A small thought on Chess and relationships:
I’ve lately been playing a bit of chess, speed chess against
the computer, and noticed a strange comfort. After doing a wrong move – I can
take it back. Using Ctrl-Z any wrong move can be corrected. Or, at least if you
catch it early enough, as if you did a wrong move 7 turns before you can still
go back but then it makes more sense to simply start a new game. Playing like
this demands a completely different concentration than playing against a
friend. I don’t like losing to my friends much, and even if some of them will
obviously beat me being so much better, I will still try to win and think
ahead, while against the computer who cares. You want to win but it’s so transitory.
Besides, you can take it back (which unless you’re playing against someone who
treats you as a kid you can’t do when playing real chess).
Returning to the other side of the metaphor – I wish I had
this Ctrl-Z in relationships, or generally in life. It makes things so much
easier. Instead of thinking hard what would work you can simply try it out, and
if it doesn’t work out then no worries – Ctrl-Z. Sadly, it doesn’t exist in
life.
It would be comfortable to have a Ctrl-Z in life, but as I
mention above, it would change life completely, and not necessarily for the
better.
