Science tells you how to win 'stone, paper, scissors'

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For years, many have insisted that 'stone, paper, scissors' is nothing more than a game of chance; But according to the scientific portal Mic, it is a battle of patterns, psychology and statistics. Although he may be a little late to be the king of the schoolyard ...

According to the World RPS Society, using stone first is a rookie movement that men particularly use: "it has a lot to do with the idea that the rock is perceived as 'strong' and 'blunt', so they tend To use it at first ".

Researchers from Zhejiang University specialized in the field of "game theory" carried out a study that observed the patterns of people when playing. Results were recorded for 360 students who played about 20,000 games.

Throughout the games, both stone and paper, as well as scissors, appeared one-third each, as expected. However, they noticed a different pattern in people's tactics. The researchers said the people who were winning tended to continue to use the same action. On the other hand, if people had lost they tended to use the opposite component (if they had used rock and had lost, they used to use paper in the next).

Then come the mind games. Just like in poker, for example, you can 'analyze' your rivals with the Machiavellian power of suggestion. The World RPS Society says that the old trick of saying what you are going to use can be a useful trick. "As long as you're not playing with someone who actually thinks you're bold enough to use this trick, it's often useful to cheat this way."

And finally, when everything else is lost, it is safest to use paper since it is used only 29.6% of the time, a percentage slightly lower than the 33.33% you would expect.