Chess player. I don't want my kid getting any groupies, and the social pressure really wrecks people. How many pop stars have drug addictions compared to chess players?
would you rather have your kid become a top chess player or a pop star?
Sort:
DeltaDevil wrote:
Chess player. I don't want my kid getting any groupies, and the social pressure really wrecks people. How many pop stars have drug addictions compared to chess players?
And you think that chess players don't face any social pressure? How do you think Bobby Fischer lost his mind?
I'll bet it was those pesky spy lamps in the Spassky games...
I'd want my child to succeed on its own terms within its own preferences and criterias of succes not because of some weird paradigm, I invented in order to accomplish my dreams by proxy.
Then again; that specific love thy self paradigm would be what I'd teach my child to begin with and that is no less sectoid, or is it?
I think you're wrong about the peer pressure/social intelligence thing - I think it must be terrible never having privacy in your life.
Bobby Fischer was apesh!t from the start. His IQ was estimated at 187, which is like classical music for most people - unappreciated. At that intelligence, he virtually has no equals for peers. That would be quite frustrating. With exceptional intelligence, almost always, comes atypical social behaviors...
Is there a third door, Monty?
Sure, your kid being emo - now with clothes that are darker than black!
Eo____ wrote:
DeltaDevil wrote:
Chess player. I don't want my kid getting any groupies, and the social pressure really wrecks people. How many pop stars have drug addictions compared to chess players?
And you think that chess players don't face any social pressure? How do you think Bobby Fischer lost his mind?
His nuttiness had nothing to do with social pressure. He would have been nuts social pressure or no.
Oct 26, 2010
0
#10
Well, since most pop stars turn out to be sl*ts or wanna be pimps turning to drugs and having millions of idiotic paparazzi after them all hours of the day and night, with their whole life publicized and criticized, defintely chess players. At least they are civilized and pretty calm.
-Mark
I'd prefer my kids to get a real job, like in the Post Office or something.
Human beings are very bad at knowing what is good for them. We see people with millions of dollars and fame, and we're like moths to a flame. We just can't help but think "Man, if I had that, it'd be so great!"
But in reality, fame and fortune do not make us happier. Famous people are more likely to face depression, drug addiction and even suicide than the rest of us. Money is nice, but the quickly-earned/quickly-spent riches of pop stars rarely last long enough to give the star a secure lifestyle in their later years.
I'll take chess champion, not because I think it'd be that great, but because I wouldn't ever want my kid to be a pop star.
Oct 26, 2010
0
#13
Fezzik wrote:
I was at a major tournament once and went to the hotel bar for a cup of coffee during my game. Almost half the players on the top boards were there drinking alcohol and chatting up the few women there. When another GM would arrive, one would leave. That was how they knew it was their move!
This isn't the sort of life I'd wish on my worst enemy, flying from hotel lobby to hotel lobby, self-medicating between moves. I know, there are some well-adjusted top players. But the majority of GMs, at least in America, have to make a living in just this way.
What was the other option?
My instructor played at a tournament at Foxwoods and said the top players were playing the tables between moves! Admirable abilily to concentrate on two things at once I suppose
Oct 26, 2010
0
#14
uhohspaghettio wrote:
nimzo5 wrote:
There are few things more worthless than pop stars.
For example chess players?
No.
Oct 26, 2010
0
#15
Fezzik wrote:
I was at a major tournament once and went to the hotel bar for a cup of coffee during my game. Almost half the players on the top boards were there drinking alcohol and chatting up the few women there. When another GM would arrive, one would leave. That was how they knew it was their move!
This isn't the sort of life I'd wish on my worst enemy, flying from hotel lobby to hotel lobby, self-medicating between moves. I know, there are some well-adjusted top players. But the majority of GMs, at least in America, have to make a living in just this way.
What was the other option?
It may strike you as odd, but that is a lifestyle choice. Plenty of GM's have used their title as a platform to get into lucrative jobs in finance etc. For every Wotjkiewicz there are other GM's who have led completely "normal" lives.
Oct 26, 2010
0
#16
i am glad i don't have kids so i don't have to worry about making these types of decisions.
You'd want what ever your kid is more interested in -- pop stars, or any very famous person is at a much greater risk for personality disorders than a chess player.
Not that I've posted in this silly topic, I haven't -- really.
Oct 26, 2010
0
#18
captain Eo__________________________________________________________________________________________________________!
It's a tough choice, and although "brilliant chess player" might sound like the obvious answer, at least to me, I have to say that I would rather have my kid become a pop star than a top chess player, for the following reasons:
A top chess player might earn a few million of dollars, but a pop star a lot more.
A top chess player might or might not have social problems, whereas a pop star is probably very skilled at handing people.
A top chess player might be held with contempt by the average human being, because he might be perceived as cold, intellectual and arrogant, whereas a pop star, while possibly equally arrogant during his private life, would probably be well regarded by many people from many different walks of life, because of the positive image of him that his marketing team has projected to the masses. (Michael Jackson might have been the obvious exception to this rule, but even he had a large number of loyal followers.)
A top chess player's love life might not be different than that of the average human being, whereas a pop star would likely receive plenty of female affection.
As you guys can see, I'm very bored right now. But yeah, I would rather have my kid become a pop star than a top chess player. Feel free to respond with sarcasm and to replace the words "pop star" and "top chess player" with anything you want and come up with meaningless analogies :).