Monday, July 20, 2015

An Increased Difficulty in Comprehension Does Not Equate Value

Of late there seems to be this trend developing to equate a heightened complexity with a valuable experience - which is an incredibly awkward way of saying that some people seem to believe that just because something is difficult to enjoy that it is therefore a better experience for those who do. The core of this idea is that something challenging, that has been conquered, is a more satisfying experience than something easy. The complexity of the endevor is what matters above all else; and so, by this logic, chess is preferable to poker, which is preferable to war, which is preferable to fifty-two card pickup. That you have more fun playing poker with your buddies is immaterial. Chess is more complex so it's better.

This whole idea is, of course, complete and total horseshit.


In actuality this whole concept is nothing more than an attempt to find a way to make yourself feel better than the other guy. You're playing a more complex game, reading a harder novel, computing a more difficult form of mathematics: you must be better than those who don't. Never mind the fact that the guy playing Battleship with his ten-year-old has been having the time of his life and will remember that game for the rest of his days. You were playing a game of chess with an opponent you won't remember tomorrow for a win that doesn't matter to anyone. Obviously you were having more fun.

Sometimes I wonder about people. I wonder if their lives are so devoid of meaning that they have to latch on to these incredibly vapid goalposts to make themselves feel better. It's just so utterly and completely meaningless to act that way.

13 comments:

  1. I agree with you, complexity doesn't equal value, but you couldn't have picked a worse example to illustrate that. Chess actually is better than poker which is better than war and so on!

    If I had to guess I'd say a typical human life is completely devoid of anything like meaning...

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    1. "Chess actually is better than poker which is better than war and so on!"

      You sound pretty sure of that. I suppose you can demonstrate it mathematically? Or was it just your opinion after all?

      Delete
    2. "If I had to guess I'd say a typical human life is completely devoid of anything like meaning..."

      Than you would be wrong. A life doesn't have to involve curing cancer or playing chess to have a meaning.

      Also, The Shadow Knows got you on that one.

      Delete
    3. I don't think you can demonstrate ANY of it mathematically. If you could though, would it be more enjoyable than Poker? 8 )

      Delete
    4. I learned how to count with poker so nothing is more fun to me.

      Delete
  2. Hmmmm....complicated games are. bad, odd thig to say in a hobby dominated by games with multiple rulebooks of hundreds of ages in length

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    Replies
    1. I'll admit, the terms simple and complicated are relative.

      Delete
  3. Hmmmm....complicated games are. bad, odd thig to say in a hobby dominated by games with multiple rulebooks of hundreds of ages in length

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    Replies
    1. Jinx, one of you JDsivarj owes the other a coke.

      Delete
  4. IM kind of strange (no shit, right) In that I like parts of may games to be complex. For example I like character creation in games to have some complexity because I like the "feeling" of crafting something. That's just my taste.
    As to holding up the complexity of an vendor as an example if it's or my superiority? Yeah that's bullshit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wrote a reply and then picked who to comment as because that selection is below the textbox in which we write in. Of course that caused the browser to delete what I wrote. Sucky.

    So here is what I said in brief: I think complex games are fine for people who who enjoy them. There's nothing intrinsically good or bad or fun or not fun about them, but it depends on the person themselves and what they enjoy. I prefer simple. It's easier on my brain to GM a simple system. I think my Players feel the same way. So simple is good for me. Complex is good for someone else. I won't disparage them by guessing why they feel that way, but just mention that I don't share the preference. That's all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vb Wyrde, I'm fairly certain that you rock.

      Delete

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