# Leaderboard Competition
**URL:** https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248
**Category:** Unbounded
**Created:** [October 15, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248 "2026-10-15T21:32:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@anonymous105](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/anonymous105)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/1 "2026-10-15T21:32:05Z")
Continuing the discussion from [Debate about Competition](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/debate-about-competition/2246/34):
> [@Debate about Competition](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/debate-about-competition/2246/34):
>
> > ## Leaderboard definition
> >
> > > A **leaderboard** is a ranked list that orders participants - people, teams, players or departments - from best to worst based on a single score or metric, and refreshes as those scores change.
>
> What’s a ranked list? Ranked is stuff like rank 1 or rank 2 or rank 3? That’s like being in first place or second place. I think when you rank something it’s in a certain order. The order is based off a metric no? Like, the highest amount of kills on a video game or the fastest time?
>
> That’s interesting I kind of got an idea about what a leaderboard is after writing the last paragraph. That was before reading the entire quote. It’s like if you use knowledge of other things then you can do the goal of figuring out what a leaderboard is.
>
> I see that a leaderboard has a list of participants. I know they’re ranked but also they could be people, teams or other things. I’m thinking in a dichotomous way like you can either be by yourself or in a group.
>
> So far I see how leaderboard climbing is a kind of competition. If you have something that’s measurable in an activity, you can make a competition out of it. Like, who can solve the rubik’s cube the fastest? Another one is who can solve the most rubik’s cubes in an allotted time? There’s a lot of things to make competitions out of.
I wanted to make a minor observation about this comment. I can’t post in the thread because it is a dedicated debate thread. I don’t expect this post to merit a long discussion or anything.
I just wanted to stress that the Leaderboard-style is a really important type of competition. If you consider how even something like _Olympic sports_ are conducted, _lots_ of them are effectively leaderboard style. You often do not have teams or individuals going head-to-head. You have people trying to achieve some specific athletic goal (time, distance, etc.) and then they get put on what is basically a leaderboard to figure out who wins gold, silver, and bronze.
So I think it is important to consider this type of competition in your debate.
---
### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/2 "2026-10-15T22:38:09Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> I wanted to make a minor observation about this comment. I can’t post in the thread because it is a dedicated debate thread. I don’t expect this post to merit a long discussion or anything.
Idk what’s a dedicated debate thread. Is it cuz we’re having a debate, we should keep it on topic? Or does that mean we should mostly debate on there? Or mostly the participants should discuss there?
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> I just wanted to stress that the Leaderboard-style is a really important type of competition. If you consider how even something like _Olympic sports_ are conducted, _lots_ of them are effectively leaderboard style. You often do not have teams or individuals going head-to-head. You have people trying to achieve some specific athletic goal (time, distance, etc.) and then they get put on what is basically a leaderboard to figure out who wins gold, silver, and bronze.
I think I see how olympic sports are conducted. Like, people do their best and it shows up as a stat and the people that get the best stats get medals.
Olympic sports are usually about people being the best at something. I think that’s important cuz a lot of people watch it and it matters a lot.
I didn’t think to apply the idea of Leaderboard-style competition to something like the olympics. Also, I don’t think I still see how Leaderboard-style competition is a really important kind. I could analyze more.
Im thinking that Leaderboard-style competition applies to many things. Maybe more than people going head to head.
---
### Author:  [@anonymous105](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/anonymous105)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2026, 5:10am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/3 "2026-10-16T05:10:57Z")
> [@Dface](#):
>
> Idk what’s a dedicated debate thread. Is it cuz we’re having a debate, we should keep it on topic? Or does that mean we should mostly debate on there? Or mostly the participants should discuss there?
>
> anonymous105:
No, it just means I literally cannot comment on that thread. Like, I do not have the option to reply or post there, period. Presumably due to settings on the forum.
> [@Dface](#):
>
> I didn’t think to apply the idea of Leaderboard-style competition to something like the olympics. Also, I don’t think I still see how Leaderboard-style competition is a really important kind. I could analyze more.
By “really important” I just mean… it comes up a lot. It is a major, common type of competition. Probably just as common or more common than direct head-to-head competition such as a sports game.
The term “leaderboard” is associated with a specific niche (especially video games I think) and not really used when discussing the Olympics, so I figured it might not occur to you to think of it that way. But as far as I can tell it fits.
---
### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2026, 5:41am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/4 "2026-10-17T05:41:35Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> I just wanted to stress that the Leaderboard-style is a really important type of competition.
