5 ms·

Your Life Is Tetris. Stop Playing It Like Chess

132 points by Thibaut 11y ago

dimonomid 11y ago
Yeah, I've already heard something like: "Life is just like Tetris: there's no way to win, you can just stay alive for longer or shorter time" I enjoyed the read, thank you.
- SixSigma 11y ago
  Or: your mistakes are always visible and your successes disappear.
  - apricot 11y ago
    Oh, I like this one.
- Kristine1975 11y ago
  Depending on the Tetris, you can win it. These guys for example do so (with invisible pieces near the end, no less): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwDUiCzPVU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwDUiCzPVU
  - dimonomid 11y ago
    Invisible pieces part is really impressive indeed.
logicchains 11y ago
Personally I think life is like Backgammon: there are no absolute certainties, just probabilities, and due to this an expectiminimax-like approach with good heuristics is more effective than trying to peer far into the future.
jeremysmyth 11y ago
Neither Tetris nor Chess, but Dwarf Fortress. http://www.pcgamer.com/into-the-deep-its-time-to-learn-how-to-play-dwarf-fortress/ http://www.pcgamer.com/into-the-deep-its-time-to-learn-how-t... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of-dwarf-fortress.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of...
- Freaky 11y ago
  Losing to a Forgotten Beast made out of vomit and pus doesn't sound quite as fun in real life :(
matheweis 11y ago
was posted 3 weeks ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10890548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10890548
- pdm55 11y ago
  And more comments here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10958399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10958399
- dang 11y ago
  10890548 didn't get enough attention to make this repost a dupe (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html) but 10958399 definitely did.
tejohnso 11y ago
Fun piece but it lacks any realistic depth. For example the claim that "your score can increase to infinity, if you just push yourself harder" is a concept that is untrue and obsolete. http://www.monbiot.com/2011/11/07/the-self-attribution-fallacy/ http://www.monbiot.com/2011/11/07/the-self-attribution-falla... Further, the realities of privilege, oppression and discrimination are completely ignored.
edent 11y ago
> 1. In life, your only opponent is yourself. Or, you know, people who actually want to kill you. Or a state that wants to disenfranchise you. Or abusive peers and parents. Or... > In life, things don’t get harder — they just get faster. Until you reach middle age - and your back starts going, your hearing fades, your glasses prescription gets stronger... > In life, you can’t control the board. Unless you look at likely outcomes for your socio-economic class. Sure, you don't know what's coming next - but you know that a higher degree usually leads to better employment prospect. Saving for a pension now will set you up for retirement. > In life, no one tells you when you’ve won. Really? You don't think society places great emphasis on milestone achievements like marriage, reproduction, employment success, sporting prowess, etc? Only you know what will make you truly happy - but everyone will be very keen to tell you if you're a winner or a loser.
- varelse 11y ago
  >Really? You don't think society places great emphasis on milestone achievements like marriage, reproduction, employment success, sporting prowess, etc? Only you know what will make you truly happy - but everyone will be very keen to tell you if you're a winner or a loser. IMO it's more like gamification: Achievement Unlocked: $100K of student loans! Achievement Unlocked: Wage Slave! Achievement Unlocked: Something's in the oven! Achievement Unlocked: Mortgage! Achievement Unlocked: Couples counseling. Achievement Unlocked: Substance addiction... Achievement Unlocked: Divorced... Achievement Unlocked: Rebound!!! Achievement Unlocked: Downsized... Achievement Unlocked: Child support... Achievement Unlocked: Rehired!!! Achievement Unlocked: New love!!! Achievement Unlocked: Foreclosure... Achievement Unlocked: 40... Achievement Unlocked: Life-threatening health issue... Achievement Unlocked: Recovered!!! Achievement Unlocked: Remarried!!! Achievement Unlocked: Divorce times 2... Achievement Unlocked: Technological Unemployment... Achievement Unlocked: Back to School!!! Etc...
  - fuck_dang 11y ago
    It's quite interesting how emotive a list of achievements could be. There's a certain poetry to it, no?
- 11y ago
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
xyzzy4 11y ago
Or maybe life is like chess with timed turns.
ChristianGeek 11y ago
The present is like Tetris, the future is like chess.
kelukelugames 11y ago
