h a l f b a k e r yAmbivalent? Are you sure?
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I think it would be really cool if I could get badges and medals that would let people know about my achievements without having to resort to bragging. Why should doctors and high ranking Army officials be the only ones with cool prefixes or medals to inform the public of their talents, I think knowing
how to knit, being a pro at Atari games, or being able to operate a lawn mover and drink a coffee at the same time are equally admirable skills.
1) It would give everyone higher self-confidence and a greater sense of accomplishment
2) Make it easier to meet people with similar interests
3) Allow you to easily form teams of experts on anything with a moments notice.
*By everyone i meant everyone who chooses to wear them, not that they should be mandatory.
The Merit Badge Research Center
http://www.meritbadge.com/home.htm
Still selling the dubiously titled book, "Scouting for boys", I notice. [st3f, Jun 10 2002, last modified Oct 21 2004]
http://www.halfbake...ek_20Code_20Jewelry
me toying with the idea... [RayfordSteele, Jun 10 2002]
[link]
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Good point Bookworm,I was hoping there was demand enough to be able to purchase pre-made patches, but on the bright side this obstacle allow me to add master embroiderer to my list of talents. |
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Or to the username one could affix halfbakery psychological types such as clown, scientist... |
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eg. "World's Greatest Grandmother" t-shirt, often worn by the typical chain-smoking American bingo bag. |
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Rather than badges, feathers. Then you could have a wide array of distinctively-coloured feathers in your cap. |
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Stop stirring up trouble george, and stop trying to hide trolling in integrity. |
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There must be enough grown-up scouts who still want merit badges to make this idea work. |
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bliss: george knows that the idea of having anything becoming mandatory isn't well recieved by the halfbakery contingent. He's hiding it in the integrity of it stopping bragging, similar to the 'Sober Irish' idea wher it was hidden in the integrity of letting the irish conquer the world. |
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I'm from the nip-it-in-the-bud school of thought. |
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Who decides who gets what badge? |
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I hear you guys have interesting uniforms... |
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I don't think George was stirring up trouble. His observation is valid. The idea does say "without resorting to bragging," yet voluntarily wearing a merit badge is a form of bragging. Making it mandatory takes away the bragging aspect. Gotta agree with him. |
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I don't think signing your name Col. Whatever is bragging, so i don't think wearing badges would be bragging. But, its up to you waugs, i'm not here to be your mother... |
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[sctld] I do not visualise you as anybody's mother - least of all, waugsqueke's - who every one knows was shot here from a far off planet when it was doomed for destruction! |
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What if only *badge-wearers* could perceive other badge-wearers' badges? I say "perceive" instead of "see" because in order for this to work, the badges may have to be sonic (or something else - olfactory? tactile?) instead of things anyone can pick up on easily. |
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The point is, no one ends up looking like a braggart because badge-wearing becomes an insular culture and all its members understand/appreciate it. Non-badge-wearers wouldn't have to put up with it and wouldn't have an opportunity to judge it. |
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Back to the technology aspect... |
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Let's take sonic badges as the example: |
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The badge-wearer's "badges" are actually small sonic beacons that the person can keep in their pocket or wherever. Maybe your entire collection of badges is just one electronic device that emits a different recognizable signal for each badge you have. All badge-wearers would also have a device similar to a hearing aid that picks up on the signals, sorts them out, and whispers into your ear about the skills and accomplishments of the person you just met, the person next to you in the elevator, your date, etc... If that person has a beacon, that is. I guess it wouldn't have to be a hearing aid thing; it could be handheld, a function of your Blackberry, whatever. This probably wouldn't work well in crowded areas. |
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So, say you're on a blind date with someone. You activate your MeritScanner earpiece by wiggling your ear as your date quizzes the server about the wine list, and in a moment you hear a very quiet electronic voice whisper the following: |
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"Badge-wearer 30405943. Kilimanjaro 1997. Boston Marathon 1999. Fluency in German. Fluency in French. LSAT 86th percentile 2001." etc., etc. |
