[extropy-chat] About ESP, etc.

[Damien Broderick]

At 11:28 AM 4/30/2007 -0400, Ben Goertzel wrote:

>if you're the dealer and YOU can count cards even primitively, you 
>can tell if a player is systematically tending to increase their 
>bets when the count is favorable and decrease their bets when the 
>count is unfavorable.  (But of course, a good counter will randomize 
>their bets to some extent, to make the recognition of their betting 
>pattern harder.)

Suppose someone *did* have an ESP capacity applicable to such card 
games (leaving aside such miraculous powers as being able to change 
one card into another or derandomize the shuffle etc). Would it 
operate differently from card-counting? Would she make advantageous 
bets at times a card-counter would not be able to, or something? That 
is, is the only difference between using ESP and skill that the 
former might be done with the eyes closed?

Damien Broderick