3 ms·

Powerful.

by DTrejo 17y ago

Powerful.

sho 17y ago
And a powerful reminder of the profound differences between the minds of each and every one of us. I can no more understand this kind of obsession than a dog could understand calculus. Not saying it's bad, mind you. Rather the opposite, I enjoyed it immensely. Just that .. I'm always struck by a sense of forboding by this kind of thing. I could never be like this, and the fact that someone is .. has implications I find unsettling. If such variation is possible - who's to say it's not the norm? Maybe being obsessed with chess is the norm and I was just dropped on my head one too many times as a baby or had alcohol in my blood-surrogate and I'm the sub-gamma who is too stupid to see the fascinating brilliance of chess.
- gnosis 17y ago
  Unless you play chess a lot for years, it's hard to really see the beauty in it. In that way, it's sort of like mathematics. Few adults would find arithmetic very beautiful, and if that's all they knew of math they might wonder what mathematicians see in mathematics. It takes years of dedication and practice to learn enough math to get to the higher levels, where one begins to see the beauty in math. Chess is the same. Playing it after just learning the basics might be fun, but it's only once you've put in a significant investment of time in to the game that you begin to get a glimpse of its depth and beauty. Don't expect to see it after merely learning the rules and playing a few games. That said, something has to keep you going until you learn enough chess to begin to really appreciate it. And that something, for most chess players, is mere enjoyment. For us it's just fun, and that's enough.
  - eru 17y ago
    Yes. Strangely even arithmetic can get interesting again.
- msluyter 17y ago
  I have a theory that there's a certain addictive quality not just in chess but in a lot of cognitive pursuits. Anything that has certain payoff either in terms of winning the game, or even in simply seeing the solution (correct sequence) to a given position as a sort of "Aha!" moment.

Powerful.

by DTrejo 17y ago

Powerful.

sho 17y ago

And a powerful reminder of the profound differences between the minds of each and every one of us. I can no more understand this kind of obsession than a dog could understand calculus. Not saying it's bad, mind you. Rather the opposite, I enjoyed it immensely. Just that .. I'm always struck by a sense of forboding by this kind of thing. I could never be like this, and the fact that someone is .. has implications I find unsettling. If such variation is possible - who's to say it's not the norm? Maybe being obsessed with chess is the norm and I was just dropped on my head one too many times as a baby or had alcohol in my blood-surrogate and I'm the sub-gamma who is too stupid to see the fascinating brilliance of chess.

gnosis 17y ago
Unless you play chess a lot for years, it's hard to really see the beauty in it. In that way, it's sort of like mathematics. Few adults would find arithmetic very beautiful, and if that's all they knew of math they might wonder what mathematicians see in mathematics. It takes years of dedication and practice to learn enough math to get to the higher levels, where one begins to see the beauty in math. Chess is the same. Playing it after just learning the basics might be fun, but it's only once you've put in a significant investment of time in to the game that you begin to get a glimpse of its depth and beauty. Don't expect to see it after merely learning the rules and playing a few games. That said, something has to keep you going until you learn enough chess to begin to really appreciate it. And that something, for most chess players, is mere enjoyment. For us it's just fun, and that's enough.
- eru 17y ago
  Yes. Strangely even arithmetic can get interesting again.
msluyter 17y ago
I have a theory that there's a certain addictive quality not just in chess but in a lot of cognitive pursuits. Anything that has certain payoff either in terms of winning the game, or even in simply seeing the solution (correct sequence) to a given position as a sort of "Aha!" moment.