Chess is a prime example of a game of strategy, but
not all games are like chess. Scissors, paper,
stone, for example, is known as a game of chance,
but is it really so?
Before answering that question you'd better
hear what happened in Tokyo a month ago.
It all started when the Maspro Denkoh electronics
corporation decided to sell its $20 million
collection of Picassos and Van Goghs, but there was
a problem. Who would be a better choice for handling
the auction? Sotheby's or Christie's? They were both
very well known and reliable auction houses. So,
which do you think the director of Maspro Denkoh
chose?
Well, the director simply could not decide! The two
auction houses were both equally suitable for their
purpose. So, he finally made a strange decision.
Believe it or not, he announced that the deal would
go to the winner of a single round of scissors,
paper, stone! Yes, he thought this children's game,
where stone beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and
paper beats stone, would be the fairest way of
deciding who should get the contract.
Now here comes the interesting part of the story!
The unimaginative Sotheby's just accepted
this as a 50/50 game of chance, but not Christie's!
Christie's did something better. Instead of just
relying on chance, they called in the experts.
"Where the hell can one get experts on scissors,
stone, paper?" you might ask. Why, there are experts
in virtually every home: the children!
Christie's asked Flora and Alice, the 11-year-old
daughters of the company's director of Impressionist
and modern art, who were undisputable masters of the
game.
The experts explained their strategy:
1. Stone is the one that "feels" the strongest
2. Therefore a novice will expect their opponent to
go for stone, and will go for paper to beat stone
3. Therefore you should go for scissors first
Sure enough, the novices at Sotheby's went for
paper, and Christie's scissors got them the
contract.
The moral of the story? It's very simple: no matter what, always ask
the experts.
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