Saturday, September 16, 2017
No wonder
An interesting bit of analog modeling and simulation from British Practical Electronics in 1968. A homemade board game simulating stock trading.
Part of the description, edited plus [comments]:
In the game, monetary gains and losses are simulated by changes in charge on capacitors. These charges are checked through the game so each player can keep track of his 'potentials' and 'capacities'. [heh.] Each player makes intelligent transactions on 11 different commodities, the prices of which are constantly changing under the control of dice throws. [Could have automated the dice as well, using a pair of Zeners on opposite inputs of a diff amp, with the output constantly pulling and pushing on one cap. Hit the switch to pick up the present value.]
The object is to build up your cash (potential on 'cash' cap) and transfer it at intervals to the 'bank' cap until your accumulated balance reaches the arbitrary max, at which point that player is declared the winner.
The game clearly required steady nerves, which were common in 1968 as illustrated by the player in the foreground. More smoke, less snowflakes.
The text gives a complicated set of rules, meant to be implemented by the dealer. Dice selected which commodity was to be priced, and other throws caused 'bank raids' or 'tax audits'.
The most realistic part is that each player is attempting to pull down the share value of the selected commodity. Sucking electrons from the commodity. Each transaction necessarily wastes some of the charge as well, turning to heat in a resistor.
After playing this game you'd understand physically that stock trading is a purely parasitic operation which doesn't add any value to the world.
No wonder it never went commercial.
= = = = =
Later: I was puzzling over the basic point. Is there any game that isn't essentially destructive, a game that teaches you to create order? Turning the chaos of inorganic death into the beauty of life? Trying to do it in a semi-serious way would require way too much ability and time, would end up more like a county fair or a science fair than a board game. Judging your shapely squash or prize pig or shiny solder work. Not suitable. Ball games are neutral, just pushing a round thing from one place to another. Card games? Here I got a shock. Poker takes the random result of shuffling, turns it into an ordered pattern. Poker makes life. (Some other card games do the same, but not pure gambles like blackjack.)
Could you transfer that into an analog game in the spirit of the above stock game? Each player has five RC oscillators mixed into his headphones. Each osc is tuned manually by a pot and ALSO tuned forcibly by a FET in series with the pot. Dealer has control of the gates of all FETS. At the start of each hand, dealer hits a button that sets all the FETs to random R values, so that each player suddenly hears a horrible five-part dissonance. Players have to adjust the five pots to create harmony within a short time interval, say 10 seconds. Dealer then asks each player to switch his harmony to speaker. Show your chords. You didn't create harmony? You're out. Repeat until only one harmony remains.
Basically poker for the blind, innit?
Part of the description, edited plus [comments]:
In the game, monetary gains and losses are simulated by changes in charge on capacitors. These charges are checked through the game so each player can keep track of his 'potentials' and 'capacities'. [heh.] Each player makes intelligent transactions on 11 different commodities, the prices of which are constantly changing under the control of dice throws. [Could have automated the dice as well, using a pair of Zeners on opposite inputs of a diff amp, with the output constantly pulling and pushing on one cap. Hit the switch to pick up the present value.]
The object is to build up your cash (potential on 'cash' cap) and transfer it at intervals to the 'bank' cap until your accumulated balance reaches the arbitrary max, at which point that player is declared the winner.
The game clearly required steady nerves, which were common in 1968 as illustrated by the player in the foreground. More smoke, less snowflakes.
The text gives a complicated set of rules, meant to be implemented by the dealer. Dice selected which commodity was to be priced, and other throws caused 'bank raids' or 'tax audits'.
The most realistic part is that each player is attempting to pull down the share value of the selected commodity. Sucking electrons from the commodity. Each transaction necessarily wastes some of the charge as well, turning to heat in a resistor.
After playing this game you'd understand physically that stock trading is a purely parasitic operation which doesn't add any value to the world.
No wonder it never went commercial.
= = = = =
Later: I was puzzling over the basic point. Is there any game that isn't essentially destructive, a game that teaches you to create order? Turning the chaos of inorganic death into the beauty of life? Trying to do it in a semi-serious way would require way too much ability and time, would end up more like a county fair or a science fair than a board game. Judging your shapely squash or prize pig or shiny solder work. Not suitable. Ball games are neutral, just pushing a round thing from one place to another. Card games? Here I got a shock. Poker takes the random result of shuffling, turns it into an ordered pattern. Poker makes life. (Some other card games do the same, but not pure gambles like blackjack.)
Could you transfer that into an analog game in the spirit of the above stock game? Each player has five RC oscillators mixed into his headphones. Each osc is tuned manually by a pot and ALSO tuned forcibly by a FET in series with the pot. Dealer has control of the gates of all FETS. At the start of each hand, dealer hits a button that sets all the FETs to random R values, so that each player suddenly hears a horrible five-part dissonance. Players have to adjust the five pots to create harmony within a short time interval, say 10 seconds. Dealer then asks each player to switch his harmony to speaker. Show your chords. You didn't create harmony? You're out. Repeat until only one harmony remains.
Basically poker for the blind, innit?
Labels: skill-estate, the broken circle
¶ 9:28 AM
