I’ve always wondered this. Sometimes when I meet a veteran player for the first time I ask why they play go. Very rarely I get a real answer that satisfies my curiosity. I keep asking because I am not quite sure why I myself keep playing.
Most go players I’ve met are more or less eccentric. Their attitude, hobbies, life goals, world view and everything else too is somehow different to the general population. More than half of them are programmers.
Before learning Go I used to play video games. But they’re quite shallow and repetitive. Only starcraft manages to stay interesting in the long run due to the vast complexity. The complexity keeps me from getting bored. But why do I play games in the first place? Why sink so much time into a fruitless vanity?
And I don’t even try that much. I’m playing poorly year after year. Not improving actively. Just playing for the sake of playing. Just… why?
This post ends abruptly here because I’m so puzzled. Better start a game so I don’t have to think about this.
Along the lines of the sentiment that I mentioned earlier, I think we can draw the following analogy: Go : Video Games :: Simple and Deep : Shallow and Complex
I think we can ask the same puzzling questions about a lot of the things we do for entertainment or for simply passing the time. Why do we watch TV/movies? Why do we read novels? Why do we listen to music? Why do we play sports/games? Why do we travel? Why do we create or appreciate art? Why do we attend plays/operas? Why do we chat with random strangers on internet forums?
Maybe we do these thing simply because we want to, even if understanding the underlying reasons of why we might want to is beyond our day-to-day considerations.
If we enjoy doing these things, then I don’t think we can dismiss any of them as “fruitless vanity”. After all, what is the purpose of life? I don’t think anyone can fully answer that question, but perhaps a part of it is to seek some joy during our limited existence.
i don’t really have deep reasons why i started to play Go/Baduk
Long Answer: i don’t know about pros and others but for me personally, started “seriously” playing this board game before AI went crazy like these days; i switch over from chess to GO because i honestly found that GO is fun to play compared to chess, beside don’t like protecting someone(king) who can’t protect themselves; although i still like playing chess whenever i felt like it, plus I found It fascinating when i first time make a “good” shape back then
it also thanks to HikaGo i remember back in middle school when we try playing Go without appropriate manner nor joseki just capturing race all the way lol
and now i can’t seems get my friends to play Go; its too complicated, unlike GO in chess each pieces personafied and takes too long times to finish one game, they says. they could easily discourage when you took their 3-4 stones
What a beautiful quandary. I had never considered this possibility. But now that you’ve put it out there, it seems almost inevitable. This put the biggest smile on my face. Thank you Gia
I don’t know… my son and I do this all of the time. It is a fun thing we do together, since Go has brightened our life up so much. We both enjoy teaching and it is slowly building a tiny community of Go enthusiasts and players in our isolated nowhere land town
