South Park. Puhleez-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock,_Paper,_Scissors
And here's a recent article-
HEADLINE: Hand-to-hand combat; Rock Paper Scissors: Maybe the UN Should
Give It a Whirl
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
BYLINE: Emily Nunn
BODY:
Nobody seems to know exactly how old the game Rock Paper Scissors is.
And no one really knows its origins either -- although some say it is
the precursor to the martial arts.
But just about everything you need to know about Rock Paper Scissors
(RPS), like life, you can learn from watching The Simpsons -- in this
case an episode titled The Front.
Lisa: Look, there's only one way to settle this. Rock Paper Scissors.
Lisa's brain: Poor predictable Bart. Always takes rock.
Bart's brain: Good ol' rock. Nuthin' beats that!
Bart: Rock!
Lisa: Paper.
Bart: Doh!
And since it's one of the world's oldest games (just try to find someone
who has never played it), not to mention a longtime decision-making
process (http://bobbitt.ca/rps/), RPS pops up, so to speak, in almost
every form of popular culture, from high to low.
* In such literature as David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest:
("... and they played rock-paper-scissors for two hundred clicks or
more, not saying anything, engrossed in trying to locate patterns in
each other's rhythms of choices of shapes, which they both decided there
weren't any.")
* In Tom Wolfe's book of essays, Hooking Up: "Life will become one
incessant, colossal round of the match game or liar's poker or
one-finger-two-finger or rock-paper-scissors".
* In the French literary theorist Roland Barthes collection, A Barthes
Reader: "The loss of the subject in the writing has never been more
complete the subject becoming totally irreparable than in these
utterances where the disconnection of the utterance occurs ad infinitum,
without a brake, on the model of the game of topping hands or the game
of 'rock, scissors, paper': texts whose 'ridiculousness' or 'stupidity'
is based ..."
* In Gunter Grass's novel, The Rat: "Only Rumpelstiltskin, the brave
little tailor, the dwarfs, and the bad fairies are opposed. Many are
still undecided. The girl's hands play rock-paper-scissors. The witch
throws knucklebones. Rubezahl picks his nose."
* In Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides, Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's
Rainbow, and another David Foster Wallace book, A Supposedly Fun Thing
I'll Never Do Again, as well as books about the business and tech worlds
(including Forbes' Greatest Technology Stories: Inspiring Tales of the
Entrepreneurs and Inventors Who Revolutionized Modern Business), books
on self-help and spirituality, math and probability, society and
culture, religion, Japanese warfare, Taoism, Japanese ethics, game
theory, and sociology, not to mention books specifically about Rock
Paper Scissors.
* It's the name of a one-man show by Chicagoan John R. Powers (Scissors,
Paper, Rock) and is featured in a history play, The War to End War, by
another Chicagoan, Charles L. Mee.
There's a California winery named for Rock Paper Scissors (actually the
vineyard is called Roshambo, which is an alternative name for the game
that a lot of Westerners use), as well as a music marketing company, a
band, and a 1982 mixed-media installation by the postmodern artist Judy
Pfaff.
And on and on.
Yet, in spite of our cultural habit of tossing off references to the
sport, the danger still exists that people are playing blindly and
sloppily, without a deeper appreciation of its complexity and beauty.
For that, we have the World Rock Paper Scissors Society whose website
(www.worldrps.com) will tell you everything you didn't learn from The
Simpsons.
History
According to the society's history of the sport, in 1842 a law was
passed in London declaring that "any decision reached by the use of the
process known as Paper Scissors Stone between two gentlemen acting in
good faith shall constitute a binding contract..."
Constables subsequently understood this to mean the game could no longer
be played as a sport, a development that annoyed enthusiasts who wished
to play recreationally and inspired the formation of the Scissors Paper
Stone Club.
In 1918, the World RPS Club, as it was called, moved headquarters to
Canada because "England is far too dangerous a place to make a suitable
home country for a game of conflict resolution."
In 1935, the name was changed again to The World RPS Society since club
was considered "inappropriate, misleading and mocking."
In 1995, brothers Douglas and Graham Walker's interest in the sport took
a sharp upturn one night when they were hanging out at their parents'
vacation cabin in the dead of winter and had to decide whose turn it was
to brave the cold for more firewood.
They took over the society that year and very soon thereafter the
International World RPS Championship was born.
Also known as Roshambo, Rock Paper Scissors is a simple game -- on the
surface. At the same time, all players display one of three hand
symbols, signifying a rock, a piece of paper, or a pair of scissors.
A rock breaks scissors, defeating it. A piece of paper covers the rock,
to prevail over the rock. Lastly, a pair of scissors cuts paper, sending
it scampering to the nearest garbage can.
And so, disputes are settled, the kicking team is decided, car seating
is assigned, and all is right with the world.
The Rules
Rock Paper Scissors is a game for two players typically played using the
players' hands.
The two players each make a fist with one hand and hold the other open,
palm upward. Together, they tap their fists in their open palms once,
twice, and on the third time form one of three items:
* A rock (by keeping the hand in a fist).
* A sheet of paper (by opening the hand flat).
* Or a pair of scissors (by extending the first two fingers and holding
them apart).
The winner of that round depends on the items formed.
If the same item is formed, it's a tie. If a rock and scissors are
formed, the rock wins because a rock can smash scissors. If scissors and
paper are formed, the scissors win because scissors can cut paper. If
paper and a rock are formed, the paper wins because a sheet of paper can
cover a rock.
After one round is completed, another is begun. Play continues until one
player reaches a predetermined score, or whenever the players' boredom
is alleviated.
(Often this game is played to pass the time while waiting in line for
something or while on a long road trip -- as long as the driver isn't
one of the players.)
The traditional means of scoring, not used in recent years, is not to
keep any sort of numerical score but rather to allow the winner of each
round to punish the loser.
The punishment is executed by the loser extending his wrist (the same
wrist must be used throughout the course of the game), face up, to the
winner.
The winner will hold the loser's hand steady with one hand (not tightly
or forcibly) and use the first two fingers (only!) of the other hand to
slap the loser's wrist.
Wetting the two fingers just slightly is permissible; this provides a
somewhat sharper sting. It's also better to hold the two fingers loosely
rather than stiffly so that they slap instead of hit.
The winner only gets one shot; if the slap is bungled, the loser is off
the hook.
Playing Rock Paper Scissors with this traditional scoring scheme can
make for the most satisfying games, particularly if you play long enough
to get each other's wrists good and red. However, this version of the
game should only be played by consenting adults.
Japanese Variation
In Japan, the game is called "Jan-ken-pon."
The Japanese also created a slight variation: When one player wins, they
say "achi muite hoi!" ("Look That Way NOW!") and point up, down, left or
right.
When the winner says "hoi," the other player must look in one of the
four directions, trying to avoid looking in the same direction the
winner points at.
If the loser looks in the same direction as the winner points, he is
even more disgraced and the game is over. If he doesn't look in the same
direction, the Rock Paper Scissor game continues.