This is a fairly hilarious news item from Israel. Seems the Israel Defense Forces don’t like people who play Dungeons & Dragons (nerds, dweebs & dorks, in other words). Not only that, but there has been some name-calling:

“They’re detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” the army says.

Which to me is a completely laughable quote. I mean, isn’t that precisely what an army would want, and would take advantage of? Especially the US Armed Forces, considering they released a video game for the express purpose of recruiting, and have entire ad campaigns devoted to divorcing yourself from reality, and indulging in weird fantasies.

But it’s still funny when D&D players get trashed, and so publicly.

“One of the tests we do, either by asking soldiers directly or through information provided us, is to ask whether they take part in the game,” he says. “If a soldier answers in the affirmative, he is sent to a professional for an evaluation, usually a psychologist.”

More than half of the soldiers sent for evaluation receive low security clearances, thus preventing them from serving in sensitive IDF positions, he says.

Igor says exposing soldiers who play the game could result in the soldiers being sent to a military psychologist or even being kicked out of the army.

Man, too bad being into fantasy & sci-fi isn’t going to be enough to get us all here out of the draft when it comes. If that was the case we’d all be out faster than the army could roll a twelve-sided “die” at us.

Oh wait, here we go:

“These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. “They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality – elements which lower a person’s security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions.”

So, it is like I said above. They do, in fact, want people like this. Just not high up.

Tomfoolery aside though, this seems like a rather extreme stance - especially since so much military training involves simulations, war games, and role-playing scenarios. If anything, these people are going to be more accustomed to creative critical thinking in that kind of setting. Even if they are used to directing their hatred against orcs instead of Palestinians.