Amr Kinnare

UGS 303 Creative Problem Solving

Professor Speck

January 26, 2023

Throughout the reading, the main idea that stood out to me was being an underdog.

However, I didn’t like how it was framed, for example, in the reading it made it seem that despite

a complete lack of basketball skill one can still succeed if one has effort. Maybe not win the

championship but eventually make it to the playoffs. It takes away from the kids who time and

time again put in work on ball handling, shooting, and understanding the game. The idea of using

different strategies is good, but shouldn’t be the goal. It's understandable that in the face of

adversity, an individual can fight for their place with effort, however, the effort can only go so far

if Lebron James never worked on his game, not only the physical aspect but also the strategy

aspect, then he would not be Lebron James, one of the all-time greats. A good example of this is

chess, when playing a game of chess a superior opponent will win every time, chess is not a

game of effort its a game of experience, because the more that you experience the more you are

exposed to, and the more that you are exposed to the more you learn. However, it's an interesting

concept of winning as the underdog, but another aspect of the reading that I disliked was making

the underdog seem like the good guy and the opponent seem like the bad guy. I think this has alot

to do with the challenge of knowing that despite all odds someone can still win, works very well

in Hollywood, but not so well in the real world. Despite this, I did like the idea of effort, of

wanting it more than the other person. In this world of instant gratification, of getting food

straight to your doorstep, what does talent mean now? What does it create? How is it fostered? In

the end, can anyone be talented? Or is it simply about effort?