Who says nothing good happens after 2 AM?

I was up at about 2:30 in the morning a few weeks ago when I saw the final rounds of the World Championships of the WRPS (World Rock Paper Scissors Society) on ESPN2. Officiated by the great poker player Phil Gordon, the rapid fire competition was hardcore. Like any of you who has the played the game knows, most of the game is luck. However, there are plenty of opportunities to subtly get into your opponents head and “will” yourself to victory.

While on the surface the competition seemed very lame, the more I watched the more I began to recognize that RPS may be the greatest game ever invented. The more I examined the game, I found that the best competitors strategize in a way I never imagined. Percentages have been accumulated examining the "go to" choices for players. This is a game that takes total control of one’s emotions and actions to win. The competition takes a profound level of hand speed, composure, and confidence.

Further more, in order to be successful the competitor must enter into the competition with a strategy that can be easily modified to handle the natural hazards that certainly awaits the competitor. The games was presented as No Limit Poker, but cooler and more masculine.

The best part about the situation was that despite the intensity,…yes intensity, the resolution was met with a sense of peace and serenity. Both competitors shook hands. It was like the end of a series in the NHL playoffs.

It really got me thinking. Why do we decide to settle disputes through an ambiguous list of rituals, procedures, institutions, and laws? Mainly, because someone told us we couldn't do it through RPS. Kids do it. But we choose other methods, even if we can emotionally handle a crushing defeat at the hands of a superior RPS players.

The concept that the rational side of mankind determines a society’s fate is what binds the fabric of this country, and our tradition of democracy that was started long ago. However, this immense pride in our own rationality stops us from evolving beyond the institutions we have now. I have come to believe our current problems have long been the result of the fact that we are blinded by our own hubris. Hubris in the sense that we so strongly have bought into the supposed security and stability of our society that we cannot see the drastic advances that must be made.

What if the current status quo works to promote irrational behavior? If provided more legitimate means, could we rewrite our fate through the use of new instiutions that reflect new rationals?

Like Hoover during the Great Depression, Huey Long running Louisiana, Nixon going into Cambodia, Clinton receiving a hummer in the Oval Office, or Bush going into Iraq, hubris has long dictated the country’s fate or consumed our attention. Hell, it has in many ways dictated the rise and fall of every great empire since the begining of time.

However, our perception toward the legitimacy of our endeavor has rarely been challenged because we believe our inate rationality will win in the end. We believe the organization of society as we know it is as it has to be.

I wonder....

What happens when the irrational lead us?

What happens when modern life manipulates our institutions to a point that they cease to complement the progression of our lives?

Can common sense be destroyed by legislative procedure? When it does, what action is acceptable? Can action be taken by regular people against legislative procedure?

Can a country call itself “Representative” when it's population sprints toward 350 million?

All will be pondered this month…….Stay Tuned