Saturday, September 18, 2010

Learning How To Lose

I have yet to meet anyone who likes to lose. Be it an argument, a game of risk, or anything else the appeal of getting the better of your opponent is far greater than letting someone be dominant you. So I would like to appeal to anyone reading, that they learn How To Lose.

Games can be a great example of knowing how to lose being a beneficial thing. I mentioned the game of Risk because I just recently saw a game escalate into an argument and some raised voices. Anger over a board game. The reason the person sat down and began to play the game was that he intended to have some fun with his friends. His anger and yelling are probably good indicators that he has failed to achieve his goal of having fun. So when he began to lose he failed to remember his original goal of having fun and forfeited it for a new goal of winning the game. Thus he lost. Even if he turned it around, and began to win the game, his original goal of having fun has been diminished if not obliterated.

This applies to life as well. I avoid time consuming arguments by letting people win. You might recall me having a brief 'argument' with a co-worker in a sketch a while back. I avoided correcting him, didn't press any issues I had with what he said, I just made my best attempt to move along in order to get the job done. The goal was to repair his computer and get back to work quickly. I achieved that goal far faster than I had hoped, despite the holdup.

I don't think I did this topic the justice it deserves. Sometimes you have to bite your tongue. Hold back that urge to inform people of their own ignorance or even that your opinion differs from theirs. It will usually do very little but waste your time, given the inherent difficulty of changing anyone's opinion. I'd like to try and be more through, but sadly I must return to my work. But look forward to sketches soon, as I have ordered a new scanner out of a necessity. (I took a job that required one. Deductible!)

1 comment:

Apples said...

I'd be one of those that loves to take the other side in arguments, even if I don't personally believe it to be the right one. I don't do it to try and win nor to lose but to hopefully discover something interesting along the way that may end up changing my original opinion. Which I love when it happens and may just qualify for the, "likes to lose".

On the other hand, I am a hugely competitive gamer and there are definitely times when I just don't want to lose :)