[CQ-Contest] Cheating

[David Gilbert]

I'm not in favor of inspectors, mostly because I don't think they are at 
all practical.  But the problem isn't going to go away ... it's human 
nature to cheat.  Seriously --- there have been lots of studies on the 
the topic of cheating and what variables make people more likely to 
cheat under what circumstances and Radiosport happens to have a majority 
of those factors.  Out of pure curiosity I once did some casual research 
on the subject and even (per his request) sent a summary to Randy, K5ZD 
when he was doing a rules review some time ago.

You can believe me or not, but I'm telling you that we're wired to cheat 
in competitive environments, or when something of perceived value (time, 
money, glory, gratification, etc) is at stake.  I could give several 
everyday examples that would make almost all of us take pause.  We 
simply are not inherently honest.  Even our "morality" mostly boils down 
to learned and ingrained social pressures.  Lots of hams seem to think 
that humans are fundamentally honest and that the urge to cheat is some 
sort of aberration.  From an anthropological point of view, it's the 
other way around.

There may be a way to come up with a contest format without cheating, 
but it won't be because people didn't try.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 8/21/2016 2:38 PM, Ron Notarius W3WN wrote:
>
> Solve the real problem, and the need for inspectors ought to go away.
>
> So how do you solve the real problem?
>
> 73, ron w3wn