
Life is more like Tetris than Chess - pappyo
https://medium.com/life-learning/your-life-is-tetris-stop-playing-it-like-chess-4baac6b2750d#.pbps96jsq
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nlawalker
I guess I'll be the one to add the old classic (which I'm sure the author
intentionally left out): "In Tetris, just as in life, it is your mistakes that
pile up while your accomplishments disappear."

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hosh
I was going to come on here and maybe write something clever, or something
from a different angle. Then I saw the responses that were already here. A few
fun snarks, and the rest? Lots of criticism, and some outright ridicule.

So much for not challenging yourself.

Just before my 30s, I was getting knee deep in learning about strategic
thinking. The art of making decisions in the unknown. All about Sun Tzu,
Musashi, Col. John Boyd. Maneuver warfare. Stacking things up, eliminating the
opponent's means to win ... and the will to win. Tried to apply it in Go, and
in my martial arts.

Sometime in my early 30s, I found myself in the middle of a spiritual quest.
The things that this guy is saying were one of the many themes that I had
learned during that journey. The metaphor that clicked for me wasn't tetris,
it was mountain climbing. The only person you are challenging is yourself. I
had noticed everything this author had said -- inventing difficulties to feel
that sense of victory.

I learned the difference between winning by prevailing and winning by making
the other guy lose. And yeah, in the end, you play to play.

There's nothing wrong with voluntarily stepping up to greater challenges.
However, it's one thing to do that with eyes clear and mind open, and another
to do it to make it seem as if you were fighting some big monster, when ...
that's not the case.

I don't play too many games these days. My meditation practices are far more
demanding and challenging than most games.

~~~
HiroshiSan
Your post really reminded me of a section in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
maintenance.

The main character and his boy were climbing up a mountain together. The boy
would often try and rush up the mountain and only end up exhausting himself,
frustrated. The Father older in age, wiser, would slowly climb up as fast as
he could go in the moment. Knowing when to rest and when to climb.

Thank you for your post.

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pgeorgi
And sometimes it's hatetris
[http://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html](http://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html),
the tetris that hates you.

~~~
omegaworks
The 30 point game is beautiful.

[http://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html#𤇃𢊻𤄻嶜𤄋𤇁𡊻𤄛𤆬𠲻𤆻𠆜𢮻𤆻ꊌ...](http://qntm.org/files/hatetris/hatetris.html#𤇃𢊻𤄻嶜𤄋𤇁𡊻𤄛𤆬𠲻𤆻𠆜𢮻𤆻ꊌ𢪻𤆻邌𤆻𤊻𤅋𤲥𣾻𤄋𥆸𣊻𤅛ꊌ𤆻𤆱炼綻𤋅𤅴薹𣪻𣊻𣽻𤇆𤚢𣺻赈𤇣綹𤻈𤇣𤾺𤇃悺𢦻𤂻𤅠㢹𣾻𤄛𤆓𤦹𤊻𤄰炜傼𤞻𢊻𣲻𣺻ꉌ邹𡊻𣹫𤅋𤇅𣾻𤇄𓎜𠚻𤊻𢊻𤉛𤅫𤂑𤃃𡉌𤵛𣹛𤁐𢉋𡉻𡡫𤇠𠞗𤇡𡊄𡒌𣼻燉𣼋𦄘炸邹㢸𠞻𠦻𡊻𣈻𡈻𣈛𡈛ꊺ𠆼𤂅𣻆𣫃𤮺𤊻𡉋㽻𣺬𣈛𡈋𤭻𤂲𣈻𤭻𤊼𢈛儛𡈛ᔺ)

~~~
JonnieCache
That is truly wonderful.

If you can't get it to work initially, click replay and paste the long
japanese (?) string from the url into the prompt.

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jondubois
Life is like [http://agar.io](http://agar.io) \- Everything about that game
has a parallel concept in real life.

It teaches you about society, luck, greed, injustice, wealth, collaboration,
risk, power, companies vs startups, etc...

If I had to have a bible to teach me about life, that game would be it.

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jowiar
The two main lessons that stuck with me from chess: "When you see a good move,
look for a better one" were always the first words out of my coach's mouth,
and that not looking at things from the other person's perspective is asking
for punishment.

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pdm55
I prefer chess to Tetris. I like a clear goal, something achievable in a short
time span. I like something where I have to think. I don't like shooter games
(or Tetris): I mean, what's the point? Has chess improved my thinking skills
in other areas such as mathematics. I don't think so. So, as I type this, I am
trying to work out why I like chess. Some reasons: I have some friends who
also like to play, so it provides an impetus for us to get together. I have
got better as I got older. I have given it away a number of times, principally
because of work commitments or because other entertainments such as bridge
(the card game) has captured my interest. But as I mentioned, I have got
better as I got older. This is a source of satisfaction. My sporting abilities
have very obviously got worse (or become nonexistent), so it encourages me to
find I am getting better at some things. I am sixty now and could easily beat
both my 16 year old self and my 30 year old self. Just writing that perks me
up.

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dTal
>If you played Tetris at the slowest possible speed for the rest of your life,
you could possibly never lose. The only enemy would be fatigue. But the
algorithm for beating Tetris is not complicated, and you have plenty of time
to move the pieces to their optimal locations.

I believe this is inaccurate. If you play long enough, you always lose. Proof:
You cannot cleanly make lines with only s-pieces. If you assume a random
distribution of pieces, you eventually get a string of s-pieces long enough to
exhaust the game board, though you can keep it going for a very long time.

I would like to hear this uncomplicated algorithm for beating tetris.

~~~
dlp211
> You cannot cleanly make lines with only s-pieces.

That's not true at all.

    
    
      |   |   |   |
      --  --  --  --
        |   |   |   |
    

Sorry for the bad ASCII art, but I just created a line using only 'S' pieces.
When the line clears, the top of the 'S' will collapse and clear a second
line.

~~~
iraphael
actually the second line won't be cleared. A hole will be left where you're
thinking each of the top blocks would fall into.

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such_a_casual
I would have loved to hear how Tetris is more like the author's life than
chess, rather than hear about how my life is more like Tetris than chess.

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DyslexicAtheist
funny that. my analogy was always more toward backgammon because it requires
both luck by the dice and strategy

~~~
mcguire
Nah, it's more like old-time poker: luck, strategy, and the judicious
application of excessive violence.

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martythemaniak
This calls for game of [http://blockbattle.net/](http://blockbattle.net/),
where tetris IS like chess.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Oh man, that's fun.

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tkyjonathan
Life is more like backgammon than chess, imo.

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beerbajay
The only winning move is not to play?

------
RamshackleJ
Great platitudes! This is either slightly better than a buzzfeed listicle or
worse by polluting the collective human consciousness understanding of what
life is like.

It shows lack of perspective to try describe existence and life in terms of a
game. Read some god damn existentialist or absurdist literature you half-baked
philosophical caveman.

I welcome any repartee from the filthy plutocrat lapdogs!

~~~
dawnbreez
Games are made to represent life; so too with stories. Therefore, not only is
it not a lack of perspective to represent existence in terms of (a game|a
fairy tale), it is in fact ideal to do so. Go read a little G.K. Chesteton,
then we'll talk.

