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Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 14, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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My entire post was about how people become fans of players and choose who/what to watch for reasons other than pure competitiveness.

Good example is chess, the games that top bots play with themselves are frankly more novel and interesting on a move-by-move basis than the games played between human pros, but as far as I know no one really watches bot games recreationally. The most popular streams are for the human pro tournaments where people can see the storylines and drama.

Yeah but how would you feel knowing Magnus Carlsen was just chosen for his blue eyes and there's players better than him out there with less gifted looks? I know that can't happen in chess, but you get the point.

The process being mostly meritocratic is a necessary but not sufficient condition to sell the surrounding story.

The process being mostly meritocratic is a necessary but not sufficient condition to sell the surrounding story.

I agree with this. All of the factors have some weight, it’s not just one or the other.