G : Come on, Tony, let’s go to a movie tonight.
B : We went to a movie on Saturday, Mary, but we
haven’t gone bowling for a long time.
G : I know, let’s play rock, paper, scissors to decide!
B : Rock, paper, scissors? It sounds like an interesting
sort of game! How do you play it?
G : First, we each make a fist with our right hand,
and then we shake our fists at the same time:
one, two, three. On the count of three, you can
keep your hand in a fist---that’s rock---or open
your hand with the palm flat---that’s paper---or
keep your fist, but put out your first and middle
fingers---that’s scissors. The winner is the person
who has the stronger item.
B : That sounds stupid, because rocks are stronger
than paper and scissors, so the rock will win
every time.
G : That’s true in real life, Tony, but that’s not how
it works in this game. Rock can break scissors,
but rock can be covered by paper, and paper can
be cut by scissors. So rock defeats scissors, paper
beats rock, and scissors beats paper.
B : It’s interesting that each item in the game can
defeat one other thing and lose to one other
thing. I wonder who invented this game.
G : I don’t know, but it’s played all over the world.
There’s even a rock, paper, scissors world
championship that has been held every year in
Europe since 1934.