[extropy-chat] Gay marriage in Spain, a world of change

[David Lubkin]

Bret wrote:

>I try to do it, to understand where people are coming from. Honestly it 
>scares me sometimes, I see someone I respect or at least suspect of 
>intelligence and they have an incompatible opinion. "Playing things out" - 
>can help especially when wanting to explain your side to people who of the 
>opposite opinion.

I'm surprised that anyone here would question its value, as Samantha did. 
It is an extraordinarily useful skill, beyond its value in detecting error 
in your own viewpoint.

If you want to persuade someone, you're more likely to succeed if you can 
present your position in a way that is compatible with their perspective. 
Libertarians are notoriously bad at this. They ignore their audience, and 
-- at best -- present their ideas in a way that would persuade themselves; 
just as often, they indulge in Libertarian Macho Flash.

If you want to argue against someone's position, think of it as opposition 
research. When a presidential candidate is prepping for a debate, they pick 
their best person to role-play the opponent.

If you want to defeat someone militarily or politically, the better you can 
predict their responses, the more likely you are to prevail.

At a social level, it seems like a necessary component to building 
relationships with other people.

Of course, for writers it's essential to creating believable characters.

Futuristic element -- wouldn't you expect that an AI/IA would run 
simulations of other beings in walled-off sandboxes inside itself?


-- David Lubkin.