Greetings everyone.
I’ve always wished to contribute to this community in some way, no matter how small it might be, and I believe today is that day.
This is going to be my first Blog, and to be honest, it’s going to be about something that affects several contestants, not only on CodeForces, but basically all competitive programming platforms, and I wish to give my two cents on it and hopefully, provide you, the reader, with a different perspective you mightn’t have considered earlier.
A Belief.
Okay but why should we listen to you? You’ve just hit cyan super recently and that makes you just another novice in the field of comp. programming! Yes, you’re absolutely right, I’m no better than any other person who’s fascinated by this world of problem-solving, and wishes to contribute to it in whichever way they can, and I sincerely believe that what I wish to talk about, no matter how loud-mouthed it may appear, is something more intrinsic about human nature, rather than being only related to competitive programming.
A Brief Overview.
This blog is going to revolve around Ratings: a double-edged sword which may benefit you if taken in the right context, or may cage you in your own house of perceptions, send you down a path of despair, which is very well reflected in numerous blogs we see quite frequently, having titles filled with phrases such as “how to become {a certain color}”, “i’m not improving-“, etc. And lastly, i’ll like to share something that is utterly valuable to me, which, i believe, can help you too.
The Essence.
okay, so you’re gonna talk about ratings and possibly about how it can make or break a comp. programming enthusiast. Fine! But how’s that gonna change anything? well, i believe you shall first address an issue properly enough that you not just know about it, but understand it, and then provide something that can help, in my case, i wish to provide you a new perspective of looking at things, and hopefully an idea that might help you to find (or even remind you) a much better criterion for assessing your performance and growth in almost any sphere of life, not just competitive programming.
One might ask why even have ratings? Well, they give a pretty straightforward measurement of a person’s performance, they can be used to motivate you and channel yourself towards a higher goal (a better rating?), and most importantly, they make participation even more fun!
Okay, okay, if ratings are so useful, then where does the issue begin? it begins with how we perceive ratings individually, and in some sense get over-fixated on them. Several contestants, especially from my own country do competitive programming not because they ‘love the sport’ or because ‘they wish to get better at problem solving’, they do it because of the notion that “higher rating = better job” and that makes unfair means of improving ratings a very attractive option to them. On the other hand, numerous participants who start-off with a much pure aim of improving themselves succumb to the pride and pseudo-superiority they feel once they reach a certain benchmark, and that gets their ego inflated, their hearts filled with even higher aspirations which if not fulfilled, turn into despair and agony.
So you believe all this is the fault of this rating system? No, sincerely not. I wholeheartedly believe that the system is not to be blamed, rather it how people perceive these “numbers” which are associated with them and how they end up caging themselves in their own perceptions. Ratings are pretty fun, they make participation more enjoyable and exciting, it’s just that how people perceive them and directly equate their potential/skillset with a number is what’s saddening.
The solution? Well, the cage we’re talking about is a cage built on perceptions, so why not find a new perspective?
This perspective, which has benefitted me throughout my life, as a highschool student and even as a college undergrad as of now. It’s based on a simple notion, that, Even though we’re all similar, we are not the same. Each one of us is just like the next person, and yet, infinitely unique! It’s paradoxical, yet true.
So if we’re not exactly the same, how can our aspirations, our views or even the parameters that might be used to judge us, be the same? Since each one of us is different in some way or the other, then using the same means to judge and rank us according to a certain formula can’t be utterly correct, right?
okay viplove, we get it, you wish to say that this system isn’t well-suited, is it? Yes, but I would like to emphasize on the fact that no system really is. Each system is designed to work upon the entire populous, and hence, can’t be utterly accurate or correct in measuring every individual’s performance, or potential without some error! Hence, the ratings and the color that you’re so fixated on, so passionate about and even so sure about the judgements they pass on you, they’re not the best criterion you can use to assess yourself.
So what’s the best criterion? YOU! you are the only person who can assess yourself, to the utmost precision, to the utmost accuracy, given that you’re ready to ask the tough questions and answer them too.
It’s something that takes time, and a lot of effort, but I sincerely promise you that if you ask yourself the right questions, and wait for an answer truthfully, then it will come. That answer will help you way more than any other system or individual could. So what are some questions you can start asking yourself? well some of those which i ask myself include,
“am i improv-? Wait, what exactly is improving? oh! it’s getting better than what you were some time back! So have I improved with respect to what I was a few weeks back? Have I learnt something new? experienced some things which make me wiser? learnt about my shortcomings and newfound strengths? I guess, I have improved, and I’ll continue to!”
“okay i could/couldn't solve this problem, what was i lacking? What was I right about? Where did it go wrong? What can I do better the next time I encounter something similar to this? what have I learnt from this?”
I deeply believe that if you can ask yourself these questions (and numerous more that are specifically made by you, for yourself) and learn to ask them regularly and truthfully, you’ll start to get answers to them from within yourself, and those answers will help you improve and understand yourself infinitely better than any rating/color/tag could ever!
A short-note from a well-wisher.
Lastly, don’t associate yourself with a certain title, or goal so much that it becomes your whole identity and drains the life out of you. aspirations are good, they give you something to pursue in life, just ensure that you don’t fixate or equate them directly with life, because life is so much more than that, so much more, my friend.
thankyou very much for reading, I hope I was able to give you a newer perspective :)
