Quote:
Originally Posted by David Lame
ETA: And as long as I'm here, what do I, personally find inspiring? (As a fifty year old mentor, in case it matters.) I often tell people that I meet and describe First to, that I was the "brainy" kid in high school, and I did the "brainy" things. Speech. Debate. Chess.
There's nothing wrong with those events. I still play Chess. But, let's be real. BORING!!!! Two years ago, I went to a First event. (Actually, an "off season" event, much smaller, but obviously an offshoot of, First Robotics.) There was loud music. There were kids dancing. There were last minute, buzzer beating shots that put the whole crowd on their feet. This was amazing! I was hooked.
How does that affect championships? I'm not sure. I know, though, that I find myself really wanting to watch how my favorite teams are doing at the world championship, and I'm not sure I would bother at a half-championship. I'm not sure why. Rationally, there's not a lot of difference, but somehow it seems significant. I see an awful lot of comments these championship debates that are variations of, "You ought to think this is important, instead of that." Those comments don't sit well with me. People will respond according to human nature, not according to some idealized version of what we ought to think is important.
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I want to add a bit to David's point. Here I'll interject that I'm a professional economist so I think a lot about the difference between what people "ought to do" and what they "really do." Almost universally, people need incentives (both positive and negative) to do what we as a community want them to do. In some ways, social norms can drive behavior, but those move very slowly and still have uneven effects. I believe that FIRST has used two unusual incentive structures to create an atmosphere of coopertion. The first is the rotating qualification alliances. Other teams are both opponents and cooperants. This arrangement is truly unique and powerful. The second is the Chairman's Award. Even if teams don't win, many still make an effort. And it creates a social norm that even non submitting teams follow.
So FIRST needs to consider its incentives in moving forward in redesigning the championships. Unfortunately, I don't always see that elements of FIRST (e.g., the GDC) really think through the incentives. This year's game is exhibit A. I'm concerned that championsplit is Exhibit B.