Power Game my Life!

[fireinthedust]

In short: is it possible to min-max yourself in RL? What would that look like?

My theory is that we'd get major athletes or supermodels, whose entire being is focused on their task: scoring points and taking good pictures.

 

[ggroy]

In short: is it possible to min-max yourself in RL? What would that look like?

My theory is that we'd get major athletes or supermodels, whose entire being is focused on their task: scoring points and taking good pictures.

A minmax-ed person with very high intelligence (with the other stats as "dump stats"), could be an absent-minded mathematics professor.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

In short: is it possible to min-max yourself in RL? What would that look like?

Special Forces/ Navy SEALs / USMC Force Recon

 

[Jeff Wilder]

The vast majority of people are min-min'ed. (I'm only kidding a little.)

Most people actually do min-max themselves, concentrating on things that they do well and ignoring or actively avoiding things they do poorly.

Me, I took calculus as a sophomore in high school, and I haven't had a single math class since. (Two years of high school (and summer in college programs), four of undergrad, three of law school.) Math just doesn't come as easily to me as verbal stuff does; it takes actual work, and I'm lazy, so I deliberately avoid it.

Similarly, I'm terrible at chess and video games, but I'm the world's greatest lover. So I concentrate on Rock Band. (Wait ... )

 

[Diamond Cross]

Mister Spock. The second ultimate Mary Sue next to Superman.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

I think professional athletes are a perfect example, but hardly unique. In the real world, min-maxing (at least in a conventional sense) involves identifying your natural advantages, and then focusing on them to the exclusion of everything else to develop them as far as possible. This can be an effective strategy at accomplishing goals. Professional athletes, professional musicians (esp. "classical" professional musicians, as opposed to pop stars), professional chess players, the lawyers, IBankers, doctors, and business people who work 100 hour weeks every week and spend their free time on professional networking, the scientists who never leave their labs, etc. all frequently pursue this sort of approach. Athletes, musicians, and similar categories stand out because it is very hard to succeed at all without a truly impressive (but not necessarily healthy) focus on one field of endeavor--there are just too many naturally good high school athletes, so to be truly exceptional almost requires a combination of good luck and extreme dedication. Conversely, there are plenty of very good lawyers who average 50 hours or 60 hours a week; relatively few of them reach the rarefied heights of the profession, but many of them do very well professionally.

So yeah, I agree with the OP that min-maxing in the real world means intense dedication and focus to mastering one area of endeavor.

 

[RangerWickett]

Mister Spock. The second ultimate Mary Sue next to Superman.

That raises a good question. Why doesn't Superman have telepathy. He can do every damn other thing.

 

[ggroy]

A minmax-ed person with a very high charisma (with the other stats as "dump stats") and an evil alignment, could be somebody like a Hitler.

A minmax-ed person with a very high charisma (with the other stats as "dump stats") and a lawful good or neutral good alignment, could be a politician and/or an actor like a Ronald Reagan.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

That raises a good question. Why doesn't Superman have telepathy. He can do every damn other thing.

He can't see through Chinese toothpaste.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

That raises a good question. Why doesn't Superman have telepathy. He can do every damn other thing.

Quite simply, he does have telepathy. He's just such a goody two-shoes that he doesn't ever use it and intrude on people's private thoughts.