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A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck

Posted By: Tom Keith
Date: Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 5:39 p.m.

In Response To: A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck (sita)

Sita wrote: You could simplify the game even more, when you say that you only flip coins, but every 10th flip the more skillful person sets the marker one point in her direction.

I like this suggestion, or the even simpler suggestion of "starting the football closer to one end of the field" that Tim described in another message. The problem with free throws, as others have pointed out, is that there is luck involved in those too. So Tim's game doesn't really separate all luck from skill.

My guess is that Tim didn't use your "every 10th flip" or a similar rule because it wouldn't feel as though there were any skill involved. But there is a similar problem with any pure skill contest. Suppose a 300-pound sumo wrestler competes in a tug-of-war against a 90-pound weakling. Is there any skill involved in that? Some would say that such a lop-sided contest is pure skill because the better player wins every time. Others would say that there is no skill at all because we know ahead of time who will win.

Messages In This Thread

• A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
  Timothy Chow -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 5:28 p.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    Stick -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 5:48 p.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    Jason Lee -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 5:50 p.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    Bob Koca -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 6:04 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Maik Stiebler -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 8:53 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Maik Stiebler -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 9:05 p.m.
      • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
        Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 5:38 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 12:14 a.m.
      • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
        Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 12:55 a.m.
        • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
          Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 1:57 a.m.
          • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
            Fatboy -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 2:11 a.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    Phil Simborg -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 9:43 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 12:21 a.m.
      • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
        Phil Simborg -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 2:10 a.m.
        • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
          Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 2:33 a.m.
        • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
          Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 3:02 a.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    Stein Kulseth -- Monday, 26 January 2015, at 11:14 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 12:28 a.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    sita -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 3:55 p.m.
    • I'm beginning to see the "disconnect" here
      Phil Simborg -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 4:08 p.m.
      • I'm beginning to see the "disconnect" here
        Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 12:06 a.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Tom Keith -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 5:39 p.m.
      • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
        Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 12:06 a.m.
        • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
          Tom Keith -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 1:10 a.m.
          • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
            Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 1:43 a.m.
            • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
              Tom Keith -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 2:06 a.m.
              • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
                Timothy Chow -- Thursday, 29 January 2015, at 3:30 a.m.
          • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
            Maik Stiebler -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 8:19 a.m.
            • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
              Bob Koca -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 8:53 a.m.
              • My Koca disconnect problem
                Phil Simborg -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 11:01 a.m.
              • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
                Maik Stiebler -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 12:22 p.m.
            • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
              Tom Keith -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 9:30 a.m.
              • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
                Maik Stiebler -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 2:09 p.m.
  • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
    ah_clem -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 7:39 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Maik Stiebler -- Tuesday, 27 January 2015, at 8:49 p.m.
    • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
      Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 12:18 a.m.
      • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
        sita -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 10:11 a.m.
        • A made-up game to illustrate some points about skill and luck
          sita -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 12:38 p.m.
  • we get out, what we put in
    rambiz -- Wednesday, 28 January 2015, at 7:39 p.m.
    • we get out, what we put in
      Bob Koca -- Thursday, 29 January 2015, at 3:27 a.m.
      • we get out, what we put in
        rambiz -- Thursday, 29 January 2015, at 5:27 a.m.
        • we get out, what we put in
          Daniel Murphy -- Thursday, 29 January 2015, at 1:44 p.m.
        • we get out, what we put in(deed)
          rambiz -- Friday, 30 January 2015, at 6:33 a.m.