Re: Watching for the early reveal revisited

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Comments:: : Am I correct in assuming that the limits for OPS would be the following? : Well, I'm still just a budding RPS scholar, and mainly just have the (still mostly unread) works of the late Master Roshambollah to use for reference (in addition to the standard books and publications.) According to his notes on the subject, I can respond to your questions. : : - time it takes photons to bounce from opponent's throw reveal to player's retina (roughly a distance of 2-3 cubits) : One of the earliest schools of Relative Speed was the Photonic School, which used the speed of light as a common point of reference. Serious thought was given to playing in super-cooled environments, in order to increase the relative speed of light. However, the Quantum Entanglement school laid to rest the Photonics. The QE school held that the Prime represents an "original eigenstate", and that each resulting throw is similar to "entangled particles", which once in contact remain connected, and are capable of instantaneous "faster-than-light" communication. : : - time required for signal to be processed by retina/brain : : - theoretical time to reach a conclusion and inititiate reaction response : : - time for signal to travel from brain to throwing hand digits. : These would be the work of the "Neurological" school. The "conclusion time" was a hotly debated issue until it was thrown out entirely. It was claimed that each pair of opposing throws exists in a neo-Platonic world of pure ideal, and that this super-luminal world is also not subject to normal rules of space-time. At times, it seemed that the whole Relative Speed school was engaged in reducing all their variables as much as possible, in order to more closely reach their "zero point", when one can observe an opponent's throw before the prime. : : - theoretical fastest possible digit muscular response time. : The "Physiological" school of Relative Speed has probably received the most press, in no small part due to the crossover of research with the rank and file Kinetic approach, with their study of muscular armoring, kinetic signatures, and movement clues to an impending throw. The Physiological School originally measured length of nerves, and conducted massive studies to determine average length of upper arms, lower arms, and digits. This measurement resulted in closely guarded "neuro-ratios", or the standard comparisons between all arms and fingers. This school reached its apex when it began using as a standard variable the number of digits extended for each throw. It was claimed that paper added a 5x variable, scissors a 2x, and rock a 0x. With much excitement, the Physiological school of Relative Speed thought that by exclusively using Rock, they would introduce a zero sum into the equation which would cancel out any number with which they multiplied it. Well, to me, regardless of the window dressing and statistical underpinning, three Rocks in a row is still an avalanche. The RPS community at large took a similar view. : : Sometimes I feel like RPS is like driving a truck as fast as possible toward a brick wall, with the object of touching the breaks at exactly the right point so your front bumper only lightly taps the wall. : Many times while watching the World Championships, I get the feeling that RPS is like watching a head-on train collision in slow motion, and played in reverse. : Bill Helfer : Curator, Master Roshambollah Memorial Library

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