are enough supplies to last indefinitely, there is no radio or transportation, or even a map to indicate location. The environment will need to be sufficiently hostile and remote that the action of leaving the station would be suicide. On one wall, a series of slashes indicates that the last resident, whoever they were, spent three years there. The subject is not to be retrieved for two weeks.
9) Forced Participation Scenario: The subject is forced at gunpoint to place a gun to the head of an elderly man who is tied to a chair. The subject is told if they do not fire the gun at the count of three, both will be killed. Both guns are loaded with blanks.
10) Subject Causes Relative's Violent Death: The subject wakes in a facility without any memories of the previous day and is informed that they are responsible for the death of a loved one or close friend in a car accident (or similar). Photos are shown of the wreck including graphic, recognizable pictures of the deceased and news reports of the accident. This culminates with the viewing of the badly-damaged body of the loved one for identification purposes. The subject is then left alone in a room with an attached bathroom, in which packaged razor blades are clearly visible.
I already know that the liberal contingent of the forum will be opposed to such psychological testing, but I am sure the libertarian and conservative elements will see how this could heighten national security and job preparedness for our government employees. While harsh, they provide a level of surety that cannot be denied.
Comment