Coops
Joined : 17 Aug 2007
Posts : 46
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Chris
Admin
Joined : 16 Aug 2007
Posts : 232
|  Subject: Re: Hicks Law  Mon May 12, 2008 8:16 am | |
| Nice cartoon Coops.
I'm a little surprised that gamers are talking about Hicks Law and logjam when their hobby kind of disproves its existence. Some of those guys make lightening fast leaps of reasoning.
I've waffled on a lot about the subject elsewhere but I'd be interested to know what others think. |
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Chris Nagel
Age : 20
Joined : 11 May 2008
Posts : 24
Location : Nueva Viscaya, Philippines
| | Subject: Re: Hicks Law Mon May 12, 2008 7:36 pm | |
| | Coops wrote: | http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20080505
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Heh, I see that this is a modern take on the old Aesop Fable, 'The Cat and the Fox.' 
The cat said, "I envy you Sir Fox, you are indeed the smartest animal in the forest, but I only know of one way to escape danger."
As the fox continued to brag, a pack of hounds burst into view. The cat let out an instinctive screech and leapt in one move straight up into the air as cat's do, landing safely on a tree branch too high for the hounds to get to.
The Fox ran around in circles trying to decide which of his many tricks to use as so many of them were truly effective. While he was deciding the hounds set upon him and tore him to pieces. 
| Chris wrote: |
I'm a little surprised that gamers are talking about Hicks Law and logjam when their hobby kind of disproves its existence. Some of those guys make lightening fast leaps of reasoning.
I've waffled on a lot about the subject elsewhere but I'd be interested to know what others think. |
Hi Chris,
That's a good idea, but does not necessarily hold true. It's the repetition of familiar effective patterns which makes many gamers decisive and quick-witted. Get a couple of competitive Mortal Kombat players and take them out of their element by making them play 'Medal of Honor' for the first time and you'll see that Hick's law in affect as the number of choices is increased due to their lack of familiarity.
Alright? How about we take a look at another example.
Imagine that you're sitting in front of an easel, and on that easel there's a large blank sheet of paper. Now you hear the words, "Begin drawing a portrait of the model standing in the front of the room."
So, you pick up your pencil and you start scanning the various features on the model's face. It's frustrating because you honestly don't know where to start. You're eyes are darting back and forth between the different parts of their face and the 'still' blank canvas. Two minutes have passed and you've just decided to start drawing their nose. "There we go."
Now, glancing over to the artist besides you, you notice that they are much further along than you are. They have already outlined the face, mapped out the features and are beginning to sketch in the details. Their hand movements are rapid and deliberate just like two expert chess players at the park playing at a machine gun pace. They've done this all too many times before, the same step-by-step procedure, and with almost everything worked out beforehand. They don't even have to think about 'how to', they just concentrate on making the picture right...
Okay, now let's get back to the topic at hand. Hick-- Hick's Law. In your own baptism of fire into fighting started, you probably felt as frustrated as you did when you saw yourself trying to draw a portrait. Maybe you even walk away with a bloody nose and a mild concussion in the process. This is often caused by anarchy of you or both and your opponent's having so many choices. What we'll refer to in this post as the element of randomness. It's interesting to me because a lot of boxing trainers, perhaps as well as fight trainers don't even address this. This can lead to a botched and haphazard approach as both the trainer and the fighter is unaware of this.
Essentially we want to reduce this 'element of randomness,” to rig the deck so to speak. The greatest fighters would make their opponents VERY predictable without giving their opponent much useable information to go by. This starts with something so fundamental, your stance...
Anyways this is a Big subject that eclipses what I’ve just laid down, and I will like to cover this at another time and get back to the can of worms that I just opened.
Regards,
Chris |
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Chris
Admin
Joined : 16 Aug 2007
Posts : 232
| | Subject: Re: Hicks Law Tue May 13, 2008 12:46 am | |
| Ah but Chris, if you can alleviate the problem through providing more training and familiarity with choices then Hick's Law doesn't exist.  |
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Chris Nagel
Age : 20
Joined : 11 May 2008
Posts : 24
Location : Nueva Viscaya, Philippines
| | Subject: Re: Hicks Law Tue May 13, 2008 1:25 am | |
| | Chris wrote: | | Ah but Chris, if you can alleviate the problem through providing more training and familiarity with choices then Hick's Law doesn't exist. |
Ah, perhaps, but even though you can create order, that doesn't mean you can eliminate chaos. On the other hand at least you'll be able to remove much of the confusion that comes with it. 
In some drivers education schools they teach that car accidents occurs due to many different factors (i.e. maintanance, outside conditions, driver error, etc.). Now as a responsible driver you can't totally remove the possibility of an accident, but by considering the different variables you can definately reduce that possibility.
Does this make any sense? |
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Chris
Admin
Joined : 16 Aug 2007
Posts : 232
| | Subject: Re: Hicks Law Tue May 13, 2008 2:42 am | |
| | Quote: | | In some drivers education schools they teach that car accidents occurs due to many different factors (i.e. maintanance, outside conditions, driver error, etc.). Now as a responsible driver you can't totally remove the possibility of an accident, but by considering the different variables you can definately reduce that possibility. |
Absolute sense Chris. It's also through the consideration of variables combined with the experience of those variables in action that anticipatory action comes about rather than reactionary action. The key to being that necessary step ahead of problems. |
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