You are a special snowflake. You took to heart all the stories you heard at your mother's knee: greatness, glory, immortality, the tooth fairy.
You are a special snowflake, greater than all the other snowflakes.
But Spring is coming, and the Thaw.
Your true nature is being revealed to you: a droplet of water, indistinguishable from all the others, soon to merge with them and drain into the river, travelling down it until perhaps you are diverted into a cow's drinking trough. You quench the cow's thirst, and then return to the river, to flow with all the other special snowflakes to the great sea, where you shall support algae and diatoms, the sludge of life.
I've been playing fighting games for years, and I've seen those types of behaviors over and over.
What's really interesting is that the most celebrated Street Fighter player of all time, Daigo Umehara, recently expressed that him and the rest of the original batch of pros from the late 90s/early 2000s will likely fall behind the current/new generation. When the next Street Fighter game comes out, they will all be entering their 50s, and won't be able to react and press buttons as fast.
ohhh yeah this makes a lot of sense. i am very competitive at heart, but if i know i am not going to be the best / win because i dont have those skills, i intentionally do not try or even maybe sabotage myself a bit. like, i dont know how to putt, so when i play mini golf, i do not even attempt to get a good score. because then my identity and pride is not tied up in it. if i am competitive in the mini golf game and trying to win and i lose? soul crushing, ego-destroying, even though it literally could not matter less. and yet, if i tried my best, i might learn how to improve my game for next time. but instead i goof off and learn nothing and my ego is safe. very good description of this love it
That reminds me a lot of the essay “Stuck in the middle with Bruce”, which has the same thesis but uses competitive Magic the Gathering as an example. The thesis is very similar to this article, but (from what I remember) SITMWB says that this pathological need to sabotage oneself is in order to avoid success, rather than to avoid losing in an ego-damaging way.
i was literally just saying the other day how useful games like magic and poker are in terms of forcing you to understand where you stand in comparison to others
Oh I agree, Poker can bring out some social dynamics which are scary to see in oneself. I’m glad I’m working out these issues at the poker table instead of somewhere consequential.
thanks
You are a special snowflake. You took to heart all the stories you heard at your mother's knee: greatness, glory, immortality, the tooth fairy.
You are a special snowflake, greater than all the other snowflakes.
But Spring is coming, and the Thaw.
Your true nature is being revealed to you: a droplet of water, indistinguishable from all the others, soon to merge with them and drain into the river, travelling down it until perhaps you are diverted into a cow's drinking trough. You quench the cow's thirst, and then return to the river, to flow with all the other special snowflakes to the great sea, where you shall support algae and diatoms, the sludge of life.
I've been playing fighting games for years, and I've seen those types of behaviors over and over.
What's really interesting is that the most celebrated Street Fighter player of all time, Daigo Umehara, recently expressed that him and the rest of the original batch of pros from the late 90s/early 2000s will likely fall behind the current/new generation. When the next Street Fighter game comes out, they will all be entering their 50s, and won't be able to react and press buttons as fast.
Would you say this is him protecting his ego?
ohhh yeah this makes a lot of sense. i am very competitive at heart, but if i know i am not going to be the best / win because i dont have those skills, i intentionally do not try or even maybe sabotage myself a bit. like, i dont know how to putt, so when i play mini golf, i do not even attempt to get a good score. because then my identity and pride is not tied up in it. if i am competitive in the mini golf game and trying to win and i lose? soul crushing, ego-destroying, even though it literally could not matter less. and yet, if i tried my best, i might learn how to improve my game for next time. but instead i goof off and learn nothing and my ego is safe. very good description of this love it
That reminds me a lot of the essay “Stuck in the middle with Bruce”, which has the same thesis but uses competitive Magic the Gathering as an example. The thesis is very similar to this article, but (from what I remember) SITMWB says that this pathological need to sabotage oneself is in order to avoid success, rather than to avoid losing in an ego-damaging way.
how have i … not heard of this
i was literally just saying the other day how useful games like magic and poker are in terms of forcing you to understand where you stand in comparison to others
Oh I agree, Poker can bring out some social dynamics which are scary to see in oneself. I’m glad I’m working out these issues at the poker table instead of somewhere consequential.