[extropy-chat] The reverse Turing Test

[Anne Corwin]

AR said:
  "This seems only one step away from 'front loaders' -persons who use 
their brain in a similar manner to google, remembering and 
regurgitating 
endless facts, figures and quotes on a subject but not actually 
understanding any of it. When a person tries to discuss the subject, or 
sometimes even just to converse, more facts and figures are parrotted 
out in tones that imply they're just not smart enough to understand. A 
lot of the time this seems to be what passes for 'knowledge'  in 
western 
cultures."
   
  You're absolutely right that this "front loading" phenomenon does seem to pass for knowledge in a lot of cases, and I don't like it one bit...growing up, I remember getting into trouble quite often because frequently, whoever was talking to me (or reprimanding me) about something wouldn't let me leave until I said *something*, so at some point I would end up frustratedly blurting out whatever I could push into the speech buffer, whether it was truly relevant or not.  
   
  A lot of the time I knew it was not relevant but I didn't have the language or a cohesive enough understanding yet to talk about the subject at hand, so this made me feel for years like I was actually a "liar" and I felt horrible about it.
   
  These days, I still end up unintentionally frustrating other people who want quick or definitive answers or facts from me, because I generally refuse to just make things up so people will go away. 

  - Anne


"Like and equal are not the same thing at all!"
- Meg Murry, "A Wrinkle In Time"
 
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