I don't think Dan was implying that your opinion was wrong just because Mr. B was the winner of the Woody Flowers award, I think he was just trying to point out that it's a little harsh to say that anyone, let alone someone who's won an award like that, has "missed the point of first" from just a post.
I feel that Battle Bots and FIRST are more similar then you think. Let me explain before the flames start to fly...
As human beings deal with life each day, we continually face conflict. I know I do, dealing with whether I should get up and go to work/school each day. At work, my job revolves around dealing with different conflicts that arise when I have to fix computers due to user error. I think that both of these competitions revolve around that, and they both teach us how to deal with problems. No, the problem in Battlebots isn't always to beat the opposing robot. And no, the problem in FIRST isn't always to find a new way to help your neighbor. But both of those fit into both competitions, along with many others. Trying to design a machine that will complete the task as efficiently and fast as possible, to work with others to solve problems, and do this all without going crazy. I think that is the biggest factor in both competitions, not going out on the field and competing.
As for the violence in FIRST, it's going to happen, regardless of how much we try to fight it. Robots will fight desperately to win, and I know because I've been there. I'm not proud to say that I've destroyed several robots, and I've had the 2 machines that I've driven destroyed several times. Was it intentional? Maybe at the time, but the goal was to win, not intentionally destroy robots. Some people may call that not in the spirit of FIRST, but I think the spirit of FIRST is more about just driving the robot to win a match.
But I think that most of have missed the entire point of his message.
Quote:
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Robotic sports like FIRST and BattleBots are not about the ROBOT…or even about your feelings. These sports are about learning to live in a very very unregulated world…to survive and to thrive in the diverse, dangerous and complicated environment we’ve created on this planet…..and to do it with élan!
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Ok, I've gone on long enough....
- Dave