Why we play..
In yesterdays American Go Association E-Journal (free newsletter at www.usgo.org) I read one of the best descriptions of why I play Go.. I’ve never sat down and tried to fully explain the depth of this game and I was pleased to see such a clear article which I think offers insight into why people continue to play Go.
WHY WE PLAY: Still Spellbound
by Jesse Chao 2d
My attraction to go began during childhood. The seemingly simple game of black and white stones laid over a grid seemed conquerable, even to a small child. Today, I find myself as spellbound over the endless strategies of the deceptively unadorned game as I was ten years ago. During that time, go has become not just a pastime, but also a form of art and meditation. The game expects nothing more or less than a capacious imagination. Just as I love to explore the tangible realm of the sciences, go requires the precision of a chemist and reasoning of a mathematician. Just as I am split between the humanities and the sciences, the game demands the essence of both.
Artificial intelligence fascinates me, and the technical game play of go is much like a computer’s binary system. Yet, despite the millions in prizes offered for a computer program that can match a professional player’s strength, the strongest computer go program in the world is still at the mercy of a novice go player. Why can Deep Blue outplay chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov, while a go program with similar processing capacity falls so much shorter against a weak go player? One possibility is that the plays in go are more open-ended; although moves must be accompanied by solid logic there is often no definitive answer. This seems to pose a paradox, especially since logic is supposed to be able to solve a problem with a straight, unquestionable answer. I can easily see how go’s complexity contributed to John Nash’s inspiration for in formulating his “Nash Equilibrium” branch of Game Theory. Nash’s theorem has led me to exp lore the perfect logic that governs so many aspects of life that I once thought were unsystematic.
However, while the Equilibrium Theory has taken an emotionally exclusive, mathematical view towards life and game, I believe that there may well be an illogic that governs all logic. In my own play, I have often felt compelled by pure emotion to play a move, against all rationality. Only later would it turn out to be a good play, unexplainable in its efficacy, yet eerily appropriate.
Go is just a game. However, the nature of the game allows it to provide a window into everyday situations. The choices made in a simple game turn out to be deeply representative of one’s true character. When I play go, I am offered a window into another’s complete spirit, and my own nature becomes transparent. The game offers deep meditation, and the emotional expression unites with rational analysis to ru b my mind like a genie’s lamp, releasing my thinking from the world about me. It is why I play go.
19-year old Jesse Chao was the 1997 Redmond Cup Champion and is now a sophomore at Stanford University, where he’s majoring in Human Biology.
Open Source Beer
No kidding..here’s the first ‘open source’ beer I’ve heard of:
I’ve considered brewing my own beer many times and have spoke to several friends who brew at various levels (ranging from a couple gallons to 15+ gallons at a time) but haven’t tried it myself. I’m to understand that you wouldn’t want to brew beer to save money, because you won’t.. but brewing for the fun and enjoyment of the product is where it’s at. Maybe someday.
crazy hot..
Wow the weather has been nuts here.. our little window A/C unit can barely keep up with the 90+ days. Last week our thermometer read 110F on the north end outside of the house. ugh! Well my tailbone seems to be slowly getting better, I can sit for several hours and can sit on hard surfaces for a bit without too much discomfort.. It’s not 100% but it’s a heck of lot better then it was as little as 2 months ago!
Go has been keeping me busy, it’s a very fun game and I just can’t get enough of it. I’ve been playing for just over two years now and I can see myself playing this game for the rest of my life… it’s that good.
Wendie and I are trying to be more aware of our calories, granted we slip up here and there but just trying to pay more attention to the stuff we eat. I’ve started at fitday.com and find it kind of interesting to login and keep track of the food I eat.. I’ve always been overweight, and it’s a constant struggle to keep weight off.. I guess I shouldn’t expect it to fall off over night. More exercise, more nutrious food and less crap.
nerdtv
Just a quick post to point folks to a website for the first TV show produced under Creative Commons license.. fully downloadable, and it’s entirely legal to do so.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/nerdtv/
