[BLC] High Table Stakes, apparently

[BitterLemonCurry]

It took billions to be able to win, but a mere one or two thousand more to risk losing.
What am I talking about?

[Sundowner64]

Years?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Years?

yes-good start!

[trebor2]

Climate change relevant?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Climate change relevant?
no

[trebor2]

Has this happened in real life? In a game? In a book? In a movie? TV/streaming service video of some description? Podcast?

Was it won: by humans? In a competition? Against humans? Was it won by a singular creature? A group? Was it won by some creature(s) found on Earth? Alien life? Was it won by living creature(s) at all? Was it won by, like, some geographic feature? By a galactic...thing? ("In a battle between the land and the sea...," he said, in a movie trailer voice.)

Was it lost like lost in a competition? Lost as in went missing? Was misplaced? Was taken over by another entity?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Has this happened in real life? Yesish In a game? A Game is relevant In a book? In a movie? TV/streaming service video of some description? Podcast? Not relevantly

Was it won: by humans? Yesish In a competition? Yes Against humans? Yesish Was it won by a singular creature? Yes, typically A group? Uncommon Was it won by some creature(s) found on Earth? So Yes(ish), No/irrel to rest Alien life? Was it won by living creature(s) at all? Was it won by, like, some geographic feature? By a galactic...thing? ("In a battle between the land and the sea...," he said, in a movie trailer voice.)

Was it lost like lost in a competition? This Lost as in went missing? Was misplaced? Was taken over by another entity?

[Sundowner64]

Computer technology relevant? Machine learning? AI?
Was it won by humans with the help of a computer? against a computer?
Is it chess?

[Sarisberie2]

Dinosaurs relevant? Other prehistoric animals, other life, fossils? Was the competition in the present day? Other era...?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Sarisberie2
Dinosaurs relevant? Other prehistoric animals, other life, fossils?
Not these
Was the competition in the present day? Mostly yes, FA lurking
era...?

Sundowner
Computer technology relevant? Machine learning? AI?
Was it won by humans with the help of a computer? against a computer?
good guesses, but no
Is it chess?
Not this time (it‘s been a while since my last chess-themed puzzle, though)

[BalinTheDwarf]

Is the competition ongoing? Has the competition ever technically begun?
Something like who'll survive a nuclear apocalypse?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Is the competition ongoing? yope/doyd, but this doesn‘t clear the FA
Has the competition ever technically begun? Yes
Something like who'll survive a nuclear apocalypse? No

[GalFisk]

Genetics relevant? Evolution? Survival of the fittest? Do humans need to exist for this to happen? Are the 1-2000 also years? Does losing mean death?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Genetics relevant? Evolution? Survival of the fittest? no to these

Do humans need to exist for this to happen? Let‘s say yes here
Are the 1-2000 also years? Yes (to clarify, it‘s meant to be „1000-2000 Years)
Does losing mean death? Not unheard of, but VERY uncommon (fortunately)

[GalFisk]

Is it a game? Race? Sport? Competition? Match? Tournament? Is there a single winner? More than one loser? Does language need to exist for this to happen? Animals? Plants? Technology? Culture? Religion? Intelligence? Civilization? Is winning determined by judgement? Time? Strength? Endurance? Skill? Luck?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Is it a game? This Race? Sport? Competition? Match? Tournament? Is there a single winner? Yes More than one loser? No Does language need to exist for this to happen? Animals? Plants? Technology? This is yopishly relevant Culture? Religion? Intelligence? Civilization? Is winning determined by judgement? Time? Strength? Endurance? Skill? Luck? This

[GalFisk]

Yopish technology: a material? An invention? Math? Money? Is it rock-paper-scissors, which won't work if nobody knows about paper or scissors? Does the game require an object? Gambling relevant? Dice? Betting? Does losing mean losing face? Financial loss? Pain? Can animals play this came? Can computers? Neural networks?

[Sarisberie2]

WAG: Fertilisation? Test tube babies? Game of Life? Nobel Prize? Modern technology? Turing Machine?

[BitterLemonCurry]

Yopish technology: a material? An invention? Math? Money? Is it rock-paper-scissors, which won't work if nobody knows about paper or scissors?
*snip*

SPOILER

Rocks are as old as Earth.
Scissors were invented between 2000-1000 BC, in Mesopotamia or Egypt (other sources vary).
Paper was invented around 100 BC, in China,

So for billions of years, it was impossible to win or lose at Rock-Paper-Scissors, as there was only Rock.
Then one could win, as scissors entered the scene, and finally one could also lose against Paper,

Congratulations to GalFisk (and everybody else) for a quick solution.

[Sarisberie2]

I like this one very much <3

[Biograd1]

I'm surprised that scissors are older than paper! Definitely knives would be older but for scissors you need some sort of hinge to attach the two blades to one another.

[BitterLemonCurry]

The early scissors had a flexible metal band to connect the blades. It would be interesting to know how well they actually worked, but a fun fact in the context of this puzzle is that those scissors resemble the Scissors of the game much more than modern scissors!