More life advice from a 20 something? Oh Medium.
ericzawo 11y ago
I liked this but vehemently disagree based on a few of the reasons others have mentioned. I will say my old chess teacher had an excellent quote about life that also applies to Tetris. "There's only ever three moves, a good move, a bad move, and the right move." I still say that to myself all the time when things get hard.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- cableshaft 11y ago
  That's an interesting quote. I get it, but I was curious if you had an example of how you've utilized the quote in your life?
  - ericzawo 11y ago
    Mostly when I face people that get a rise out of me, whether in a personal or business setting. How best do I react? What's the correct move? Do I respond in kind, with hostility, or is there a better way? That quote has wandered into my mind in innumerable number of situations.
phillipwei 11y ago
I couldn't find any record of this guy playing chess in either USCF or FIDE.
nashashmi 11y ago
This is the second time I am seeing and since the time I saw it first, I have begun thinking that life is an analogy to whatever game you make it, whether that be candy crush, bejeweled, chess, hearts, poker, ... tetris, etc. My own view on chess and life is that you shouldn't play it by planning 10 steps to hit just one target, but as one of 10 targets. Transform that concept to whatever game you wish. These statements serve as analogies we use to communicate what life is like or how we understand it. For that reason, I feel the title should have been "How life is a Tetris game and opponentless."
- GuiA 11y ago
  > This is the second time I am seeing and since the time I saw it first, I have begun thinking that life is an analogy to whatever game you make it, whether that be candy crush, bejeweled, chess, hearts, poker, ... tetris, etc. Metaphors are like books, they can be about anything®
  - douche 11y ago
    Even when they are similes :-)
ninko_balboa 11y ago
This article got the necessary treatment from /r/chess weeks ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/418pcl/life_chess_and_tetris/?submit_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2Flife-learning%2Fyour-life-is-tetris-stop-playing-it-like-chess-4baac6b2750d%23.jjzoqv34n&already_submitted=true&submit_title=Your+Life+Is+Tetris.+Stop+Playing+It+Like+Chess https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/418pcl/life_chess_an.... I'm leaning towards our lives are more like Chess but more. Of course our biases create the framework of our reality.
vasaulys 11y ago
people get way too hung up on analogies
johnchristopher 11y ago
Comparing `life' to chess or Tetris or anything really just shows how much you haven't lived long enough yet.
CPLX 11y ago
It's neither. Life is like poker, combining skill, random chance, and the need to understand and anticipate the behavior of other human beings while they do the same with you. Each of the games mentioned has only two of these three elements. Also in poker people start with different amounts of money and that matters.
- fierycatnet 11y ago
  Yep, but you also need to sit down with a certain amount of money, otherwise you'll be playing a different game and at different stakes.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
vaadu 11y ago
I'd just like to play the old tetris on my new android. The new tetris is a POS.
EwanG 11y ago
I think the series "No Game No Life" covered this best - "There’s no way to know the rules or the goal, yet there are 7 billion people making whatever moves they want. If you lose too much, or win too much, there are penalties. You can’t pass your turn, and if you talk too much, you’ll be ostracized. There are no parameters and no way to even know the genre. This world is just a crappy game." - Perhaps a tad melodramatic, but still...
Procrastes 11y ago
Life is Calvin Ball[1]. Any rules we may identify are subject to abrupt, arbitrary, and often incomprehensible, change. Best to just enjoy the insanity. 1.http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvinball http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvinball
methehack 11y ago
A short, elegant piece of writing with some real insight.
DonHopkins 11y ago
Life is totalistic. It depends only on the total value of you and your neighbors. [1] [1] http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TotalisticCellularAutomaton.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TotalisticCellularAutomaton.htm...
baby 11y ago
Your life is neither Tetris nor Chess. It's Go.
Havoc 11y ago
Really enjoyed this article (most of it). Especially the part about life not being a zero sum game & a mindset like that being a disadvantage and life being essentially a race against time knowing that "losing" is inevitable.

