MrHen comments on "Playing to Win" - Less Wrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (16)
If losing is the perfect opposite of winning, studying how not to lose is roughly equivalent to studying how to win. My personal experience dictates that if I am losing a lot and do not know why I will learn more from studying my losses. Once I know what the problems are I can study how other people win in those circumstances.
Except that Rizzo was focusing on some kind of psychological "need to lose". When I go back and study my winning and losing backgammon games, my psychology isn't the focus. I look for situations where, in retrospect, a better choice could have been made and then look to see if there was enough information in context to have enabled me to take that choice. I also sometimes catch situations where I wasn't paying enough attention, and missed a move that I think I would have chosen if I had noticed it.