Thread by @FPL_Gents

Tyler Durden's philosophy applied to FPL

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#FPL #FPLCommunity #FPLPsychology

I recently touched upon the benefits of a stoic mindset. In this thread I'll dive into various philosophical concepts from the cult movie Fight Club, taught to us by Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt)

First concept: Memento Mori

When the narrator (Norton), finds himself with a chemical burn on his hand he tries to go into a meditative state to distance himself from the pain. Tyler Durden reacts to this with contempt and intervenes, refusing to allow him to avoid the pain:..

"Without pain, without sacrifice we would have nothing."
"First you have to know, not fear, know, that someday you’re going to die."

What Tyler is talking about here is something the Stoics call "Memento Mori".

The idea of memento mori began back in Roman times. After a general won a war and returned to celebrate, he was accompanied by a servant who would discretely remain in the shadows.

As the general was cheered and lauded for his accomplishments, the servant would whisper into the general’s ear ever so often these very words: memento mori. Remember you will die.

It was a practice to keep the generals grounded and humble, to not allow their victories to go to their heads and remind them that there are always bigger things at play.

I think memento mori can speak to how important it is to stay focused during the entire season of FPL and not let things get to your head. Like the Roman general after a successful campaign you shouldn’t start taking things too lightly just because you are currently...

...in a good position. If you fall prey to hubris or complacency you will most likely deviate from the principles that helped you succeed in the first place.

An example could be if, let’s say, you own a player that has been doing very well pointswise for a long period of time. Because of this player's consistency you might stop questioning or assessing the player's form objectively.

@fpl_shaker told me that after Salah’s hat trick..

...last season, his first big haul really, he immediately sold him. He didn’t let the amount of points cloud his judgement. His read was that Salah in fact had been quite lucky to get that hat trick in the first place. He was able to stay humble and criticize Salah.

Another example from last season:

It was GW37, the last home game of the season for Chelsea. Rumours of Hazard’s potential departure were intensifying and @YogiFPL , who is a Chelsea supporter, could've become upset and frustrated that his favorite player was leaving.

Instead he worked from a memento mori-like mindset and accepted that all good things come to an end, focusing on feeling gratitude for all the beautiful moments Hazard had given him in Chelsea.

This made him realize that Hazard probably felt similarly about the situation, wanting to respect the fans by going out with a bang in his last home game. Honoring Hazard with the armband subsequently became both the most logical choice and the most respectful...

... and he wasn't disappointed: Hazard returned 22 captain points that game! I feel like this is a beautiful example of how to both enjoy your fantasy decisions and still operate from a logical framework to maximize your success.

Another quote from Tyler Durden that I find interesting is:

"I say, never be complete.
I say, stop being perfect.
I say, let the chips fall where they may."

In other words, perfectionism. Though we often hold up perfectionists as models, psychologists know that this sort of extreme thinking often is associated with depression and frustration. In its extreme form, it can be a miserable, unproductive way to live. How could it not be..

Perfectionism rarely begets perfection—only disappointment.
Durden’s concept traces back to what the ancient stoics has said in the past...

... Epictetus said: "Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well."

They understood that you’re never going to find ultimate perfection. Instead, the message is clear: to do the best with what we’ve got.
The Stoics understood how pointless—and dangerous to our mental health and progress in life—those thoughts were.

In terms of FPL we can look at it as the struggle of trying to make the perfect transfer, which is a fallacy because the very best transfer is often too hard to find.

Since player’s performances are so complex to predict there are too many variables to be able to play FPL perfect, so there’s no point in obsessing over making the perfect decisions.

In my first serious season playing, I would sometimes debate different options with myself to the degree that I'd get anxious and obsessed with getting it perfectly right. But I have realized over time that, in these scenarios, the choices we end up having a difficult time...

...deciding between often have roughly the same expected value. It's not worth it to overthink them. This can be frustrating, in a way, but I try to look at it as something positive: that there's a high chance for a positive outcome whichever path I choose.

Even in a more predictable game like chess where computers find the best moves, different computers will still think different moves are the best. This is because different computers prefer different playing styles, and therefore suggest the move that suits its style the best.

I like to look at FPL in a similar way. We should strive towards optimizing our own playing style because that is the best way to win in the long run.

Hope you enjoyed this thread:
@FPLGOAT7 @FPL_SOS @FPL__Raptor @WGTA_FPL @FPL_InHindsight @DhillonAjit @allaboutfpl @FPL_Batman