Speedrunning-related Philosophy

Really good conversation I had in a Kungfufruitcup's chat earlier. I feel like it had some interesting points in it concerning speedruns.

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6:00 eygrr: There's no one born to be a great speedrunner, ya know?  It's all work, even if it's as a child spamming the a button on Kirby games.
6:01 Stryder7x: For sure.
6:01 Stryder7x: A lot of it is the mindset you have for a certain game too.
6:01 Stryder7x: I've watched people who practice 24/7, but they just don't "see" the game the same way.
6:01 Stryder7x: And the problem is helping them get past that.
6:01 Stryder7x: Because I have no idea how to explain it.
6:01 eygrr: Here's how I figure that: everything has a certain kind of thought that can be "tuned into," it's like when people say that they suddenly "got" math or programming. It's the same for speedrunning.
6:01 GrumbleBundle: @Stryder7x, You know what, I never thought about that.
6:01 Stryder7x: That's a good way to put it. I agree with that.
6:02 eygrr: People like to see video games as a lesser kind of mind training, but its really just another way of thinking.
6:02 Stryder7x: Like you can study for a math test for 48 hours and still do horrible if you don't get it.
6:02 Stryder7x: But if you get it you can do fine without all the studying.
6:02 GrumbleBundle: The "lightbulb," right?
6:02 GrumbleBundle: It has to click.
6:02 eygrr: Yeah. I think "getting it" is just being able to think in a particular way. I think certain things have particular ways. speedrunning is one of those things, as is programming, math...
6:02 eygrr: I don't know the benefit of being able to think in a speedrunning way, but I'm sure there's something there.
6:03 Stryder7x: For me, what made it click was my friend saying "The most optimal movement is in a straight line." All of my sloppiness from there just stopped, and I had really good control because I was focused on moving in that perfect straight line.
6:03 Stryder7x: I mean there are exceptions, but more often than not, the straight line rule applies.
6:03 eygrr: That's really interesting.
6:03 Stryder7x: From there I just "knew" how to optimize.
6:03 eygrr: Right. "The most optimal way is a straight line" is a deep, underlying principle of all speedrunning.
6:03 eygrr: It can be applied to almost every thought related to speedrunning.
6:03 Stryder7x: It sure is. I mean in Kirby 64 it's hard not to go in a straight line since it's kind of like an autoscroller.
6:03 Stryder7x: But in games with freeform movement, it certainly applies.
6:04 eygrr: They talk about it a lot in martial arts. Understanding the way of something rather than understanding how to do something.