Small societies of clever people

By | 2007-02-26

Sometimes I feel playing Go is like speaking Esperanto, in social terms…

Some years ago I read some kind of web page regarding language learning. It had a list of different languages, with the pros and cons of learning each one. For example, English is a widely used language, being the facto standard as the bridge language worldwide, and it’s not complicated to learn. But when I looked at Esperanto, it said something like “it’s the easiest language to learn, it’s not really used (and useful), but if you learn it you’ll become part of a group of clever, interesting people who studies for fun… and with an amazing conversation, for sure”.

I’ve met a lot of Go players, and most of them have a sharp mind. Or maybe am I disturbing my conception of reality, imagining these players as intelligent? Anyway it’s really interesting to be part of this small society… specially when you arrive to a new city and go to the local Go club, and start playing Go and chatting with people as if they were old friends.