tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post4060630134245304446..comments2023-10-06T06:29:02.689-04:00Comments on A Bright Cape: A serious sort of personSkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10723733406348223879noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-50392684326753636182014-04-28T10:52:42.237-04:002014-04-28T10:52:42.237-04:00My brain tells me that I could be a great painter ...My brain tells me that I could be a great painter or singer if I wanted to. It says that if I spent 10,000 hours and threw myself into it with a passion I could be phenomenal. Rationally there is no way I would ever be good at designing clothes for the same reasons you list for yourself. I don't give a rats ass about it and I never will. I think all wine tastes bad and I think wine tasting is mostly people who can barely tell a difference going on and on as if they have all kinds of incredibly deep things to say. It isn't totally made up but it sure is overblown.<br /><br />I recognize that being the best in the world at a thing requires a ludicrous level of dedication. I don't have that, even for things I love like CiV or D3. However, if you generalize a little more to things like fantasy themed game design then I could potentially be really top tier I think.<br /><br />We both have the circumstance of being very talented naturally but having chosen lives that include spouses and children and those things pretty much prevent excellence because somebody else out there is just as talented but doesn't have those distractions. The price we pay for cuteness, snuggles, and somebody to put us in a home in 40 years.Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10723733406348223879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-57834322103666308002014-04-28T10:34:41.293-04:002014-04-28T10:34:41.293-04:00I've been thinking about this for a few days. ...I've been thinking about this for a few days. <br /><br />When I've had such thoughts in the past, people have occasionally brought up, "well, could you be a good painter or singer?" and I've thought, "well no, but I wouldn't want to be good at that". Does your definition of "anything" include things that are tedious? Stuff that you believe to be valueless? Activities that perhaps don't align well with your logical thinking?<br /><br />For example, I don't think I could be really good at designing clothes. I have no interest in clothes, I have objective way of figuring out what does and does not look "good", I'm uninterested in patterns and colours, and it all seems wasteful. I'm not even sure I could get excited about designing purely functional clothes - it presumably involves knowing the textures of different fabrics, learning sewing, etc. All of which sounds incredibly boring.<br /><br />Wine Tasting is another one. I think it's mostly made up hokum, and I barely notice good wine from bad wine. <br /><br />I eventually decided that I could be good at anything I care about or find interesting or meaningful or useful. But that still left lots of activities. <br /><br />That then leaves how we define "excellent". My Magic experience, and to a lesser extent my Civ experience (where the Internet revealed thousands of much more hardcore players than me) have shown me that while I can be pretty good at most things, and possibly extremely good at one or two things in the right circumstances, being among the best in the world at something requires a level of dedication that I am not generally able to commit to. Vienneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09647759933462318708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-49009542250175155092014-04-26T10:35:46.252-04:002014-04-26T10:35:46.252-04:00Well, it isn't entirely luck. There are costs...Well, it isn't entirely luck. There are costs, and this state of affairs took planning and preparation. <br /><br />I am pretty good at psychological aspects of gaming. I can read people in poker games quite well and playing people off against each other in games like Settlers or Puerto Rico is definitely a thing I do very successfully. Against players who aren't aware of this or who don't know me my ability to tell what people will do and get them to do what I want is a huge factor in winning. I don't always *like* to do this, but it is certainly a thing I am good at.Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10723733406348223879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-89824345302101722342014-04-25T21:01:26.171-04:002014-04-25T21:01:26.171-04:00Win a Magic Pro Tour Qualifier. I challenge you!
...Win a Magic Pro Tour Qualifier. I challenge you!<br /><br />Do you think your gaming ability extends to the psychological aspects of gaming? Reading opponents, bluffing, etc. I don't think mine does (not consistently) and I keep wondering if there's an aspect to gaming that I'm missing (mostly from a Magic perspective where winning is a bit more of a priority than regular gaming).<br /><br />I know what you mean about being a serious person. Thinking it over, I find I'm "serious" at work. You don't have that environment available (lucky guy!). But yeah, I don't really know what regular people think about all the time since I'm pretty sure it's not what I'm thinking about.Matt Vnoreply@blogger.com