Matt, On 5/6/08, Matt Mahoney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- Steve Richfield <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I have played tournament chess. However, when faced with a REALLY > GREAT > > chess player (e.g. national champion), as I have had the pleasure of > > on a > > couple of occasions, they at first appear to play as novices, making > > unusual > > and apparently stupid moves that I can't quite capitalize on, only to > > pull things together later on and soundly beat me. While > retrospective > > analysis would show them to be brilliant, that would not be my > > evaluation early in these games. > > As your example illustrates, a higher intelligence will appear to be > irrational, but you cannot conclude from this that irrationality > implies intelligence.
Neither does it imply a lack of intelligence. Note that had the master left the table and another good but less than masterful player taken his position, the master's moves would probably have left his replacement at a disadvantage. The test of intelligence is whether it is successful in achieving the desired goal. Irrationality may be a help or a hindrance, depending on how it is applied. I once found myself in the process of being stiffed for $30K by a business associate who clearly had the money, but with no obvious means for me to force collection. Cutting a LONG story short, I collected by composing and sending my associate a copy of a letter to government regulators explaining exactly what the problem was - that would probably have sunk BOTH of our careers - a sort of "doomsday machine" but still under my control as I held the letter. This worked only because I successfully projected that I really was crazy enough to actually send this letter and sink both of our careers, rather than see $30K successfully stolen from me. Had I projected a calm and calculating mindset, this wouldn't have worked at all. It was at once irrational and brilliantly successful - but only because I projected irrationality/insanity. Steve Richfield ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=101455710-f059c4 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
