Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start

From: gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Graham Matthews)

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1993 12:21:44 +0000

Graham Matthews <gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk> writes:
>I never claimed it did in general - I claimed that it did in this
>particular instance, namely simulating tennis. If you knew the exact
>formulas for tennis ball motion *and* both players were limited to
>the physiological constraints of the human body then you could indeed
>devise a perfect strategy since you could hit an ace every ball.

desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins) writes:
>This is just not correct. There is a certain amount of variability in
>how human beings hit a tennis ball. That's why human beings don't hit
>an ace every time.  Since you say that the players are limited to the
>physiological constraints of the human body, that means that my
>simulated player would neither know the exact position of the ball
>nor be able to hit the ball in exactly the way that I would like.
>Sure I know the formulas.  So do real players on real tennis courts,
>for that matter.  But neither of us can hit the ball however we would
>like to, just because we have the knowledge of what would happen if
>we could.

First there is not much variation in the way good tennis players hit
the ball - to claim that there is is just plain wrong (likewise for
many sports like golf for example!). The reason humans hit the ball
differently every time is caused by two factors :-

a) they do not have perfect sensory perception of the parameters
of a moving tennis ball.

b) they don't play by equations - they play by pattern matching
which is a process of approximation. Real players on a court do not
know the exact equations either in mathematical or neurological
terms.

graham
--
Graham Matthews                   Go west, go west
Dept Comp Sci, Univ Edinburgh     Where there's work so I'm told
gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk                  California's never cold

References

Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Graham Matthews)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 16:09:24 +0000
Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 17:44:40 +0000
Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Graham Matthews)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 11:48:17 +0000
Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 14:33:07 +0000

Referenced By

Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Graham Matthews)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 16:09:24 +0000
Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 17:44:40 +0000
Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
gym@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Graham Matthews)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 11:48:17 +0000
Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Tue, 06 Jul 1993 14:33:07 +0000