[ISSUE DRAFT] Communication Catastrophe

[Clitchgaard]

I have an issue I'm looking to submit, but I want it critiqued and proofread beforehand. Let me know what y'all think. Thanks.

Title: Communication Catastrophe

Issue: Due to a recent travesty in which a young child was unable to describe their grievous injury nor their location to an emergency dispatcher, leading to the subsequent death of the child, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

1. “What we need is more communicatively competent emergency dispatchers,'' says polyglot professor @@RANDOMNAME@@, pulling out three different dictionaries. “If they can’t tell exactly what the caller is saying, then they shouldn’t even have the job.”

Emergency dispatchers must know at least three different languages to get the job.

2. “Why do we even need emergency dispatchers altogether?”, questions tech mogul @@RANDOMNAME@@. “Our new artificial intelligence-based emergency dispatch system can respond to every single call at once, and can even search online databases to determine precisely what the caller is trying to say even if they’re almost completely unintelligible! Just let the machine do all the work!”

Emergency callers are met by a sophisticated call machine.

3. “Bah humbug”, says elderly curmudgeon @@RANDOMNAME@@ with a dismissive wave of their hand. “Back in my day, we didn’t have any of these fancy ‘call operators’ or whichever you calls ‘em. Don’t let the kids rely on their darned cellphones and let ‘em figure it out for themselves.”

Old emergency lines are now only dialtones.

4. “Hypothetically speaking, were homo sapiens to pursue more direct avenues of communication,” says philosopher and linguist @@RANDOMNAME@@ as they struggle to think of their next words, “we would not encounter such sound-wave information relation difficulties. @@DEMONYM@@ youth who participate in education for the purposes of decreasing the distance between cerebral synapses must be taught specificity and scientific terminology to relay precisely what they are attempting to indicate in any given situation.”

Toddlers describe where they are through lines of latitude and longitude.

5. “You weaklings are missing the point!” yells muscular EMT and bodybuilder @@RANDOMNAME@@, poking you in the chest. “All I need is a location! Trace the call or do whatever you nerds do, and my medical strike team will bust in and clean house. Just give us the weapons and the go, and no one else will have to die - not on our watch!”

Armed strike teams breach and clear the homes of cardiac arrest victims.

[USS Monitor]

I think there's some potential here, but I would advise you not to rush the drafting process, and keep in mind that effect lines are not sentences.

Effect lines are displayed on players' nation page in a string like this:

The weather report is the prisoners' favourite programme, the government prefers to kill off its enemies by peaceful means, heavily subsidised Monitorian baskets litter the streets of North Carolina, and anyone who sneezes at border crossings is turned away.

In the issues where these came from, they look like this:

the weather report is the prisoners' favourite programme

...with no capitalization or punctuation.

[Clitchgaard]

I think there's some potential here, but I would advise you not to rush the drafting process, and keep in mind that effect lines are not sentences.

Effect lines are displayed on players' nation page in a string like this:

The weather report is the prisoners' favourite programme, the government prefers to kill off its enemies by peaceful means, heavily subsidised Monitorian baskets litter the streets of North Carolina, and anyone who sneezes at border crossings is turned away.

In the issues where these came from, they look like this:

the weather report is the prisoners' favourite programme

...with no capitalization or punctuation.

Gotcha, I'll edit out the capitalization and punctuation. But what do you mean by not rushing the drafting process? I feel like I have a pretty clear idea of what the issue is, and here's the 1st draft of it, so I'm just looking to improve it.

[USS Monitor]

I think there's some potential here, but I would advise you not to rush the drafting process, and keep in mind that effect lines are not sentences.

Effect lines are displayed on players' nation page in a string like this:

The weather report is the prisoners' favourite programme, the government prefers to kill off its enemies by peaceful means, heavily subsidised Monitorian baskets litter the streets of North Carolina, and anyone who sneezes at border crossings is turned away.

In the issues where these came from, they look like this:

the weather report is the prisoners' favourite programme

...with no capitalization or punctuation.

Gotcha, I'll edit out the capitalization and punctuation. But what do you mean by not rushing the drafting process? I feel like I have a pretty clear idea of what the issue is, and here's the 1st draft of it, so I'm just looking to improve it.

I just mean the forum's been a little slow lately, so you should allow enough time for people to read it and give you feedback.

I don't see any huge structural problems, but there are some funky word choices like saying "travesty" where I think "tragedy" would fit better. Not sure option 4 adds much. The other options are a good selection of ideas.

[Fontenais]

Issue: Due to a recent travesty in which a young child was unable to describe their grievous injury nor their location to an emergency dispatcher, leading to the subsequent death of the child, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

I'd think the biggest issue here is parental negligence - if a child isn't old enough to speak properly (I'm guessing the child would only be 2-3 years old), then they shouldn't be unattended to the extent that a parent/guardian wouldn't notice if they suffered a grevious bodily injury

I would suggest that the parent was seriously injured, and the young child couldn't communicate what the problem was.
Or, I imagine, even an older child or adult could be in a similar situation - if someone has seriously injured themselves, they might be in too much shock to describe what's happened, or, for example, suffering from an asthma attack, and clearly unable to talk properly

[USS Monitor]

Issue: Due to a recent travesty in which a young child was unable to describe their grievous injury nor their location to an emergency dispatcher, leading to the subsequent death of the child, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

I'd think the biggest issue here is parental negligence - if a child isn't old enough to speak properly (I'm guessing the child would only be 2-3 years old), then they shouldn't be unattended to the extent that a parent/guardian wouldn't notice if they suffered a grevious bodily injury

I would suggest that the parent was seriously injured, and the young child couldn't communicate what the problem was.
Or, I imagine, even an older child or adult could be in a similar situation - if someone has seriously injured themselves, they might be in too much shock to describe what's happened, or, for example, suffering from an asthma attack, and clearly unable to talk properly

They might not speak the dominant language as their first language -- hence the polyglot guy in the options.

It might be a good idea to be more explicit about exactly why the dispatcher couldn't understand -- was it a language barrier, a speech impediment, etc.?

[Clitchgaard]

Issue: Due to a recent travesty in which a young child was unable to describe their grievous injury nor their location to an emergency dispatcher, leading to the subsequent death of the child, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

I'd think the biggest issue here is parental negligence - if a child isn't old enough to speak properly (I'm guessing the child would only be 2-3 years old), then they shouldn't be unattended to the extent that a parent/guardian wouldn't notice if they suffered a grevious bodily injury

I would suggest that the parent was seriously injured, and the young child couldn't communicate what the problem was.
Or, I imagine, even an older child or adult could be in a similar situation - if someone has seriously injured themselves, they might be in too much shock to describe what's happened, or, for example, suffering from an asthma attack, and clearly unable to talk properly

Good idea. To be honest, the actual setup was a bit of an afterthought. I had the idea, but didn't know through what event to frame it. I particularly like your first suggestion, (parent injured and child couldn't describe it). I think it preserves the idea the best.

[Clitchgaard]

I'd think the biggest issue here is parental negligence - if a child isn't old enough to speak properly (I'm guessing the child would only be 2-3 years old), then they shouldn't be unattended to the extent that a parent/guardian wouldn't notice if they suffered a grevious bodily injury

I would suggest that the parent was seriously injured, and the young child couldn't communicate what the problem was.
Or, I imagine, even an older child or adult could be in a similar situation - if someone has seriously injured themselves, they might be in too much shock to describe what's happened, or, for example, suffering from an asthma attack, and clearly unable to talk properly

They might not speak the dominant language as their first language -- hence the polyglot guy in the options.

It might be a good idea to be more explicit about exactly why the dispatcher couldn't understand -- was it a language barrier, a speech impediment, etc.?

Good point. My idea is that the child could not relay the information properly due to a combination of shock and poor vocabulary and lack of awareness of their surroundings, (due to being so young). It's not innately a language barrier problem, but I think the issue of foreign language callers is easily raised by the original event. Essentially, the issue is about how to tackle communication issues for emergency dispatchers, be that language barriers, shock, speech impediments, etc.

On the note of the polyglot guy, I could maybe switch it around to be a little more general. The idea is that the bar is raised for the communication abilities of emergency dispatchers, which includes things like a greater vocabulary in more than one language. If you know more words for things, it's easier to discern what somebody is saying if they're not speaking clearly or with more usual, specific words.

[Clitchgaard]

Gotcha, I'll edit out the capitalization and punctuation. But what do you mean by not rushing the drafting process? I feel like I have a pretty clear idea of what the issue is, and here's the 1st draft of it, so I'm just looking to improve it.

I just mean the forum's been a little slow lately, so you should allow enough time for people to read it and give you feedback.

I don't see any huge structural problems, but there are some funky word choices like saying "travesty" where I think "tragedy" would fit better. Not sure option 4 adds much. The other options are a good selection of ideas.

Option 4 was actually the initial inspiration for the issue. Some philosopher, can't remember their name, proposed that we should eventually describe everything in specific, scientific language. So "anger" as a concept would be described as (a specific cocktail of) hormones surging through our brains which is causing us to recognize a pattern of firing synapses as "anger" followed by a physical response, (i.e. nausea).

This is applied to the issue by proposing that, rather than overhauling the emergency dispatchers or that general system, we instead overhaul our language system as a whole so that everyone knows exactly how to express everything accurately and within scientific/medical terminology from a young age.

I feel like it fits well personally, but I'm curious why you feel like it doesn't add much.

[USS Monitor]

I just mean the forum's been a little slow lately, so you should allow enough time for people to read it and give you feedback.

I don't see any huge structural problems, but there are some funky word choices like saying "travesty" where I think "tragedy" would fit better. Not sure option 4 adds much. The other options are a good selection of ideas.

Option 4 was actually the initial inspiration for the issue. Some philosopher, can't remember their name, proposed that we should eventually describe everything in specific, scientific language. So "anger" as a concept would be described as (a specific cocktail of) hormones surging through our brains which is causing us to recognize a pattern of firing synapses as "anger" followed by a physical response, (i.e. nausea).

This is applied to the issue by proposing that, rather than overhauling the emergency dispatchers or that general system, we instead overhaul our language system as a whole so that everyone knows exactly how to express everything accurately and within scientific/medical terminology from a young age.

I feel like it fits well personally, but I'm curious why you feel like it doesn't add much.

Well, I don't think it's very practical or would really address the problem. You'd still have people that are too young to have learned all the correct terminology. You'd still have people that are just naturally bad at it. You'd still have people that are struggling with a 2nd language or a speech impediment.

The character's speaking style is stilted and overly technical in ways that don't actually improve clarity, and I don't think the line about decreasing distance between synapses is all that relevant or accurate.

[Clitchgaard]

Option 4 was actually the initial inspiration for the issue. Some philosopher, can't remember their name, proposed that we should eventually describe everything in specific, scientific language. So "anger" as a concept would be described as (a specific cocktail of) hormones surging through our brains which is causing us to recognize a pattern of firing synapses as "anger" followed by a physical response, (i.e. nausea).

This is applied to the issue by proposing that, rather than overhauling the emergency dispatchers or that general system, we instead overhaul our language system as a whole so that everyone knows exactly how to express everything accurately and within scientific/medical terminology from a young age.

I feel like it fits well personally, but I'm curious why you feel like it doesn't add much.

Well, I don't think it's very practical or would really address the problem. You'd still have people that are too young to have learned all the correct terminology. You'd still have people that are just naturally bad at it. You'd still have people that are struggling with a 2nd language or a speech impediment.

The character's speaking style is stilted and overly technical in ways that don't actually improve clarity, and I don't think the line about decreasing distance between synapses is all that relevant or accurate.

Yeah, it's definitely absurd, and the arguments made for it logically check out but are also equally absurd. However, I also feel like those are reasons to not pick it, but one could also decide to pick it in a somewhat ill-advised effort that wouldn't fully fix the problem for the immediate future. It would eventually, but mass language restructuring takes time. At the same time, I suppose it does assume a certain degree of "utopia" in the fact that everyone could properly be taught all this and could understand it, and it certainly would raise the bar for the processing ability necessary for language comprehension. This theoretical utopic vision might be out of the scope of Nationstates.

I'm not sure, but you have a point. This philosopher was proposing that immediate efforts be made to move to this eventual future, but no doubt is the idea a bit out-there. Maybe I could just save it for another issue pertaining to language restructuring or something.

[USS Monitor]

If you aren't eager to cut it, you can hold off and see what other people think.

[Fontenais]

I agree with USS Monitor that option 4 doesn't really fit. It seems a bit counter-intuitive, which usually works but the speaker is actually sincere about solving the problem

Edit: Clitchgaard, sometimes inspiration can take you on a path you don't expect

[Clitchgaard]

I agree with USS Monitor that option 4 doesn't really fit. It seems a bit counter-intuitive, which usually works but the speaker is actually sincere about solving the problem

Edit: Clitchgaard, sometimes inspiration can take you on a path you don't expect

Fair point. May be better to just cut it. As they say, "kill your darlings".

[Clitchgaard]

bump

[Australian rePublic]

What's the problem here? They don't speak the same language? The kid can't speak clearly yet? The kid doesn't know his location? What's the problem?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Agree with Aussie - the premise needs to be clearer.

[Clitchgaard]

Right. Here's the 2nd draft:

Due to a recent tragedy in which a young child was unable to describe the grievous injury of their parent nor their location to an emergency dispatcher due to shock and a limited vocabulary, leading to the subsequent death of the parent, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

1. “What we need is more communicationally competent emergency dispatchers,'' says polyglot professor @@RANDOMNAME@@, pulling out three different dictionaries. “If they can’t tell exactly what the caller is saying, then they shouldn’t have the job.”

Emergency dispatchers must know at least three different languages to get the job.

2. “Why do we even need emergency dispatchers altogether?” questions tech mogul @@RANDOMNAME@@. “Our new artificial intelligence-based emergency dispatch system can respond to every single call at once, and can even search online databases to determine precisely what the caller is trying to say even if they’re almost completely unintelligible! Just let the machine do all the work!”

Emergency callers are met by a sophisticated call machine.

3. “Bah humbug”, says elderly curmudgeon @@RANDOMNAME@@ with a dismissive wave of their hand. “Back in my day, we didn’t have any of these fancy ‘call operators’ or whichever you calls ‘em. Don’t let the kids rely on their darned cellphones and let ‘em figure it out for themselves.”

Old emergency lines are now only dialtones.

4. “You weaklings are missing the point!” yells muscular EMT and bodybuilder @@RANDOMNAME@@, poking you in the chest. “All I need is a location! Trace the call or do whatever you nerds do, and my medical strike team will bust in and clean house. Just give us the weapons and the go, and no one else will have to die - not on our watch!”

Armed strike teams breach and clear the homes of cardiac arrest victims.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Due to a recent tragedy in which a young child was unable to describe the grievous injury of their parent nor their location to an emergency dispatcher due to shock and a limited vocabulary, leading to the subsequent death of the parent, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

Decent premise, except none of the options actually answer this premise.

[Clitchgaard]

Due to a recent tragedy in which a young child was unable to describe the grievous injury of their parent nor their location to an emergency dispatcher due to shock and a limited vocabulary, leading to the subsequent death of the parent, @@NAME@@ is in an uproar.

Decent premise, except none of the options actually answer this premise.

How so?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Premise: Child is in too much shock and has too limited to communicate properly.
1. Train dispatchers to understand more languages. This makes no sense as the child wasn't speaking a different language, they were just too shocked and traumatised,
2. Use an AI. This makes no sense, as AI systems are notoriously WORSE at understanding unclear speech than humans are.
3. Get rid of cellphones. Uh, what?
4. Trace calls. Well, that fixes the location problem, but if the capacity to trace call location already existed wouldn't this be done already? It's hardly somethng that needs a policy decision.

