Slashdot Mirror
Game Theory at 190mph
cameronm writes "A recent article in Slate discusses the value of NASCAR racing as a tool to study Game Theory. You can view the original study at FirstMonday."
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
Or fans without mullets. Or intelligence.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
Let me guess...you're white, male, and over 30. Bingo! Another fan goes into the lily-white crowd of hick sports fans, unsullied by coloreds like the rest of those pro sports are.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Yes, pushrod V8's and family sedan aerodynamics are really taking us to new heights of technological advancement.
Life in Orange County
At first I was like okay this is at least as exciting as soccer.
First off, soccer (or football, as everyone else on earth calls it) is by far the most popular sport on earth. There are more humans who enjoy soccer than any other sport. Just because americans with MTV attention spans don't like (or don't understand) soccer, that doesn't make it less exciting. I personally find american football horribly boring. 45 seconds of game play followed by 3 minutes of waiting.
I actually began to pay real attention
as opposed to counterfeit or virtual attention?
NASCAR is a hell of a lot smarter than I was giving it credit for.
Compared to whom?
Races play out a lot like a chess game, there is an immense amount of strategy involved.
Dare I ask... do you even know how to play chess?
Then I watched some more and the wrecks were fricken awesome.
Watching any race just to see the wrecks is like drinking alcohol for the express purpose of vomiting.
Hell there is a concerted effort going on with everyone at very high rates of reaction times... one fuckup and bam they all go down.
Is there some other type of racing where this is not the case? Seems like Touring Cup, Formula 1, and LeMans racing all have similar (and higher) speeds involved and MUCH more difficult tracks, yet there are not nearly as many accidents as there are in a typical nascar "race". Is this just due to lack of skill of the nascar drivers, or is it poor rules and regulation of acceptable track behavior?
But for techies and people willing to look past it's somewhat boring motif there is a somewhat rewarding experience there.
I'd be willing to wager that most techs would (hopefully) see through the farcical buffoonery which is nascar. The technological innovation of the machines and the higher level of driver skill required for Touring Car, Formula 1, and LeMans racing would be more likely to attract the techie.
Perhaps one too many hours of Gran Tourismo broked my brain.
Perhaps so.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
Screw NeckCAR.
Get into F1.
Imaginary friend? Hardly, but aparently your understanding of basic aerodynamics is woefully lacking.
Two equal sized/weight vehicles, that may in fact be true, but there's a significant sized area immediately behind a trailer that has enough of a reduced air pressure that you can very easily get into a sweet spot where the air pressure behind as opposed to the front your car is more than enough to keep you in that spot.
I've done it before, I know a number of people who have, and in case it wasn't completely clear, no shit its a risky thing to do, why do you think I said it takes more sack to do that then racing around at track at 150mph? Its dangerous, but its a rush when you get into that spot.
Having followed people very deep into a braking zone at 140mph before three or four feet off their bumper, I'm quite aware of the risks involved with the person in front of you braking faster than you are.
Example: Porsche 996TT with the PCCB kit and hot rotors is something I'd be worried about stopping behind with only feet clearance at 140mph... a semi isn't the slightest concern. Either way, I didn't say I did it, because aggressive driving only belongs on the track.
I appreciate your attempt at making yourself sound knowledgable, though... you might've fooled someone with your "er, 10 seconds" statistic. Very confidence inspiring, there.
Oh, for anyone who does wonder why it works other than this kid, drafting does two things -- reduces the drag on the rear of the front car, and reduces the wind resistance on the front of the trailing car... because there is a lower pressure there. Guess what happens if you put a substantially lighter car in that space?