Oh well…we lost. I mean, a pair-go competition. Though it was not an official match I inwardly wanted to do well since I won the pair-go championship of US Go Congress 2009. Yet, what happened is what happened. There will be another chance hopefully.

In GoBase, one of the biggest Go sites, you may see a phrase ‘Go, an addictive game.’ Yes. I agree that it’s an addictive game as I have seen lots of players who claimed they couldn’t live without it. But how can we prove it? Can we measure if one is addicted or how much is one addicted? Only a while ago, I would have thought it was just too vague notion to measure. However, I learned from an online lecture a couple of days ago that there were particular methods to operationalize vague stuff, such as love, to concrete figures. Rubin’s Love Scale is a good example. The system works like this. You may answer on a 9-point scale from “Definitely True (9)” to “Not True (1)” for each scale. Then according to the result, we will see how deeply one is in Love.       

1.    If [loved one] were feeling badly, my first duty would be to cheer him/her up.

2.    I feel that I can confide in [loved one] about virtually everything.

3.    I find it easy to ignore [loved one]’s faults.

4.    I would do almost anything for [loved one].

5.    I feel very possessive toward [loved one].

6.    If I could never be with [loved one], I would feel miserable.

7.    If I were lonely, my first thought would be to seek [loved one] out.

8.    One of my primary concerns is [loved one]’s welfare.

9.    I would forgive [loved one] for practically anything.

10. I feel responsible for [loved one]’s well being.

11. When I am with [loved one], I spend a good deal of time just looking at him/her.

12. I would greatly enjoy being confided in by [loved one].

13. It would be hard for me to get along without [loved one].

Reference: Rubin, Z. (1970). Measurement of romantic love. Journal of Personality and Scoail Psychology, 16:265-273.

After seeing those, I thought ‘if we can measure love, why not Baduk?’
So, I made some ‘Baduk Scale’

1.    No matter I am feeling bad or happy; playing [baduk] itself is fun.

2.    I will play [baduk]] secretly if my family or friends dissuade me from it.

3.    I find it easy to make time to play [baduk]

4.    I would do almost anything to improve my [baduk] skill.

5.    I feel well-made [baduk] sets or good books on [baduk] very desirable.

6.    If I could never play [baduk], I would feel miserable.

7.    When I feel bored, my first thought would be to play [baduk].

8.    I would like more people to play [baduk]

9.    When I play [baduk], I think I spend a good deal of time.

10. I regret that I did not meet [baduk] earlier.

How do they sound? Do you think it will work? I wanted to make more, but couldn’t think of right now. Please let me know if you have good ideas about the scales!