132 points by Thibaut 11y ago

Yeah, I've already heard something like: "Life is just like Tetris: there's no way to win, you can just stay alive for longer or shorter time" I enjoyed the read, thank you.

SixSigma 11y ago
Or: your mistakes are always visible and your successes disappear.
- apricot 11y ago
  Oh, I like this one.
Kristine1975 11y ago
Depending on the Tetris, you can win it. These guys for example do so (with invisible pieces near the end, no less): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwDUiCzPVU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwDUiCzPVU
- dimonomid 11y ago
  Invisible pieces part is really impressive indeed.

logicchains 11y ago

Personally I think life is like Backgammon: there are no absolute certainties, just probabilities, and due to this an expectiminimax-like approach with good heuristics is more effective than trying to peer far into the future.

jeremysmyth 11y ago

Neither Tetris nor Chess, but Dwarf Fortress. http://www.pcgamer.com/into-the-deep-its-time-to-learn-how-to-play-dwarf-fortress/ http://www.pcgamer.com/into-the-deep-its-time-to-learn-how-t... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of-dwarf-fortress.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of...

Freaky 11y ago
Losing to a Forgotten Beast made out of vomit and pus doesn't sound quite as fun in real life :(

matheweis 11y ago

was posted 3 weeks ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10890548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10890548

pdm55 11y ago
And more comments here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10958399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10958399
dang 11y ago
10890548 didn't get enough attention to make this repost a dupe (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html) but 10958399 definitely did.

tejohnso 11y ago

Fun piece but it lacks any realistic depth. For example the claim that "your score can increase to infinity, if you just push yourself harder" is a concept that is untrue and obsolete. http://www.monbiot.com/2011/11/07/the-self-attribution-fallacy/ http://www.monbiot.com/2011/11/07/the-self-attribution-falla... Further, the realities of privilege, oppression and discrimination are completely ignored.

edent 11y ago

> 1. In life, your only opponent is yourself. Or, you know, people who actually want to kill you. Or a state that wants to disenfranchise you. Or abusive peers and parents. Or... > In life, things don’t get harder — they just get faster. Until you reach middle age - and your back starts going, your hearing fades, your glasses prescription gets stronger... > In life, you can’t control the board. Unless you look at likely outcomes for your socio-economic class. Sure, you don't know what's coming next - but you know that a higher degree usually leads to better employment prospect. Saving for a pension now will set you up for retirement. > In life, no one tells you when you’ve won. Really? You don't think society places great emphasis on milestone achievements like marriage, reproduction, employment success, sporting prowess, etc? Only you know what will make you truly happy - but everyone will be very keen to tell you if you're a winner or a loser.

varelse 11y ago
>Really? You don't think society places great emphasis on milestone achievements like marriage, reproduction, employment success, sporting prowess, etc? Only you know what will make you truly happy - but everyone will be very keen to tell you if you're a winner or a loser. IMO it's more like gamification: Achievement Unlocked: $100K of student loans! Achievement Unlocked: Wage Slave! Achievement Unlocked: Something's in the oven! Achievement Unlocked: Mortgage! Achievement Unlocked: Couples counseling. Achievement Unlocked: Substance addiction... Achievement Unlocked: Divorced... Achievement Unlocked: Rebound!!! Achievement Unlocked: Downsized... Achievement Unlocked: Child support... Achievement Unlocked: Rehired!!! Achievement Unlocked: New love!!! Achievement Unlocked: Foreclosure... Achievement Unlocked: 40... Achievement Unlocked: Life-threatening health issue... Achievement Unlocked: Recovered!!! Achievement Unlocked: Remarried!!! Achievement Unlocked: Divorce times 2... Achievement Unlocked: Technological Unemployment... Achievement Unlocked: Back to School!!! Etc...
- fuck_dang 11y ago
  It's quite interesting how emotive a list of achievements could be. There's a certain poetry to it, no?
11y ago

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

xyzzy4 11y ago

Or maybe life is like chess with timed turns.