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At the same time, or maybe a little later in the evening, your date will likely do the same thing to you. |
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This could also work with smell or touch, it would just be weirder. |
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If someone were to make up the graphics for the merit badges (at least a prototype and some standard/suggested badges that could be Photoshop'd) then you could affix them to your Home Page on the web (what exactly is a "home page" good for anyway?) to brag to visitors. |
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Isn't this just a prettier form of the Geek Code? |
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What's the punishment for *not* wearing your mandatory badges? |
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A lot of people who buy luxury cars have the badges removed, so they don't appear to be showing off which model they bought... which is still showing off, I guess. |
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I'm quite certain we are. Aren't you? |
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With the "invisible" aspect added, this is tolerable. Not interesting to me but it could actually work. RFID tags could respond with a code that represents a bearers accomplishment. While RFID tags generally respond with a unique serial number they could be built otherwise. I wonder if there is an RFID tag interrogator module for a hand held computer. |
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It seems that I recall, in the past few years, hearing a lot of hype about exchanging electronic data via a physical, human-type handshake. Assuming that technology actually is/becomes workable then this "merit badge" data could be exchanged in this manner. Otherwise, bluetooth (via cellphone or other device) might suffice. |
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Instead of Merit Badges, the Cub Scouts had Arrow Points that you earned. Your parent's signed that you earned the points, and you sewed the arrow point below your rank (Wolf,Bear,Lion). Instead of having to buy all the required stuff, my parents found it cheaper just to LIE about my having completed the project. Now that was a <u>really</u> valuable lesson! |
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I have to agree with George and waugs. Wearing a badge is definitely bragging. However, I don't see anything wrong with that. People should be proud of their successes. However, in the interests of balance, I feel that badge wearers should have to advertise their failures as well.
<aside> Phew! Made it to the end of the anno with no mention whatever of not needing no steenkin' badges.</aside> |
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There's been a lot of mention of electronic badges, which is an interesting idea. Someday we will be far more wired than we are now and we could sort of exchange our merits with each other. Might there also be some kind of universal uniform or badge vest for us all to sew the badges on, so we could display physical merit badges in public? Or would we save them to hang up on our wall? Or sew them on an item of our choice? Or switch completely over to electronic ones? |
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I am not really a badge kind of person, but i am drawn to DrBobs idea of failure badges. The inadequate medal with incompetence bar and cross, presented by Prince Phillip in a ceremony held at an Irish theme pub. |
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I dont know about everyone else but my failure badges would take up a whole shirt. |
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Instead of a failure badge I would like a digital trainee pin containing all sorts of selectable nouns, for instance if you are terrible at dancing you would select "dancing" out of its menu and it would flash DANCING TRAINEE so that people would immediately understand that your flailing about is not a medical condition but your first attempt at dancing without having to awkwardly explain to every single person who looks in your direction. As and added bonus they might even offer to help you. |
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[earl]'s technological variation reminds me of the various other halfbaked and fullybaked social information transponders (lovegetys and all their variations, coded jewelery, lust-detecting clothes, interest indicators, etc). I wonder if there is a general principle to be deduced from all these. |
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(FWIW, I think GTR is right that if the badge is optional, then choosing to wear it could be bragging. If the badge is subtle an unostentatious enough it might be ok.) |
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I can use the left-handed Sidewinder Strategic Commander with my right hand -- do I get a badge? |
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yes, nickthegreat, that is a very valuble skill. did i ever menton i can operate a lawn mower with one hand and drink a coffee at the same time? |
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So who decides you've earned the badge? Please don't say the honor system, because I would then not be able to walk because of all the badges I would have to wear. |
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Perhaps there could be a limit of say... 25 badges per person to eliminate the bragging factor, that way you would select the talents that you are most skilled at ot are most useful only. |
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