I know @anonymous105 already said what they meant by “really important” but a part of me doesn’t get it. I haven’t analyzed as much but the meaning is not that intuitive to me. “really important” makes me think it’s important for the debate to be successful. Idk if thats true but using the determiner “a” to modify “really important” makes me think about leaderboard-style competiton coming up often. Like that it’s common.
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### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2026, 6:06am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/5 "2026-10-17T06:06:31Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> If you consider how even something like _Olympic sports_ are conducted, _lots_ of them are effectively leaderboard style.
I don’t think I know what “even” means, but the fact it’s there is significant. Like, you would think all the sports in olympics aren’t relevant. But they are. A lot of them are effectively leaderboard-style. That kind of competition seems to happen a lot.
I see “_Olympic sports_” _and_ “_lots_” are italicized. That makes me think about leaderboard-style competition being really important. Do both being italicized mean that kind of competition is common? It seems that the italicization means something.
Also, those sports being effectively something makes me think they’re achievimg a purpose. It’s the same purpose of things that we know are leader-board style competition. Olympic sports may be slightly different but they still use the same idea.
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### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2026, 6:16am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/6 "2026-10-17T06:16:33Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> You often do not have teams or individuals going head-to-head.
I don’t think I could name a lot of sports from olympics. If I look at a list tho I may be able to tell. I asked gemini and I got a list of 35 sports:
> **[Google Search](https://www.google.com/share.google?q=aimode%2FpiLklcxwIKAb7hTD5)**
A lot of them are not team based going to head to head. Idk about individuals going head to head, but it seems a lot are based on making records by yourself and winning medals.
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> You have people trying to achieve some specific athletic goal (time, distance, etc.) and then they get put on what is basically a leaderboard to figure out who wins gold, silver, and bronze.
I see aquatics(swimming?), cycling, rowing, sport climbing(rock climbing?), and triatholon. I bet those have the athletic goal of fastest time.
Idk if gemini is giving me the correct list of sports
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### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2026, 5:23am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/7 "2026-10-18T05:23:13Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> You often do not have teams or individuals going head-to-head.
I don’t think I see how often each type of competition happens in olympic sports. I tried using Gemini but a lot of sports come up for each. I don’t think im searching for stuff well. Like, how do I know each sport listed actually happens in the Olympics? What source do I use to count how many there are for each type of competition? Would it help to have experience watching Olympic sports online or on TV?
A part of me thinks since you can literally make a competition out of a metric, then there would be many sports that use leaderboard-style competition. Like, you can have a soccer game, but literally make it a competition about who scores the most shots.
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### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2026, 5:29am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/8 "2026-10-18T05:29:31Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> You have people trying to achieve some specific athletic goal (time, distance, etc.) and then they get put on what is basically a leaderboard to figure out who wins gold, silver, and bronze.
When I tune on the tv, this is what I see often. I see people racing on a track for olympic medals. There’s people shooting at targets with guns or bows. Other times I see contestants swimming to win. Idk if they’re going head to head directly or if they’re using a leaderboard.
I think it would be good to see how contestants are placed on a leadeeboard. What’s the difference between that and individuals/teams going head-to-head?
---
### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2026, 5:36am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/9 "2026-10-18T05:36:12Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> So I think it is important to consider this type of competition in your debate.
I don’t know why it’s important to consider that type of competition. Is it cuz if we’re talking about debate being good or bad, then it would be better to talk about most sports? Not just a small subset? Or is it important so we can figure out why competition is good or bad? Maybe learning about leaderboard climbing helps us come to a conclusion.
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### Author:  [@Dface](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/u/Dface)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2026, 5:48am UTC](https://discuss.criticalfallibilism.com/t/leaderboard-competition/2248/10 "2026-10-18T05:48:10Z")
> [@anonymous105](#):
>
> By “really important” I just mean… it comes up a lot. It is a major, common type of competition. Probably just as common or more common than direct head-to-head competition such as a sports game.
That makes me think about trying to come up for a cure to cancer. I think it would be better to cure a common cause rather than a rare one. If the rare one barely happens then a lot of people might pass away. I think it would be good to help with the common cause. I don’t know what the idea of this analogy is or if it’s a good one.
Is it significant that leaderboard-style competition happens often? Can we make a mistake not bringing up that kind of competition in the debate? @Eternity what do u think?
I feel like im not doing enough research here.