A more rational approach might be:
Premise: Child is in too much shock and has too limited to communicate properly. Call-tracing helped pinpoint the general location, but treatment was delayed with tragic consequences.
1. Give staff sensitivity and empathy training to handle situations like this.
2. No, give CHILDREN medical emergency, communication and crisis training so they can keep their cool, as well as deliver life-saving first aid.
3. Eh, this is social Darwinism at its best. Let stupid people with stupid kids die, it'll be better for the population. In fact, given them a 30 second countdown to communicate clearly, and hang up if they refuse.

[Australian rePublic]

Premise: Child is in too much shock and has too limited to communicate properly.
1. Train dispatchers to understand more languages. This makes no sense as the child wasn't speaking a different language, they were just too shocked and traumatised,
2. Use an AI. This makes no sense, as AI systems are notoriously WORSE at understanding unclear speech than humans are.
3. Get rid of cellphones. Uh, what?
4. Trace calls. Well, that fixes the location problem, but if the capacity to trace call location already existed wouldn't this be done already? It's hardly somethng that needs a policy decision.

A more rational approach might be:
Premise: Child is in too much shock and has too limited to communicate properly. Call-tracing helped pinpoint the general location, but treatment was delayed with tragic consequences.
1. Give staff sensitivity and empathy training to handle situations like this.
2. No, give CHILDREN medical emergency, communication and crisis training so they can keep their cool, as well as deliver life-saving first aid.
3. Eh, this is social Darwinism at its best. Let stupid people with stupid kids die, it'll be better for the population. In fact, given them a 30 second countdown to communicate clearly, and hang up if they refuse.

Don't even get me started on how bad AIs are at understanding clear, much less unclear speach

[Clitchgaard]

Premise: Child is in too much shock and has too limited to communicate properly.
1. Train dispatchers to understand more languages. This makes no sense as the child wasn't speaking a different language, they were just too shocked and traumatised,
2. Use an AI. This makes no sense, as AI systems are notoriously WORSE at understanding unclear speech than humans are.
3. Get rid of cellphones. Uh, what?
4. Trace calls. Well, that fixes the location problem, but if the capacity to trace call location already existed wouldn't this be done already? It's hardly somethng that needs a policy decision.

A more rational approach might be:
Premise: Child is in too much shock and has too limited to communicate properly. Call-tracing helped pinpoint the general location, but treatment was delayed with tragic consequences.
1. Give staff sensitivity and empathy training to handle situations like this.
2. No, give CHILDREN medical emergency, communication and crisis training so they can keep their cool, as well as deliver life-saving first aid.
3. Eh, this is social Darwinism at its best. Let stupid people with stupid kids die, it'll be better for the population. In fact, given them a 30 second countdown to communicate clearly, and hang up if they refuse.

Don't even get me started on how bad AIs are at understanding clear, much less unclear speach

Fair point. As a side note, on the note of the AI, I was picturing a true AI that could extrapolate what is being said. Would probably be better to go back to the drawing board on this.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

On the subject of AIs, the official line here is that the question of whether machine intelligences are sentient are not is intentionally not answered by nationstates. Depictions of AIs are allowed to give the illusion of being as sentient as humans, but there should never be an objective assumption in game that they are. Also, we avoid any situation where AIs are depicted as being objectively cognitively superior to humans. They're allowed to claim that they could be, but no option should ever be written with the assumption that they are actually superior. This is because the imminence of the AI singularity basically would shift the game into posthuman scifi, and that's outside of the depicted genre. Transhuman, sure, but not posthuman.

It's a subtle thing, but your option -- which assumed an AI would better be able to understand a distressed child than a human would -- is too far into the posthuman territory.

[USS Monitor]

There might still be technological tools you could use to make it easier for the dispatchers understand garbled speech, as in cleaning up the sound quality.