Rock, Paper, Scissors

[Sparrowhawk]

I get that Scissors beats Paper....pretty self explanitory in that a basic function of scissors is to cut paper.

I get that Rock beats Scissors....much easier to break a pair of scissors with a rock than it is to break a rock with a pair of scissors.

But how the hell does Paper beat Rock? Anyone that believes this has never had to use a paperweight on a windy day, or thrown a rock at someone and had someone use paper to defend themselves. People who live in paper houses shouldn't throw stones.

Is there a historical reference somewhere that paper beats rock? I don't get it

(I could check this on Wiki, but then I would get a short answer written by idiots....I thought it much better to post on Apolyton, where I could get a multiple page answer.....written by idiots the posters of Apolyton ).

[MichaeltheGreat]

It's arbitrary.

[Dinner]

It covers the rock.

[loinburger]

The problem is that not very much beats rock that doesn't also beat just about everything else. In order to make the relationship transitive it was originally

Scissors beats Paper [because scissors cut paper]
Inexorable March Of Time beats Scissors [because scissors are dulled / rusted by the inexorable march of time]
Paper beats Inexorable March Of Time [because paper preserves knowledge against the inexorable march of time]

The problem is that it's difficult to represent the inexorable march of time using only your right hand, hence its replacement by a rock.

Scissors beats Paper [as before]
Rock beats Scissors [rock crushes scissors]
Paper beats Rock [it's much easier to write on paper than on a rock]

Unfortunately, this somewhat subverts the original advantage of paper when it combats the inexorable march of time, because rock is better at preserving knowledge than paper because rock is more durable; however, this is not a complete subversion of the original intent of the game, because it's so much easier to write on paper than on rock that paper's lack of durability is made up for by the ease of making copies of a text written on paper as well as the ease of transporting those texts to multiple locations as proof against fire or other disaster.

So there you have it - "paper beats rock" refers to the ease of using paper to preserve knowledge against the inexorable march of time, with the inexorable march of time being removed from the game because it's so difficult to represent it.

[Elok]

"How can ace be one and eleven? What kind of a god would allow that?"

[Aeson]

Paper is much nicer to wipe your ass with than a rock.

[Ben Kenobi]

I get that Scissors beats Paper....pretty self explanitory in that a basic function of scissors is to cut paper.

I get that Rock beats Scissors....much easier to break a pair of scissors with a rock than it is to break a rock with a pair of scissors.

But how the hell does Paper beat Rock? Anyone that believes this has never had to use a paperweight on a windy day, or thrown a rock at someone and had someone use paper to defend themselves. People who live in paper houses shouldn't throw stones.

Paper is glass?

Anyways, it's very simple. When the germans invented this game - dynamite had just been discovered. So, because the germans love their games, they had rock, paper, scissors and dynamite. Dynamite beats rock and paper smothers dynamite.

However, when German immigrants brought the game to america, the Americans didn't like that the Germans had all this dynamite. So they banned Germans from using the word and the Germans had to play with Rock, Paper and Scissors only, lest they suffer the wrath of the state.

The Americans, later on, not knowing the origin of the game, picked up on Rock, Paper, and Scissors. But the Germans know, even today, that Dynamite was an essential part of the game.

[PLATO]

It covers the rock.

This

[Sava]

Paper can also ambush scissors while closed and choke it to death.

Paper

[giblets]

It's magic paper and anything that gets enveloped by it ceases to exist and is replaced by an empty void.

[Uncle Sparky]

[DaShi]

[loinburger]

Tiger Hand beats everything

[MrFun]

It covers the rock.

lame