Originally posted by Galan007
It's because GL rings aren't just some random trinket that you can pick up and instantly know how to use.
Wouldnt this be counterpointed by you saying batman did extensive research on it? He is one of dc's top minds, whereas any other g.l. by comparison, at least the earthbound ones, are pretty average, so is the difference between the experience using the ring and what info one can gleam from extensive study that big of a gulf? And if so exactly what could batman study so extensively if a second hand account of using the ring has almost no impact of how much someone like batman could pick the ring up.
As an example, imagine the smartest man in the world , who is also trained in martial arts, has good hand eye coordination etc. , extensively studying firearms. Imagine he has never shot a gun before but he's been around 100s of people using them and knows everything about them. This man when he first picks up a gun obviously wouldnt be as good of a shot as an idiot who has shot guns accurately for two decades, however he would be way better at using firearms his first try compared to someone who never held or studied anything about guns, so im saying the disparity between batman using the ring is either disproportionate or the study couldnt have been that extensive, or there is more to be asked about the mechanics of the ring imo.
If a gun is too simple adjust the analogy with something more complex than a gun. I cant think of anything sufficiently complex enough where someone who studied it extensively, although never experienced using it first hand, who fail to such a degree that a genius like batman would fail, but someone of average iq like hal jordan could succeed.
Im all for suspending disbelief for entertainment, but the internal logic of fictitious worlds has to be consistent. If a fictitious world's own rules it set up are contradicted it makes for bad story telling. Ive never been able to make sense of the gl corps. Every other ring makes more sense to me i.e. red lanterns get chosen for being angry then become more powerful the angrier they become.
So is willpower more like grit and determination here?
Originally posted by ilikecomics
Wouldnt this be counterpointed by you saying batman did extensive research on it? He is one of dc's top minds, whereas any other g.l. by comparison, at least the earthbound ones, are pretty average, so is the difference between the experience using the ring and what info one can gleam from extensive study that big of a gulf? And if so exactly what could batman study so extensively if a second hand account of using the ring has almost no impact of how much someone like batman could pick the ring up.As an example, imagine the smartest man in the world , who is also trained in martial arts, has good hand eye coordination etc. , extensively studying firearms. Imagine he has never shot a gun before but he's been around 100s of people using them and knows everything about them. This man when he first picks up a gun obviously wouldnt be as good of a shot as an idiot who has shot guns accurately for two decades, however he would be way better at using firearms his first try compared to someone who never held or studied anything about guns, so im saying the disparity between batman using the ring is either disproportionate or the study couldnt have been that extensive, or there is more to be asked about the mechanics of the ring imo.
If a gun is too simple adjust the analogy with something more complex than a gun. I cant think of anything sufficiently complex enough where someone who studied it extensively, although never experienced using it first hand, who fail to such a degree that a genius like batman would fail, but someone of average iq like hal jordan could succeed.
But as Pr pointed out, we assume that the ring chose us, which in that case places us at least on the level of the rawest Green Lantern rookie.
Originally posted by Stoic
But as Pr pointed out, we assume that the ring chose us, which in that case places us at least on the level of the rawest Green Lantern rookie.
Oh i see where this is applicable. Then wouldn't the answer be dedicate your will into studying how to develop even stronger will? Other people referenced the ability to use the ring to look things up. There's gotta be apocryphal writings of the guardians that are willpower life hacks.
Originally posted by Stoic
Most true to life people lack the will to quit smoking cigarettes, or taking highly addictive drugs like meth, or heroin. How are they supposed to willfully beat top tiers capable of punishing planets? I agree with the thought that most would overestimate their willpower.
See I dont get why thats hard. I smoked cigars and peter stuyverson cigarettes for a couple decades. When my kids were born my wife said I should stop and that was it, sinply never smoked again, cold turkey no problems.
I recently went to a birthday party where one of the guests was smoking cubans. I joined him to vicariously second hand smoke his luscious cigar, so I know I could easily pick up a cigar tomorrow and light it up bit had no issues not smoking after that night either.
I dont ser quiting smokes as all that hard a thing to do, at least not in my experience
Originally posted by Galan007
👆And even Batman, who has worked with Green Lanterns for decadeS, studied their rings extensively, and has actually used a ring himself on a few occasions, can still barely even interface with a ring... Let alone control one to any noteworthy extent.
And yet a fool like Gnort with low level intelect and a discernable lack of will power (shown on panel) can make constructs without issue. Kyle in the image O posted formed a shield with zero knowledge of gow to do so and purely a guess. Several GLs whith no training are shown on panel doing basics after just recieving a ring (guy, John, Hal, and Kyke's origin stories)
While its inconsistent theres a lot more instances of in universe use of a ring without training than having problems with one
The Green Arrow and Batman instances just show us that you can be really, really smart, and have a ton of experience analyzing/studying GL rings, but still have a LOT of trouble controlling one on even a basic level.
I think the hardest part would just be trying to cohesively focus your thoughts/willpower together enough to manifest even simple contructs(let alone the more advanced stuff.) I think people are underestimating how difficult that would actually be... We aren't comic book characters.
But that's mainly just for constructs. I assume manifesting generic energy blasts would be easier.
Geoff Johns really solidified Green Lantern ring usage as not something you can just pick up and use, as far as construct creation and such.
Previous to that, there's been quite a few instances of people who have no business doing so using them.
As I said before, the usage of AI theoretically bypasses that but, then again, I'm pretty sure you'll also have to "Will" the protocol into existence [i.e. hit everybody moving above 20 mph or whatever], so perhaps not.
Originally posted by Philosophía
Packages of instructions can be loaded inside the ring for use in case of a specific situation.And the ring also has capabilities and 'browsing' speed to access all of the Guardians' knowledge.
But, in some instances, willpower is also a factor, so I guess it depends on the portrayal.
Then I am choosing the portrayal that suits me 👆
Originally posted by DarkSaint85👆
Geoff Johns really solidified Green Lantern ring usage as not something you can just pick up and use, as far as construct creation and such.
That's one of the few things I enjoyed about Johns' GL mythos. Actually, I really liked where he was going with Lanterns, until he introduced the rainbow Corps...