QUARTZ, PARCHMENT, SHEARS..?
Or, more familiarly, “Rock Paper Scissors!”
Do you remember as a child settling disputes (such as who would be ‘it’) by playing this simple game?
It’s a time-honored, important decision making game, right up there with flipping a coin, drawing straws and throwing dice!
And how do you settle those questions of
- who goes first,
- who is right,
- who gets the last piece of chocolate?
- And all those other important decisions?
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that pro football teams will spend millions to insure a winning outcome but leave the very first decision of a game to a coin toss. 50-50. Really? What kind of odds are those?
As usual, 5th graders know better. According to a recent made-up survey, winning kids everywhere prefer “Rock Paper Scissors” (RPS) 11-to-1.
In fact, it isn’t just 5th graders that love it. Ask any member of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society (WRPS). Whether little kid or AARP member, WRPS tournaments are supposedly as rousing as any NFL game could ever hope to be.
And, believe it or not,
in 2006, an American federal judge ordered opposing sides in a lengthy court case to settle a trivial (but lengthily debated) point over the appropriate place for a disposition by using the game “Rock Paper Scissors”!
Do you remember how to play? how to “win?”
With each player starting with a clenched fist, each player pounds their 
fist on the count as all count to three. On the fourth beat, each player reveals their own hand choice. Who wins? It’s easy.
- Rock breaks Scissors
- Paper covers Rock and
- Scissors cut Paper.
Some personal thoughts on the ROCK RULE [Rock breaks Scissors]
‘Young’ rocks can be 2-million years old. The oldest 2-billion years (with a “b”).
Think about it. Rocks, stones and their cousins, the crystals have all served Mankind since the days of the Cave Man.
What fascinates me is how the Ancients used a stone to illustrate that emotional limitations are often:
- self-imposed and
- while highly ritualistic, easily tossed away.
The thrust of the idea was using a stone or crystal as a place for evil spirits to go after they left the body. Once encapsulated in its handy rock carrying case, the person being treated could toss the bad energy, maybe break a window and return to a well-balanced life.
Some personal thoughts on the PAPER RULE [Paper covers Rock]
Paper. Let’s face it. Anyone who’s ever used papyrus or parchment knows that paper was an idea whose time had come. It was invented around 100 BC in China.
And it’s the perfect medium for writing stuff down that bothers us:
- Journaling,
- diaries or
- ‘Letters to the Editor’
None of that healthy outpouring of thought, emotion and knowledge would have happened without paper. “Getting it down on paper” is a very good thing.
Some personal thoughts on the SCISSORS RULE [Scissors cut Paper]
Ever wondered why we refer to scissors as “a pair of…”?
Think of the ancient Egyptians (1500 BC). They knew knives; they knew blades; and they knew bronze! Somebody must have tied their two daggers together with some papyrus reeds and a “pair” of scissors was born!
And did you know?
It turns out that most cultures have some variation of the game, often with sub-variants.
In Japan, instead of the traditional elements, there is apparently a variation involving the chief of a village, a tiger, and the mother of the chief of a village (not surprisingly, the mother of the chief beats the chief).
One of the most humorous variations comes from Indonesia and involves an elephant, a person, and an ant. The elephant can crush the person, the person can crush the ant, but how can the ant win against the elephant? It crawls in the elephant’s ear and drives it crazy.
(I’d sure like to know what the hand signals for those games are!)
You know, I’m really reassured that we humans not only can come up with some great ways to make a decision, but that we can do it in a humorous and fun way!
