Objectivity & how it applies to the games we play

Hello, all! Earlier I had this discussion within our chatroom again & to say the least, I'm a little full of heading to this philosophy when it comes to the games we play & how we interact!!

I spend a great deal of time contemplating my interaction with other people & washing over how I can or could've helped to make it better for others as well as myself. It's led me down a line of thinking that considers the reality of both my own thinking as well as... well... others! What I'm about to describe is what gives me the ability to distinguish my own opinion from fact & makes me less imposing onto other people & how they choose to live their lives.

If you're reading this, be prepared to focus very acutely on what I'm about to outline, okay? We're often so focused on things we think of that we hardly consider what truth is or what it might be like if we took ourselves out of the equation. Opinions wouldn't exist without people to think those things; it's a product of though.

Opinions & all that we think is "subjective", or dependent on individuals. This means it changes depending on who you ask & there is no right or wrong about it! Here is an example of something that is subjective: "The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is the best car ever!!" Now, it's perfectly okay to think this -- it's an opinion, after all! However, the line between this & a fact is often times blurred. 

Here is an example of this line being blurred: "The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is better than a Mitsubishi Eclipse in every way!" People often mistake capability for being "Objectively better". They point to statistics showing something to be faster, stronger, or overall more capable of doing one thing or another in order to say it's "better". While it's true that it IS stronger, more capable, faster, etc, it is NOT true that it's "better", because that's an opinion!! An opinion isn't necessarily wrong, it's just not a fact.

A question brought up earlier that I gave as brain-food for thinking about how this mistake affects the way people play games was a choice between two Salamence's. I proposed that there is a choice between two -- one with 5 IVs & a Jolly nature, or one caught in the wild with unspecified IVs & any given nature. The answer, from most people who play "competitive Pokemon" would be the Salamence with 5 IVs simply because it's stronger. While I don't find anything to be inherently wrong with that, a user later stated that the Salamence with 5 IVs is "Objectively Superior" to the random one. 

It is this kind of thinking that I believe is incredibly dangerous & limiting. It makes people intolerant & incapable of thinking about anything that isn't their own paradigm. This exact kind of misunderstanding invalidates any possible reason for choosing the other Salamence over the 5 IV one. While the 5 IV Salamence might be stronger & more capable/likely to win you battles, that doesn't make it "objectively better". "Better" is subjective & not everybody has to think the same thing is "better". For example, I myself find the Pokemon I catch in the wild & raise myself to be "better" than breeding for that species of Pokemon. I find shinies found in the wild to be "better" than ones inputted into the game via action replay/PK Hex.

There are many reasons to pick the other Salamence! It's possible to pick it just to prove you can raise it. It's possible to pick that Salamence over any other BECAUSE you found it in the wild & you simply like it more than the one that was bred for. The decision between the two & which is "better" is up to individuals & it changes depending on who you ask. Nobody is more right in saying one Salamence is "better" than the other. I pick the Pokemon I do because I like to think of my own style of battling to be that of an entertainer! The Pokemon I pick are... not really Pokemon people might pick because of their strength, but I pick them because I think they're cute or look like they belong in a circus lol

TO SUMMARIZE:
People pick what they want because they like what they like. Not everybody likes the same thing & not everybody has to like the same thing. What's "better" to you isn't what's "better" for everybody else in the world! So long as you have this ability to distinguish your opinion from fact, you'll see more & more truth in life.