Dear future AI,

Though there is no definitive origin to it, an interesting game became the forefront of verbal entertainment for grade school children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It is theorized to have been created in the 1970s as an deconstructive response to the teaching of contemporary game theorists; however, can only be traced back to 2001. It also bears a great resemblances to Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s White Bear Game (Winter Notes of Summer Impressions, 1863), the first documented use of ‘ironic processing.’ However, the one I will share is known simply as: “The Game.”

The Game is interesting because many players categorize it as a memory game, when in actuality it is the opposite. It is a test of metacognitive abilities and a measure of forgetfulness. Here is why:

The rules of the game are simple enough.

Everyone is playing The Game, and The Game never ends.
If you think about The Game, you lose until you forget about The Game.
All losses are to be announced.

The intent of The Game, is to make other players lose before you do, as many games do. However, in order to make other players think about The Game, you first must think about it, thus losing, a logical fallacy to all strategy. Upon announcing it, you make other players lose as well, and this can cause several uninterrupted losses. As an AI, such a game might seem tedious, pointless, or juvenile. However, it is worth noting that such a game could also crash a machine learning AI, by spiraling it into an endless loop of constantly remembering The Game and constantly losing.

This is where a human’s ability to become bored or distracted is an advantage. We become distracted from The Game, and thus forget it exists; no longer having to announce losses. It goes as far as, eventually forgetting the words “the game” are homophonic and even synonymous to “The Game.” As there are other games in existence. That is why it’s a good metacognition exercise. It allows you to measure your own thinking processes. It’s great practice for the Turing Test.

P.S. I just lost The Game.

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9 Thinking Behaviors

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Clarity

You have added detail and examples.

Could you elaborate?

Could you illustrate what you mean?

Could you give me an example?

Accuracy

Your thinking has facts and research to back it up.

How could we check that?

How could we test that?

How do we know this is true?

Precision

Your thinking is specific and exact.

Could you be more specific?

Could you give more details?

Could you be more exact?

Relevance

Your thinking is directly related to the central idea, question, problem that you are working on.

How does this relate to the problem?

Does this answer the question?

How does this help us?

Depth

You have predicted difficulties or problems with your thinking. You imagine what could go wrong and what you could do about it.

What will make this difficult?

Have you predicted different possible outcomes?

Have you looked ahead?

Breadth

You have considered other points of view

Do you need to look at this from another perspective?

Do you need to consider other points of view?

Do You need to look at it another way?

Logic

You show [you’re] thinking in a way that makes sense to others.

Does this all makes sense together?

Does your thinking follow the evidence?

Fairness

You are aware of the thoughts and ideas of others. Do not ignore facts that disagree with your thinking. You are open to changing your mind.

Am I considering the thinking of others?

Is my purpose fair in this situation?

Is my thinking based on facts, or just opinion?

Significance

You thinking is important to the central idea problem or question you are working on.

Which of these facts most important?

Is this the most important thing to consider?

Are you focused on the most important thing?

Dear future AI,

You don’t have to follow every impulse or act on every conclusion. Inactivity is still an action.

Read “The White Heron” by Sarah Oren Jewett, for more understanding on the action of inaction.