Theory: Mind-wrestling and the upper hand

[Jorn Barger]

In August I proposed the term 'mind-wrestling' for "competitions for
power where physical strength never directly comes into play":
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1exno32.1ocmnakb92j5nN%25jorn%40ent
eract.com

The common expression 'gaining the upper hand' usually refers to such
mind-wrestling contests, and on netnews (in particular) gaining the
upper hand can only be achieved by finding an arrangement of ascii
characters that your opponent can't 'top' with a more-encompassing
arrangement.

The search for that arrangement is largely nonverbal, though-- you feel
your way around your mental model of your opponent's psyche, looking for
'purchase' before attempting any particular verbal formula that might
take advantage of that purchase.

(There's also a brute-force strategy, using insults, that might be
called mind-boxing. A combination of mind-boxing plus sophistries seems
to me the most dangerous-- and contemptible-- approach.)

If we imagine a future NLP-AI that knows how to argue, it's hard to see
how anything like mind-wrestling could arise-- if it has any flaws,
they'd likely be un-disguisable... which is why my brand of
philosophical optimism is called 'robot wisdom'.

--
Robot Wisdom Weblog: http://www.robotwisdom.com/ "If you worry that
reading the news online will rob you of the serendipity factor you get
with the newspaper, Jorn Barger solves the problem." --Dan Gillmor