I won't touch the inflatable sheep comment but in terms of simulating marriage, isn't that what 2nd Life is supposed to do? I've never tried it but read plenty about people who literally have a simulated marriage online. Personally one real one is enough for me...I'd rather hunt "tangos" if I'm playing online.
Along that thought process, however, is using something like a 2nd life simulation to mirror COIN. You can replicate every type of personality in a known AO, have events from a car bombing to an election drive and best of all, you can run this over a looooong period of time. For example: you know your unit is deploying somewhere next year. You have an idea of the AO (always subject to change of course). About a year out, you inject your key leaders into this 2nd Life environment. Even an hour a day whether from work or the house over the course of a year would help them build up a huge knowledge base based on actual people, locations and events. If kids sitting at home on a Saturday night can design these types of environments, why can't STRICOM and the military?
May be worth a look. Thoughts?
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