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FIRST Philosophy

FIRST philosophy is an oft-heard idea, whether or not it goes by that name all the time. FIRST philosophy has nearly become synonymous with gracious professionalism; an important idea, for sure, but not inclusive of all the ideas that the FIRST Robotics Competition is about. FIRST has grown into a very diverse and large group through the years, and a distinctive FIRST sub-culture has developed, – but it would be a mistake to assume that FIRST means the same to everyone involved, or that the ideas of FIRST philosophy, while agreed upon in a general sense, are static and well-defined. Therefore, tread cautiously through this article, as the main tenets and some of the divergent issues are explained.

Gracious professionalism

Gracious professionalism is ubiquitous in the FIRST world. The 2004 manual declares, In FIRST, one of the most straightforward interpretations of gracious professionalism is that we learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. The importance of this, is hard to underestimate. The term is thrown about, haphazardly at times, quite frequently.

Coopertition

A difficult aspect in terms of FIRST philosophy is the idea of competition. Often it is heard that FIRST is not about the robot. And, while in many senses this is true, the underlying element of competition cannot be ignored. It is a lofty idea to say that everyone is a winner, and in that regard, people should not push themselves to winning in the traditional sense of the word. Yet, this idea is patently not gracious professionalism. It is precisely that push, the drive to do better, that gets students to learn and be inspired about science and technology. FIRST philosophy certainly supports the idea of competition, but holds, too, that off the field everyone is treated with “respect and kindness.” That is, the push should not push the individual over the edge.

FIRST also includes another aspect unique to most competitive organizations: the drive to help one another. At a competition, one can often find teams fixing other teams robots or offering advice. Most competitive programs seek to throw down their competition; but in FIRST teams seek to lift each other up. To explain this idea, FIRST has combined the words “competition” and “cooperation”, coining the term “Coopertition”.

Discussion

So important and at times controversial are the ideas collected under the term FIRST philosophy, that frequent discussion takes place on the ChiefDelphi web forum. Here is a sampling of some discussion.

  • FIRST is unique compared to other programs. FIRST doesn’t just help a person in one specific area, but rather in a plethora of areas, [1].

  • FIRST is a place where we improve our skills in creativity, teamwork, and logical problem solving, [2].

  • Instead, I’d argue that perhaps you and those who have shared similar sentiment don’t understand the true potential of what’s happening here. To limit FIRST to robots, tools, and competition is to strip away its immense potential, [3].

  • But if FIRST followed a “truth in advertising” philosophy for the registration kits, they would contain six cannisters labeled: “Stress”, “Anxiety”, “Confusion”, “Insomnia”, “Dietary Inadequacy”, “Unbalanced Priorities” And a really big seventh one labeled “Fun” :) [4].

  • FIRST is about winning, and it has made many of us winners… I am glad to be a part of it, [5].

And see these threads, [6], [7].

Also see other elements of FIRST culture.