The online racing simulator
Judging theory. Objectivity. Part 1.
Foreword. I wrote this article in Russian some time ago, now I have translated it into English, and I cannot be sure that in our context things are understood in exactly the same way. But I will still try to make the most accurate translation, although my English is far from the best (I didn’t studied it even at school and at the university, I studied German instead) So I apologize in advance.

This article is not a strict guide on how to judge in drifting. This is about judging in general, and the importance of objective thinking in the judging process.

I tend to think that for most people it is a self-evident statement that every judge should proceed from the fact that he evaluates the participants as objectively as possible. This is a key point in judging in general, it is clear that this assessment should also be effective throughout the judging, judges must be concentrated throughout the judging, not change, need to be consistent, and so on. We understand this as obvious things and will keep in mind but now we will discuss something else. For now, we will focus on the importance of objectivity. (If you do not agree with this, then I would like to see your opinion and its rationale on this matter, in the comments to the article.)

Let's break this argument down. Why is it important to judge objectively? On the contrary, for example in drifting you can do it based on your emotions or some show effect - who smoked more, who is louder than everyone else, who showed the show, who has a better car, who has a beautiful livery, who we like and who we dont like, etc. But everyone has different ideas about it. How can we agree which is more important? How to determine these things empirically and consistently? Obviously, it is important that the estimate scores of the participants be universal and consistent for all. But how can this be achieved? This is where objectivity comes into play.

Many people often like to use the term "objectivity", but I do not know how many people are able to fully disclose this term. And as Richard Feyman said, if you are not able to explain something in simple terms, then you most likely do not understand it yourself. Here is what I am trying to do now.

In this case, why not just say "objectively" instead of "unbiased"? Isn't it the same thing?
No, these are different things. unbiasedly is not the same as objectivity, but objectivity includes unbiasedly. Objective thinking is a more general concept that includes, among other things, the fact that all judgments are made strictly without emotionally, without expressing one's position, and is demonstrated in statements about facts (descriptive judgments), and not in statements about what should be (prescriptive judgments) Objective a judgment is a is true for everyone and in all circumstances. So, the laws of physics are objective and work regardless of whether we know about them or not. But due to the fact that there is little room for objectivity in life, there are very few objective judgments. Often, many replace them with subjective ones. And here lies the secret that must be understood in everyday life.

We are all used to judging people by ourselves. Hence the resentment and discontent. And all this is only because we consider our subjective opinion to be objective. We have developed our opinion about the people around us based on our emotions and follow it as an objective one. Even the attitude to the events surrounding us is subjective. And so, in order to change the world, it is enough to understand that subjective opinions are easy to change. But the world will never be different as long as we have a bad opinion of it. The world cannot be bad or good just because we wanted to think so, the world is neutral about our emotions about it and the surrounding world cannot change, which means that our opinion about the world and the world itself as such is fundamentally different, which is our subjective and objective, respectively. And I also want to make a warning. Do not try to define subject and object from the point of view of subjectivity and objectivity. These are slightly different categories, despite having the same root of the word.

The subject is a being with consciousness and will, the ability to purposeful activity aimed at a particular object, a person who knows and changes the world around him. The subject to which the practical or theoretical activity of a person is directed is an object. First of all, material thing and phenomena of the real world act as an object; their reflection in consciousness can also be an object of study by the subject.

Objective judgments can only be about objective reality.
Objective reality is a world that exists independently of a person and his consciousness. The idea of ​​the world as a surrounding reality, independent of the position, understanding and perception of the subject. This is what makes objective judgments universal for everyone in any situation.

But when it comes to the fact that a person would make statements about reality, then everything is not so simple, the fact is that a person cannot just take and turn off emotions, turn off his understanding, turn off his position on the reality that is given to him in sensations, and interpretation processes visible to him. Because that's how human nature is. Evolutionarily, mechanisms are built into a person that interpret the visible, because this is the only way a person could survive. For example, if we are a primitive man, and we see a trembling bush, then it is most advantageous for survival to interpret this as the fact that a predator is hiding there that is preparing to eat us, and run away, instead of going and checking what is really there. It would be more objective, but more rational is to survive and continue your kind. That is evolutionarily gave rise to our emotions.

Fear - not to be eaten by a predator and save their genes.
Sympathy - to take care of your environment and offspring and transmit your genes further. (This is why we consider our children and all small animals and babies cute, because this is an evolutionary mechanism so that we strive to keep our offspring alive and can pass our genes through them)
Antipathy - to avoid ill-wishers and increase the chances of preserving their genes.
Aggression - to repulse ill-wishers for the purpose of self-preservation.
And so on.

This is just a brief description of some of the states on the emotional spectrum, but all of them are evolutionarily conditioned to survive and pass on their genes to the next generations. In addition to emotions, a person has an interpretive apparatus that also helped him to survive, and using which he made conclusions about reality. Not always true, but effective for survival. This has been the main mindset throughout our existence as primates. That is why a human cannot be objective, but he can only strive for objectivity through its correct understanding.

Given such a wide range of subjective foundations on which our thinking is based, a person who strives for objectivity essentially renounces his nature, which is often very difficult for many, and simply impossible for some. It is necessary to some extent to step over oneself, through the usual way of observing the surrounding reality, in order to make at least to some extent objective judgments.

Therefore, based on the nature of a person, judging is subjective while a human judges, and not some kind of automatic, computer system. Human can only strive for objectivity, but he cannot achieve it while he is a human. And if one day he reaches it, then he will cease to be a human.

Therefore, judging should be based on clear principles that accompany objective thinking:

Certainty - the criteria for judging should be as objective, capacious and complete as possible, that is, the least conditional and far from interpretation and interpretation.

Reasonableness - Any conclusion must be verified and supported by facts reflected in reality and based on the judging criteria described above.

Мateriality - The facts / actions that took place in question should be maximally objectified. Likewise, any judgment should be based only on what actually happened.

Logical validity - the judge's statement should not contradict the basic principles of logic.

Independence - Judicial statement should not depend on other people/other judges.

Evaluation - based on the conclusions made and the most complete and specific criteria of judging, and other principles of judging described above, the participant should be given an assessment for his performance, which most capably and accurately reflects his result.

Occam's Razor - entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.

These principles are only there to minimize the inevitable mistakes in judging that will show up during the of the participants. But judging for example in drifting is too complex a task to entrust it to an automatic system at this point in time. And we have no other choose.

I would be glad to know your opinion and discuss this issue.
I can add that I have already judged a lot of competitions, and I have seen many different other competitions, and if you ask the participants, there were always people dissatisfied with judging, partly because out of 32 people there is only one winner, and those who did not win usually remain dissatisfied, but in judging there is also a factor of errors, and the fact that it can be very difficult to separate the error from the truth.

When participants come to me asking why that decision was made instead different one, it can be very difficult to answer, and this is not because we do not know how to judge or what the participants need to do, or what the task was, but because judging is a subjective thing. And there are difficult and controversial situations when the judges themselves cannot agree on a joint decision.

Judging theory. Objectivity. Part 1.
(2 posts, started )
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG