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202 sats \ 1 reply \ @billytheked 4h \ parent \ on: Don't Trust Sheikhs With Horses --A Mathematical Allegory--Stacker Exclusive the_stacker_muse
seeing as we are speaking candidly --about horses-- if i may --
had i entered a horse in such a contest-- i imagine i may have felt the same sense of accomplishment for having been shortlisted --by the sheikh himself-- as among those that entered the 10 most beautiful horses --as i would have for having received a consolation prize decided by another metric
--ill admit i dont have a very refined taste in horses --but if i had a horse that was so shortlisted by the sheikh's council then perhaps that would have given me a warm fuzzy feeling that might even have allowed me to justify the time and effort spent breeding and preparing my
horse (even though this decision be arrived upon by aid of a magik genie-lamp or others influencing the sheikhs taste) --it may even have elevated me to a higher status among the other horse breeders and afforded me certain graces and distinguishments in future contests
concerning the prize --for all intents and purposes --there can only be one winner so long as the sheikh has a grand prize -- for if there is one horse that our dear sheikh judges most beautiful from among the ten on his list then any consolation prize -- no matter the sum --will not remove the sting --i imagine-- of not having been selected as bringing the most beautiful horse even if --and perhaps more so --if i disagree with the sheikh's decision
now --in this hypothetical beauty contest --if there were a horse that was by the sheikh's standards ugly and limp --but which because of its popularity caught the sheikh's attention --then perhaps he may sway under this pressure from the populous--he may decide his taste is outdated and stands to be revisited
--but if he allowed his shortlist to be decided by another metric from the outset --let us say by the popular vote -- then any attempt to alter their decree by force might turn dagger on himself and end in his own demise
I can only say that if I entered a horse that was "pretty good" and I did not place but see horses that appear to not be "pretty good" placing, then I'd rather simply write for the sake of writing than have a contest in the first place.
For the record, I've all ready been in these kinds of horse races for the majority of my life, and I've gotten pretty good at spotting where something is not representative but instead has some agenda lurking. One sign is that it violates the statistics one might expect in a reasonable situation.
Incidentally, I hope my speaking of horse racing has not made the fact of your win in a recent contest diminished in any way. You definitely earned it, and should I have placed in the top ten and had your piece won, I'd attribute that to the fact that you are a good writer and in this specific contest the tastes were such that you hit the spot for the grand prize that the judges liked. Different contest, different day, different judges, perhaps our roles would be reversed.
In my horse racing scenario, though, our roles are never going to be reversed, because something absurd has happened in the race itself. It is no longer a contest of beauty, as such. It is a contest of who you know--at least in some major way.
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