Davide Piffer's latest research on the recent cognitive evolution of East Asians.

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When I was 13, I used to go to a local arcade after school a few times a week and then on weekends. My game was Killer Instinct. Every week, I'd spend 40 dollars in quarters playing that game. I thought i was top dog until one day, an Asian guy started coming in and playing. He looked like one of the thugs from Big Trouble in Little China. Polarized Oakleys, sleeveless shirt, torn jeans, and a distinct thin Filipino style mustache. He'd put his token against the screen to signal he was playing the winner. We played, and we'd go back and forth with wins and losses. He was better than me, but I was holding my own. This rivalry went on for months. He'd trash talk and gloat, I hated this guy's guts. One day, we were playing, and he kept trash talking, saying I'd never be better than him. I was 13. I had just gotten my allowance, and with two crisp 20s in my pocket I decided to bet him five dollars a match. We played for a few hours with our ups and downs. I bet him the entire 40 dollars because I wanted to go home. He won. I lost my entire weeks allowance and had the nerve to go home and tell my dad what happened. He wooped me for gambling and banned me from going to the arcade as well as took away my allowance. By the time I was allowed to go again, he stopped going. I'm convinced he came just to destroy me, and when he did, he left. He was my first rivalry. His face burned into my brain. If I ever see him again, I'll recognize him. It I ever see him again, I'll buy a Killer Instinct cabinet, and we'll play until one of us loses our entire net worth.