Games and Research
Lately I've been playing Honor of Kings, a game that's huge in China. I already know a bit about MOBA games, so getting started wasn't hard. But I also wanted to become a top player as fast as I could. So it stopped being just fun. It turned into a learning journey, and that's where I started to see games and research as the same thing.
Finishing a paper isn't hard, just like playing a game for fun isn't. If you keep at it, you'll get there.
But doing valuable work is hard. I have to pick a problem that's both important and "right-sized". Important means it could change something in the real world, maybe even the future. Right-sized means not too easy and not too hard, something I can actually reach. Hard work alone won't get you there. It takes some wisdom.
Becoming a top player isn't easy either. I'm not naturally talented, so I need a practical way to train myself up to that level. I asked Claude how to do it for Honor of Kings. It said:
- After a bad game, watch the replay and see what I could do better.
- Try different heroes first, then focus on two or three until I really master them.
- Watch how top players play and learn from them.
Sounds easy, right? In one sentence: learn and practice.
Two weeks later, I'm doing okay. I've reached 20+ stars in the King rank (王者). I've done #2 and #3 pretty well. The problem is #1. I've never done it, even though I know it's right. Going back over a game I already played just feels hard to start. I don't know why. It's just hard to start...
Research is the same. Sometimes I think an idea might be valuable. But most of the time I find excuses not to start, until I forget it.
So there's some friction. Knowing how to do something is one thing. Doing it is another.
My advice to myself? Maybe I'll go back to Atomic Habits, or ask Claude again. Hope you never run into this.
Or maybe I don't need a book. Maybe I just need to make the start tiny: review one bad game tonight, for two minutes. Write one ugly line about that idea before it's gone.