Adam Spiers writes: > Ala Qumsieh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > But, if that is unfair, then what do you say about people > who do a search on > > google to try and find algorithms for the holes? I admit to > doing that, as > > did some of the aliens amongst us. In my opinion, using the > net to find > > solutions is more unfair than writing a program to do the > job, since the > > first entails borrowing ideas from other humans. > > !! Are you seriously suggesting that none of the current golfing > involves borrowing ideas from other humans?!
My first few attempts at cracking the problems don't usually involve internet searching. I only resort to that if I get stuck 20 or so strokes behind the lead (which happens quite often), and I can't think of any better approach to the problem. This doesn't usually help me anyway :) So, yes, there are instances when I don't borrow ideas from other "creatures". Then again, you can argue that the way we reason depends upong many factors, one of which is the influence of our teachers. So, indirectly, we ARE borrowing ideas from other humans, but we have to draw the line somewhere. Should we ban internet searching? My vote is no. It is true that strategy helps in golfing, but we saw from previous courses that most people converge to pretty much the same strategy, and the person with the best golfing ability (rather than the best strategy) ends up winning the contest. This is a Perl "Golf" contest after all. Which brings me to another question. In order to bring out the "Golf" in "Perl Golf", should one of the courses involve a problem with a pre-defined strategy that everyone has to follow? This would make everyone on par in terms of their approach to the problem, and will highlight each person's true golfing expertise. > Ahhh ... I see where > you're headed. You're saying it's alright to borrow ideas from > aliens, but not humans. The real trick is to find those K-Paxians amongst us ;) --Ala
