JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
- 63,590
- 16,760
- 2,220
Normally in human competition there are five levels of competence that are determined by training, time practiced and knowledge of the rules.
The first level of competition is the friendly game between novices who just started a game, take chess for example. They may not know all the rules, like 'en passant' or castling and certainly dont know any strategies. But they have fun; who cares who wins the most?
The second level of competition is the amateur player. He knows all the rules and some strategies, but he only plays in his spare time and that isnt all that much. He can beat the novice player every time but he cannot yet do very well in amateur tournaments because that is another step up in commitment and time practicing and studying.
The third level of competence is the Tournament player. This is an amateur who is familiar with almost all the strategies and he puts in as much time as he can practicing the game and studying it. He doesnt have much time for hobbies as he splits his time between his commitment to chess, his job and his family life. While this person is competitive at amateur tournaments, he gets killed when he plays professionals almost all of the time. (there are tricks to occasionally beating the pros) His experience and time played simply is not a match for the professional because he has too many other commitments.
The forth level of competence is the Professional. This person is not just familiar with the strategies, but he plays the game and reads about it incessantly. He almost always has a coach who is very experienced and who is good at observing the weaknesses in his clients game and can help him improve with a neutral objective perspective. He eats Tournament amateurs like popcorn.
Then there is the Gifted. These people put in the time and resources of the pro, but they have that something extra. Maybe it is DNA, maybe it is a bad experience in life that drives him maniacally, but whatever it is these are the people legends talk about. The Johnny Unitases, the Mohamed Alis, the Einsteins, and Napoleons. They regularly beat the pros like the pros beat amateurs.
Though I have used chess as my example here, these levels of competence exist in every field of human competitive endeavor.
Now Eddie the Eagle is the subject of a recent movie and if you saw it, you saw a person who was not maniacal, but was a quick study and determined to the point of blindness to the absurdity of what he was trying to do; learn a sport that his competition was taught from the day they could ski as a young child. But he did it, went to the Olympics and eventually was jumping decent distances, his life time best being 115 meters. The year he went the record was over 200 meters, but still, Eddie had accomplished more in his short period of learning than the vast majority of people could have learned and he did it through sheer determination.
I stated all the above to finally get to the main point; Donald Trump and his first ever election run. Trump did not learn politics by growing up through the ranks like most politicians. He has never run in an election before in his life, and yet he is winning against the top professionals in a nation that sets the standard in electoral competition. (or at least used to)
Now it is unheard of for an unheard of novice chess player to walk in and enter a professional tournament and then beat all his competitors. That has NEVER EVER happened. And if it ever did, that person would be struggling to simply match the known strategies and styles that are well developed. He wouldnt walk in and beat everyone while completely rewriting the strategy book on chess.
That is exactly what Donald Trump has done. He has never run in an election before, and he came in at the very top level of political competition and has made the experts look like fools. He has completely rewritten the 'How to do it' manual on Presidential elections, and has humiliated the professional political class so much that even his own party elite is unified in their efforts to stop this rank amateur, this upstart, this complete novice WHO SHOULD NOT STILL BE IN THE RUN, MUCH LESS WINNING IT ALL!
Now I know the partisan hacks will immediately dismiss this post as me being a Trumpster. No, I support Ted Cruz, but I also try to be objective and not blindly repeat the horse shit that the hacks spew out 24/7 (for example, no, Rubio has no chance no matter how many lies he tells or Talking Heads say he does).
I am simply amazed that this complete novice has walked in from nowhere and OWNED the rest of the field as Trump has done so effectively. This is not just a win, but is the stuff that creates legends.
My hat is off to him.
Mr Trump, SALUTE!
The first level of competition is the friendly game between novices who just started a game, take chess for example. They may not know all the rules, like 'en passant' or castling and certainly dont know any strategies. But they have fun; who cares who wins the most?
The second level of competition is the amateur player. He knows all the rules and some strategies, but he only plays in his spare time and that isnt all that much. He can beat the novice player every time but he cannot yet do very well in amateur tournaments because that is another step up in commitment and time practicing and studying.
The third level of competence is the Tournament player. This is an amateur who is familiar with almost all the strategies and he puts in as much time as he can practicing the game and studying it. He doesnt have much time for hobbies as he splits his time between his commitment to chess, his job and his family life. While this person is competitive at amateur tournaments, he gets killed when he plays professionals almost all of the time. (there are tricks to occasionally beating the pros) His experience and time played simply is not a match for the professional because he has too many other commitments.
The forth level of competence is the Professional. This person is not just familiar with the strategies, but he plays the game and reads about it incessantly. He almost always has a coach who is very experienced and who is good at observing the weaknesses in his clients game and can help him improve with a neutral objective perspective. He eats Tournament amateurs like popcorn.
Then there is the Gifted. These people put in the time and resources of the pro, but they have that something extra. Maybe it is DNA, maybe it is a bad experience in life that drives him maniacally, but whatever it is these are the people legends talk about. The Johnny Unitases, the Mohamed Alis, the Einsteins, and Napoleons. They regularly beat the pros like the pros beat amateurs.
Though I have used chess as my example here, these levels of competence exist in every field of human competitive endeavor.
Now Eddie the Eagle is the subject of a recent movie and if you saw it, you saw a person who was not maniacal, but was a quick study and determined to the point of blindness to the absurdity of what he was trying to do; learn a sport that his competition was taught from the day they could ski as a young child. But he did it, went to the Olympics and eventually was jumping decent distances, his life time best being 115 meters. The year he went the record was over 200 meters, but still, Eddie had accomplished more in his short period of learning than the vast majority of people could have learned and he did it through sheer determination.
I stated all the above to finally get to the main point; Donald Trump and his first ever election run. Trump did not learn politics by growing up through the ranks like most politicians. He has never run in an election before in his life, and yet he is winning against the top professionals in a nation that sets the standard in electoral competition. (or at least used to)
Now it is unheard of for an unheard of novice chess player to walk in and enter a professional tournament and then beat all his competitors. That has NEVER EVER happened. And if it ever did, that person would be struggling to simply match the known strategies and styles that are well developed. He wouldnt walk in and beat everyone while completely rewriting the strategy book on chess.
That is exactly what Donald Trump has done. He has never run in an election before, and he came in at the very top level of political competition and has made the experts look like fools. He has completely rewritten the 'How to do it' manual on Presidential elections, and has humiliated the professional political class so much that even his own party elite is unified in their efforts to stop this rank amateur, this upstart, this complete novice WHO SHOULD NOT STILL BE IN THE RUN, MUCH LESS WINNING IT ALL!
Now I know the partisan hacks will immediately dismiss this post as me being a Trumpster. No, I support Ted Cruz, but I also try to be objective and not blindly repeat the horse shit that the hacks spew out 24/7 (for example, no, Rubio has no chance no matter how many lies he tells or Talking Heads say he does).
I am simply amazed that this complete novice has walked in from nowhere and OWNED the rest of the field as Trump has done so effectively. This is not just a win, but is the stuff that creates legends.
My hat is off to him.
Mr Trump, SALUTE!
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