On May 9, 2005, at 11:16 AM, Dave Land wrote:
It reminds me of tae kwon do sparring. Sometimes, I am paired with a
superior belt. I rarely score points or win bouts with them, but I
nearly always learn something -- about the art or about myself.
Sometimes, I am paired with a lower belt. While I may score points
against and win matches with them, I learn much less in those pairings.
Perhaps it is true that they learn something about themselves or the art
from me. I don't know.
If the student improves, it suggests learning has taken place. If the student never progresses, it suggests that nothing's really happening. The question there is what you, as the higher belt, do about it. You can't ignore the student, but countering the student's moves is a necessary part of the interaction.
Usually -- I've noticed anyway -- those kinds of students quit after a while. Few are stubborn enough to persist at something they simply aren't doing well; they get bored and give up.
The problem would be a student who believes himself to be constantly doing well, to be constantly scoring against you, when in fact no such thing of the kind has occurred. After a while one might expect that student to begin behaving irrationally -- perhaps suggesting he's better than anyone, despite evidence to the contrary; perhaps suggesting that the techniques used by others are flawed as compared to his own, even though his own regularly fail to have any effect.
I do know that this "Erik" -- biological being or artificial intelligence -- seems to demonstrate no learning from his (it's) epistolary sparring on Brin-L.
Which alone tells a lot. If it's an AI, it's reached the limits of its programming. If it's not, he's reached the limits of his perceptions, perhaps. What's tragic about that is most such limits are usually self-imposed.
-- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress "The Seven-Year Mirror" http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf
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