Contesters are human? Who knew?
-- K1TN
I'm not in favor of inspectors, mostly because I don't think they are at
all practical. But the problem isn't going to go away ... it's human
nature to cheat. Seriously --- there have been lots of studies on the the
topic of cheating and what variables make people more likely to cheat
under what circumstances and Radiosport happens to have a majority of
those factors. Out of pure curiosity I once did some casual research on
the subject and even (per his request) sent a summary to Randy, K5ZD when
he was doing a rules review some time ago.
You can believe me or not, but I'm telling you that we're wired to cheat
in competitive environments, or when something of perceived value (time,
money, glory, gratification, etc) is at stake. I could give several
everyday examples that would make almost all of us take pause. We simply
are not inherently honest. Even our "morality" mostly boils down to
learned and ingrained social pressures. Lots of hams seem to think that
humans are fundamentally honest and that the urge to cheat is some sort of
aberration. From an anthropological point of view, it's the other way
around.
There may be a way to come up with a contest format without cheating, but
it won't be because people didn't try.
73,
Dave AB7E
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