Avoiding stupidity
Charlie Munger often spoke about the importance of avoiding stupidity, rather than seeking brilliance.
I saw this in action at a sumo robot competition I participated in. There were many fancy robots but some of those scored “own goals” and lost. One had wires all over the place that came out, another just went out of the dohyo on its own, and a few had parts that came out. Inevitably, these lost to the slow and steady robots.
We did better than expected: 2 wins and 1 draw, which will take us to the next round. Nothing fancy, just a simple programme to avoid the white line, and attack opponents at full speed once detected. I might make more adjustments to the robot, but will want to retain what worked for us.