Does winning determine who is "better" at something?

Tefal said:
but when you're judging a runner (specific distance) then the winner runs "better" than the loser.
Click to expand...

Since we're getting into semantics - the winner is the person who runs "faster" in that given race, not necessarily better. Better can have multiple meanings and in the case of running you might say that runner A has a much more natural and graceful technique than runner B who is all about the brute power - B wins all the races but A wins the purists vote as a better runner (purist being a synonym here for contrarian).

For my money you'd have to define better before you do anything else regarding the topic. Over the longer run the best at any given task are most likely to win more often than they will lose but even the best can have days where they don't live up to expectations.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Since we're getting into semantics - the winner is the person who runs "faster" in that given race, not necessarily better. Better can have multiple meanings and in the case of running you might say that runner A has a much more natural and graceful technique than runner B who is all about the brute power - B wins all the races but A wins the purists vote as a better runner (purist being a synonym here for contrarian).
.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter, if your technique is pretty but slow it's not the best technique is a sport based on speed.
 
I think the lengths you would go to win are also a factor. Sportsmanship can be a factor. Just because you win something doesn't mean that your are deserving of victory.

Diving in football, intentionally injuring someone etc... may help you win but they don't make you a winner in my eye.
 
Winning can be a helpful indication of who is best, but depending on what you're dealing with, a single win could easily be down to chance rather than actual skill, so I think winning multiple times on different dates would be a good indication that the winner was better than the loser, but if it was just a short task on a single day, then you couldn't be sure that the winner was actually 'better'.
 
Tefal said:
Doesn't matter, if your technique is pretty but slow it's not the best technique is a sport based on speed.
Click to expand...

It matters from an aesthetic point of view, that's why I said better needs to be defined. You can say that one person was faster than the other based on a given race result but the word better can encompass more than one meaning.

To pick a different sports for illustration if you put Rafael Nadal up against Roger Federer then on current form Nadal wins pretty much every time yet I'd still say Federer was the better tennis player. Federer can or could play shots that most tennis players dream of, as an example he was once asked about his weakest shot and he replied something along the lines of an overhead backhand smash because he only got it about 60% of the time - this is a shot that most pros struggle to execute even 25% of the time (say) and it was his poorest shot because it was only just shy of 2/3 of the time he would manage it. There's also the intangibles here, I could watch Federer play tennis pretty much any time and enjoy it, I can respect Nadal's achievements as a great tennis player - he's efficient, mentally he's top notch and yet there's nothing about his game that excites me, nothing that really compels me to watch it hence for me Federer will always be the better player.
 
Tefal said:
races aren't judged on looks.

world records aren't given on a "well you were 5 seconds slower than the other guy but my god that triple flip at the end was pretty so we'll say you're the fastest at the 100m.
Click to expand...

And while I appreciate that, a race proves who is faster in that given race. It doesn't prove they are better because better is a term which can be defined in multiple ways.
 
Depends how you view winning, someone way simply decide to not win for whatever reason.

For example, if in a race, the lead runner is doing well, until he suddenly falls/whatever, the person who picks him/her up and gets them to the line, even if they are last...they are perceived the real winners.

Its all about perception and knowledge, nothing more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom