Mom dropped Jimmy and
Adam off in the toy aisle, telling the brothers they could buy one
new toy, but both had to agree on the toy to be purchased.
“I'll be back in ten
minutes,” she told them.”But remember, only one new toy that you
both will have to share.”
Within two minutes,
they had pulled about a dozen toys from the shelf and began to argue
over which one to buy. A minute or two later, they had narrowed
their choices down to one each, but could not agree on the final
selection.
“Rock-paper-scissors?” asked Jimmy.
“OK,” responded
Adam and within a second or two, in the middle of the toy aisle, the
selection was made. Scissors beats paper!
For those unfamiliar,
rock-paper-scissors, often call Ro-Sham-Bo, is a hand game usually
played by two people, where the two use an outstretched hand, both
'thrown' simultaneously, in the form of one of three shapes.
According to the rules, the “rock” (clenched fist) beats the
scissors (two fingers), scissors beats the paper (open hand) and
paper beats the rock. If both participants 'throw' the same sign,
the game is considered to be tied. On the count to four, each
participant reveals (throws) the hand gesture, hoping to defeat the
opponent.
Not unlike flipping a
coin, drawing straws or rolling the dice, rock-paper-scissors is a
method often used for choosing something, 'like who gets the ball
first in a football game' or maybe, on any given day, it is played
on any playground at any school, the game being used to pass the
time until the recess bell rings and the kids return to classes,
or...it could even be used as a way to pick up some extra lunch money
from the unsuspecting new kid at school. But what seems like a
harmless kid's game actually has a long, storied history.
Dating as far back as
200 BC, over the years the game developed into an important cultural
activity, challenging the minds and thinking of its players and
forcing them to develop new techniques and ways to fool, exploit and take
advantage of even the smartest opponent.
And, like many games of
Asian origin, it didn't take long for its popularity to spread
across Europe and by the early 1920's it was being played in many
local pubs and bars, in parlors and family rooms and at parties. I
would give it a 'hands down award' to its rapid rise in popularity.
With a game that sounds
so simple, there must be easy strategies in order to gain the
advantage over an opponent... unless you are playing against a
'truly random' person. Stated in a different way, most of us think
and operate in a logical and orderly manner and within minutes it is
easy to outwit or out smart an opponent because you have figured out
his or her strategy, their pattern of thinking. But against someone
truly random, an opponent who is purely free wheeling, it is next to
impossible to anticipate the next move. Often in tournament play,
yes, tournament play, the frustration that grows when playing
against a 'random' opponent often leads to the use tricks or tactics
in order to confuse the other person, which eventually could lead to
illegal moves and eventual disqualification. What a game! The
anticipation and excitement must be overwhelming, almost like the outcome of the Super Bowl!
To insure that
participants and observers follow sportsman-like conduct, in 2002 the
International Rock-Paper-Scissor Society (???) established and
standardized sets of rules for international play. Who knew that a
simple school yard game could attract so much world-wide attention
and require such analytic thought?
Stuck in the house on
these cold wintery days, challenging a opponent to a round of
rock-paper-scissors might just help pass the time. It only requires
two players, no set up time, and playing time... only an
instant for each round, with the potential of random chance to win
very high and... there are no skills required, except maybe for a bit
of luck and a wee bit of psychology used against your opponent.
But if you are really
looking for something to do, you might want to think about attempting
to beat the Guinness Book of World Record and call all of your
friends and family. The record for the largest tournament was set in
2010 with slightly over 6500 participants. Or...you could just pop
the top of a cold Guinness beer, grab a good book and settle in and
enjoy the warmth of the wood stove.
PS. If rock-paper-scissors doesn't spark your excitement, there's always arm wrestling\!
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