[thechat] rationality is not enough (was: New Year's Resolution)

[Madhu Menon]

At 12:36 AM 04-01-03, aardvark wrote:
>my brother
>and i can see a block of cheese across the room and both say,
>"the cat got into it," without any telepathic link...

Ditto.

My brother and I will often crack the same joke at the same time in certain
situations. We're very different in other ways but our sense of humour is
almost identical.

>i dated a girl i knew so well, that i had a pretty good idea what she
>was thinking and could pre-emptively answer her questions

I can tell you that when you do that to people, it freaks them out. One of
the Sherlock Holmes stories (can't remember the name... anyone?) has an
excellent bit about how Holmes guesses exactly what Watson is thinking by
following his gaze and his expressions, and then breaks into his thoughts.
He later explains how he did it. Since I read it 16 years ago, I've tried
hard to emulate it, not always with the same level of success.

Try playing the "what must this person be thinking" game. It's fun. Many a
time, you can logically eliminate many choices and arrive at the only
remaining option, and then say it before the other person does.

Related: http://www.csicop.org/si/9809/coincidence.html

Regards,

Madhu