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Unread 13-04-2008, 01:32
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Re: String Theory: <G22> at the Championships

Quote:
Originally Posted by Valley Raider View Post
With all due respect lawyering the game is exactly what FIRST does, there just not very good at it. Every year they come up with some silly rule that dies need to be their.
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I know some will clam that this can be prevented but the fact is this rule is nit-picky.
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FIRST makes up roles for their games without thinking about the practicality of them during game play.
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They pulled this rule after it became clear that the most teams were not going to be able to get the second trackball down.
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This rule didn't need to be removed but it was because it offered nothing to the game.
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<G22> is a rule that doesn't nothing to help the game.
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Lawyering around the roles is part of the game and if someone can come up with a good way of getting around a pointless rule then good for the its time well spent.
Oh, please, would you consider offering even a scintilla of factual evidence to support even one of these rather astounding statements? As Thomas Paine pointed out, outrageous claims require outrageous proof. In particular, I eagerly await your well-reasoned, justified rationale for the statement "FIRST makes up roles [sic] for their games without thinking about the practicality of them during game play." I can think of several people who would argue this point with you rather vehemently. If you can not back up such statements, you might reconsider whether it is prudent to make such public assertions.

Lest you think that this is just a knee-jerk reaction to an insulting diatribe, there is a rational reason for the above request. As engineers (or engineer wanna-be's) we need to be able to clearly communicate with peers and compatriots, and provide appropriate explanations for assertions that may not be intuitively obvious. If we can not do so, if we instead rely solely on unsupported opinion and not fact, then our effectiveness is severely limited. One may be able to find the optimal solution to a given problem, but if you can not tell someone else WHY it is the optimal answer - with clear, lucid language supported by factual underpinnings - then your utility to an engineering team is minimized. So I would suggest that this may be an opportune time to practice this skill.

-dave


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