= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
humpolec comments on Rationality Lessons in the Game of Go - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (145)
I would also add something about "guessing the teacher's password".
If you do things you saw a stronger player do, but don't understand them, you will sooner or later be punished - either because you applied the move in a situation where it doesn't work; or because you don't know how to continue.
Yes, this is true, but it's also true that some kinds of imitation can take you far even if you don't understand them. Personally, I try to play with good shape, I have seen it pay off, but I don't understand most of ways that this helps me. A good parallel in rationality might be learning self doubt. This can help, even if one doesn't know the myriad ways people have of fooling themselves which it is intended to thwart.
This phenomenon is extremely frustrating to me, but I don't pretend to not take advantage of it.
Part of the reason to play shape is that it's generally recognized as efficient structure; another is that it closes down options - you prune the search tree towards well-understood structures and don't have to worry or expend as much mental energy reading.
There is, in fact, a go proverb for this: "Learn joseki, lose two stones" (in rank, temporarily). Meaning that people who memorize joseki without understanding the reasons for the moves will be flummoxed by people who don't follow the expected pattern, since it's hard to punish a mistake if you don't know why it's a mistake.