UnderF4331@aol.com wrote:

 As for sound, Elizabeth Moon has the briges of ships engaged in space
 battles actually PLAYING sounds to simulate earth combat. Presumably,
 people cannot be effective in combat without hearing the sounds of it!

Nonsense. Utter nonsense. An aircraft, a ship at sea, or a submarine
beneath it can and will engage an enemy they cannot see or sometimes
even hear. A volley of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles can destroy
hundreds of cities and millions of people in less than thirty minutes,
and all that is required to do it is for a handful of people thousands
of miles from their victims to follow a checklist step by step.

        That's kinda true...
        There is an instinctive reaction to explosions, esp. the sound of them: to
release adrenaline.  This is because, in nature, an explosion usually means
that you need to run, now, and fast.  I mean, let's face it, things don't
normally explode.
        Also, without sound a person might get to the point where they just don't
believe that it's real, and do you really want that kind of person in your
military?

The scenario of "Ender's Game" notwithstanding, this is also nonsense.
The tension and fear is very real, very palpable. It's never a game,
because the people in these positions know very well that their turn to
die at the hands of an unseen enemy might be next.

Jamie
-- 
       "Why are they wearing bras?"
          -Rachel Wilde, age 4,
while watching the Dirty *ahem* Lovely Angels...
________________________________________________
   Come and see the fanfics and food of
         Bridget and Jamie Wilde!
            wildeman@psn.net
      http://www.psn.net/~wildeman/