Thursday, December 01, 2005

Perspective Evolution

I have a whole system of thought based on something I call "Perspective Evolution."

I think the essence of the idea is to stress that we’re somehow too invested in the finish line. Too invested in the answers. I think it was Paris Hilton who said, “the knowing pose questions, while the unknowing answer.” We’re too invested in “truth.”

This is why there’s a constant process of eroding false truths, an immortal devil's advocate always challenging our current reality. We erect towers only to tear them down, and build them up again. We create monsters only to conquer them, and have them return. It is the story of our lives.

This is why I’m pretty sure Michael Jackson is someday going to make a comeback.

This is why the most important cast member on any of these reality shows we sweat is the person we [yin] to [yang].

The only truth is there is no truth. Isn’t that the only paradoxically “true” statement we can really make?

I believe everyday, every individual experiences something that previous to the experience they would have thought impossible. And it can range from trivial -- I can’t believe Larry the bagel guy called in sick. Impossible! To fantastical -- I can’t believe Larry the bagel guy is actually a world-class spy, on an undercover mission that he is now endangering because he has fallen in love with me, one of his fake customers.

The never-before-conceived happens every day. The problem is we don’t believe it until we see it.

Sometimes it’s subtle, and not immediately identifiable.

Sometimes it’s very straightforward. As in this piece on old myths related to winning in the NFL.

But you could do a "shattering old myths" piece every ten years, on just about any subject. We create the myths for them to be shattered. Our records are meant to be broken.

So, I don’t know. That’s it. I wanted to link the NFL piece on ESPN. Here it is again.

So yeah …

Now you go get ‘em tiger!!!

8 comments:

  1. perspective evolution? nice to see a return to the philosopical posts. although i enjoy the humor, its nice to be left with a little something stirring inside of me in terms of thought, and i have to say that i now have something to ponder.

    as for the ESPN article. Sports people are good statisticians, but horrible scientists. Even though they don't have a hard time establishing correlation, they have a long way to go in determining causality.

    i could expouse about each one of those "deadly sins" and "myths", so let me pick the easiest one to deconstruct. the "myth" about special teams making big plays isn't a myth. it seems that any team that is returning a punt or kick for a touchdown should statistically win at least 50% of the time if not more right? afterall, we know they just scored six points and that seems to suggest something that weighs positively for a team right? why does making big plays on special teams result in 47% win rate? here are a couple factors to consider...

    under what conditions do teams kick-off? either the start of a half or after they have scored...this means that special teams returning kick-offs are often "playing from behind" since the other team has just scored.

    under what conditions do teams punt the most? when they have a comfortable lead and do not need to "go for it" and can play as conservatively as they like. teams that are behind in the score see more punts, so of course they are going to return more punts for touchdowns.

    finally, how many punt returns and kickoff returns happen during "garbage time" when a special teams defensive unit is slack, while the other teams is somewhat desparate to put some quick points on the board, and thus highly motivated. psychologically, punt returns and kickoff returns are going to be made the further back in the hole a team is, especially since special teams is the most "chaotic" and hard to control in terms of running set plays and having defensive guys play a role.

    so what i am saying is, if you control for other variables that tend to be correlated to punt and kick-off returns. you will probably find a much higher correlation to the effects big plays on special teams have on the outcome of a game.

    that was a mouthful

    mr. wilson

    ReplyDelete
  2. or, that Larry the bagel guy is a C.H.U.D. A sly C.H.U.D.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087015/

    also, WTF are you talking about TAN? you made my fucking head pound, which makes me want to rise up out of the sewers and eat people.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AHAHAHAHAAHAH!! I think I found the best candidate for "most inane post"...God work, son!

    How's that for "peace and love shit".

    ReplyDelete
  4. write - in video games I used to kickoff all the time in the first half, so I'd get the ball in the second half. In real life though you usually want the chance to score first. unless your d is far better than o. hmmm maybe I should go back for that degree.

    wilson - glad i could oblige on the philosophy

    CR & Jack - glad to make your acquaintance. This is my blog.

    jack - I love nominations/awards/pub pretty much no matter what it is. So I don't know about peace, but it would definitely be all love baby baby.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12/01/2005

    I think the philosphical stuff is awesome. Keep doing your thing TAN, jokes are great, but thinking is cool too. We could use more thinking.

    And I'd give myself a name but I don't have a blogger account.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey TAN - my friends and I think MJ will not only make a comeback, but if his people are smart, his ass will do it in Vegas.

    Can you imagine the show he'd have there? And my ass would pay $150 to see it, too...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I...really don't care about football, so I didn't read the link.

    But did you know there's something better than fantasy football leagues? That's right, now you can manage a fantasy college cross-country running team. Swear to god, my husband's been taking part in that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. anon - thanks

    dragon - you're gonna have to pay more than $150 for the MJ comeback show ...

    orange - that's pretty funny. sounds like someone in the household has lost their mind.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails