/r/zen as Chinese Room

Implicit in the act of communication are 2 assumptions.

1. The person that you are speaking to intends to communicate.

2. The person that you are speaking to understands what you are saying.

As you might imagine these assumptions do not always hold true. Sometimes the person you are speaking to has no such intent or understanding. He is playing some other game entirely. Something that looks like communication but isn't.

What games could a person play that look like communication but aren't.

Off the top of my head here are 3 :

1. The game of attention-getting. Success is measured by how many times you reply.

2. The game of narrative-assertion. Success is measured by the degree to which the exchange can be guided to support a particular narrative.

3. It's just an echo. There is no game. (Consider chat-bots).

Can you think of others?

This touches upon a classic philosophical problem called The Chinese Room. It is aimed at the topic of artificial intelligence but it is applicable to the broader issue of communicating over the internet, in forums and chats and such. Because you never know what sits on the other side of the screen.

Submitted December 20, 2017 at 11:06PM by woodrail http://ift.tt/2CNVts7