Friday, November 29, 2013
Poker
by Robert Alvarez
One of my favourite past times is playing poker. It’s one of the ways I bond with my high school friends after not seeing them for a while. There is a misconception that poker is a game of skill, but that’s untrue. You could play the percentages all you want, but that would only get you so far. There is a human element that you simply cannot remove from the game, the need to read your opponent. Like in life, you can start out with the worst hand and still win it all.
The analogy I’m trying to make here is that of objectivism, and subjectivism. As in poker, there is a need for a middle ground in everyday life. The computations and theories (the sciences) in poker are not meant to be gospel, but a guide, the sciences are not an end in themselves. People in the Ateneo have a tendency to be bookish, exposed to so many theories and utopian ideas. There are times when these intelligent people are duped, robbed, or scammed by people schooled in life, and not in a classroom. This is because there’s also a need for street smarts, that’s something you can’t simply gleam from your text books or journals. Coming from a prestigious school like the Ateneo, we are prone to fall into the trap that we’re better (in terms of skill) than everyone else. This belief often ends with disappointment when you apply for a job and don’t get the position, or the salary you want. When Dr. Garcia started the semester he said that we’ve been asking the wrong question all along, maybe it is in this way that we’ve been seeking the wrong kind of knowledge.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yes, there doesn't exist a 100% chance of winning a card game or any other games, unless you know how to do the magic. Sometimes people make wrong moves to mislead other players, sometimes they intentionally want somebody else to win for some other reasons. There are no specific "steps" or guide to follow; the rules of the game are presented to us, yet it is up to us how to play the game. So there is always a presence of subjectivity in the objectivity as being said.
ReplyDeleteMaybe being a student of Ateneo is an important factor for us to be "successful" in the future, but Ateneo = success is an overgeneralization. We still have to work hard to get our dream job, to have a high salary, etc.
And lastly for me, even though as said by Doc G we've been asking the wrong question all along: "Who am I?" I think it's the overabundance of objectivism nowadays which leads to us thinking that everything has a solution or a specific answer. We are obsessed with answers, specific answer, "the answer". So we would like to find a answer even to a subjective question "Who am I?". For me "Who am I?" is not a wrong question, but a question that served as a stepstone for us to ask "What can I do for the others?"
Academics will always remain as Academics if we do not apply the knowledges we acquire in the "real" world. I often hear in school that Ateneo forces on its students "useless" subjects. Personally for me it's all about perception and application. Ateneo is a good school. I don't they would force their students to take "useless" subjects. As Ateneans I believe we have to look at all our classes as a chance to discover more about ourselves and as a chance to learn and apply something to and for others.
ReplyDeleteFor this reason I believe that our Philosophy class tackles a question we must all answer. "What must I do for the other?" Our lives will never just be about ourselves. We are all interconnected. We are all neighbours, whether we like it or not. For this reason I believe it is important that we all perceive the things we learn in school with a filter. A filter that helps us take in the important lessons and experiences. Then we have to apply these in ourselves, and to others.
I like the analogy you gave between life and poker. Anyway, I agree that there is a need to be street smart in life and not just book smart. Being street smart is not taught in school but it is learned through experience. I also believe in forgetting the lessons you learn in school but remembering the experience and the values you learned along the way.
ReplyDelete-Diane Cheng (A)
Like Diane, I also like the analogy you used between life and poker. Truly enough, you wouldn't be able to succeed in life by just sticking to your book which is why there is a need for us to experience life itself to develop our street smarts. This is why most people say your studies aren't everything. I think it is all about experiencing life around you and even the people you encounter because these are the things in life that will really surprise you and will make you reflect.
ReplyDeleteRobert Go
Ph102 A