ChristianGeek 11y ago

The present is like Tetris, the future is like chess.

kelukelugames 11y ago

More life advice from a 20 something? Oh Medium.

ericzawo 11y ago

I liked this but vehemently disagree based on a few of the reasons others have mentioned. I will say my old chess teacher had an excellent quote about life that also applies to Tetris. "There's only ever three moves, a good move, a bad move, and the right move." I still say that to myself all the time when things get hard.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
cableshaft 11y ago
That's an interesting quote. I get it, but I was curious if you had an example of how you've utilized the quote in your life?
- ericzawo 11y ago
  Mostly when I face people that get a rise out of me, whether in a personal or business setting. How best do I react? What's the correct move? Do I respond in kind, with hostility, or is there a better way? That quote has wandered into my mind in innumerable number of situations.

phillipwei 11y ago

I couldn't find any record of this guy playing chess in either USCF or FIDE.

nashashmi 11y ago

This is the second time I am seeing and since the time I saw it first, I have begun thinking that life is an analogy to whatever game you make it, whether that be candy crush, bejeweled, chess, hearts, poker, ... tetris, etc. My own view on chess and life is that you shouldn't play it by planning 10 steps to hit just one target, but as one of 10 targets. Transform that concept to whatever game you wish. These statements serve as analogies we use to communicate what life is like or how we understand it. For that reason, I feel the title should have been "How life is a Tetris game and opponentless."

GuiA 11y ago
> This is the second time I am seeing and since the time I saw it first, I have begun thinking that life is an analogy to whatever game you make it, whether that be candy crush, bejeweled, chess, hearts, poker, ... tetris, etc. Metaphors are like books, they can be about anything®
- douche 11y ago
  Even when they are similes :-)

ninko_balboa 11y ago

This article got the necessary treatment from /r/chess weeks ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/418pcl/life_chess_and_tetris/?submit_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2Flife-learning%2Fyour-life-is-tetris-stop-playing-it-like-chess-4baac6b2750d%23.jjzoqv34n&already_submitted=true&submit_title=Your+Life+Is+Tetris.+Stop+Playing+It+Like+Chess https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/418pcl/life_chess_an.... I'm leaning towards our lives are more like Chess but more. Of course our biases create the framework of our reality.

vasaulys 11y ago

people get way too hung up on analogies

johnchristopher 11y ago

Comparing `life' to chess or Tetris or anything really just shows how much you haven't lived long enough yet.

CPLX 11y ago

It's neither. Life is like poker, combining skill, random chance, and the need to understand and anticipate the behavior of other human beings while they do the same with you. Each of the games mentioned has only two of these three elements. Also in poker people start with different amounts of money and that matters.

fierycatnet 11y ago
Yep, but you also need to sit down with a certain amount of money, otherwise you'll be playing a different game and at different stakes.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

vaadu 11y ago

I'd just like to play the old tetris on my new android. The new tetris is a POS.

EwanG 11y ago

I think the series "No Game No Life" covered this best - "There’s no way to know the rules or the goal, yet there are 7 billion people making whatever moves they want. If you lose too much, or win too much, there are penalties. You can’t pass your turn, and if you talk too much, you’ll be ostracized. There are no parameters and no way to even know the genre. This world is just a crappy game." - Perhaps a tad melodramatic, but still...

Procrastes 11y ago

Life is Calvin Ball[1]. Any rules we may identify are subject to abrupt, arbitrary, and often incomprehensible, change. Best to just enjoy the insanity. 1.http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvinball http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvinball

methehack 11y ago

A short, elegant piece of writing with some real insight.

DonHopkins 11y ago

Life is totalistic. It depends only on the total value of you and your neighbors. [1] [1] http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TotalisticCellularAutomaton.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TotalisticCellularAutomaton.htm...

baby 11y ago

Your life is neither Tetris nor Chess. It's Go.

Havoc 11y ago

Really enjoyed this article (most of it). Especially the part about life not being a zero sum game & a mindset like that being a disadvantage and life being essentially a race against time knowing that "losing" is inevitable.