Option Select
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
I’m a fan of frameworks used by people at the top of fields. Option selects are well-known in fighting video games. It’s a useful framework for many things in life.
Fighting Option Select
In fighting games, there are set moves people do to respond faster than they can think. At the highest level, fighting games are turn-based, frame-by-frame. However, a frame is 1/60th of a second. Players make frame-perfect moves on instinct, and when you’re playing an opponent on that level, you need to predict and respond to what they’re about to do. This is where option selects come in.
An option select is when you input a command, and the real-world outcome of your command depends on your opponent’s action. You press the same button(s), but depending on the game state and your opponent’s action, your action does something different.
An option select could be an input that either breaks a throw attempt or does a punch. The result of the option select is a basic decision tree of if this, then that. If the opponent attempts to throw, break the throw. If the opponent does anything else, punch. Branch A triggers if condition A is true; otherwise, Branch B triggers.
An option select can be trained into muscle memory. The action can be as simple as pressing one button super fast or as complicated as pressing a series of buttons in a set order.
There are also option selects in games where the end action depends more on the game’s environment. The core concept of an option select is that you do one action, and it can turn out two different ways.
Real Life
In real life, it’s not a literal option select as there’s no game engine. But a single default response can cover multiple branches.
In little league baseball, when the ball was coming towards me, I’d get excited and move forward. The ball would then go over my head. Running forward was my default. It was terrible. I reconfigured my option select to always take a step back when the ball came at me.
After stepping back, if the ball came towards me, I was there. If the ball was going behind me, my weight was shifted to run back and catch the ball. Taking a step back covered two scenarios, including the catastrophic one of the ball going over my head.
It didn’t cover the third scenario of the ball dropping short. However, it’s fast to run forward and slow to run backwards. I’d 10x rather miss the ball going short than miss it going over my head. It was, on average, far better to take one step back and then move when I determined where the ball was going.
Pros and Cons
An option select provides consistency. It turns a volatile interaction into a more stable advantage. When you use an option select, your RAM is free to think of other things. You have fewer hard guesses, fewer catastrophic downsides. Option selects are also used to gather information while remaining relatively safe.
Option selects cover two options well, but are weak against a third. Execution and timing can be strict. You need to use an option select immediately at specific times, or they lose their power.
Practicality
We all have default responses. You know them in your friends and family. You know how each family member will react if you tell them terrible news or amazing news.
We’ve all met people with default strong emotional responses. The person who will get pissed off and emotional when you tell them things they don’t want to hear. Phil Helmuth is famous for his anger and emotional volatility in the poker world.
If your default response to terrible or upsetting news is to break down crying, or your default response to someone trolling you is to get pissed off, you’re losing. They’re the equivalent of my running up to catch the ball. They result in more negative outcomes than positive.
If someone tells you something annoying and you yell and act fine later; You’re categorized as unstable. I prefer the option select of being calm. You can be calm, then feel sad. You can be calm, then be disappointed or upset. Calmness as a response provides optionality and time to assess the situation.
We can all choose our option selects. It takes conscious effort and practice. But it’s a decision on how you react to highly emotional situations. Choose your option selects wisely.
Your actions become who you are.