Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups


NoVaMoMe 2024: 06/08/2024
Arlington, VA
Registration Is Open!


Texas MoMe 2024: 10/18/2024-10/19/2024 Corsicana,TX
Contact Ben Had for info





















« Jake Tapper Grills Carney On Benghazi Disinformation: Hey, Didn't The Administration Sort of Shoot First And Aim Later? | Main | FoxNews Poll: Romney Edges Obama, 46-45; Also Edges Him, For First Time, on Favorability 51-52 »
October 10, 2012

Lifemanship: Some Notes Concerning The Current State of the Science

As I mentioned previously, I have become a devotee of Stephen Potter's "Gamesmanship" theory of games and social interactions -- a theory that says, in short, why should the game go to the skilled? Or the admiration to the virtuous? Or the respect to the expert?

What about the rest of us? Why shouldn't we have that social credit, just because we lack skill, virtue, or experitise?

I don't play many games, so the principles of gamemsanship, while providing a solid foundation, are not directly useful in my life. But the principles of Gamesmanship -- winning without technically cheating -- can be applied profitably to social situations of all sorts. This is the sub-field of "Lifemanship."

I have little social interaction with humanity because I'm frankly not a fan. But I was compelled recently to enter a social setting, and I decided that I would use the principles of Lifemanship to undermine social rivals and steal social credit for myself.

One of the central principles of Lifemanship is to rely upon -- or "abuse," if you like -- the natural tendency of people to be polite and consider that in any case of offense, they might be the ones primarily to blame. To, as Dr. Potter so eloquently put it, "convince one's rivals that something, however slightly, has gone wrong, and it's likely their fault."

Theory is all well and good, but practice -- deployment in the field of play, as it were -- is something else again. And thus I sallied forth to put what I have learned into good use.

The scenario: A casual introduction leads to a brief, collegial conversation.

The mark: Someone who is more successful than I am. Which is most people, frankly, but I don't talk to people very often, so usually I am spared the pangs of inadequacy.

The strategem: The simplest of ploys, really. At this point in my education I don't feel comfortable using more advanced gambits and tactics. In this case, I simply went with the crude, brute-force method of suggesting my mark had committed an offensive faux pas.

ME: Well I'm surprised to be meeting you here. How did you get into [your field of expertise] in the first place?

THE MARK: Well I never really planned on it, I just sort of--

ME (deadpan, with bite): No, no, do keep talking about yourself.


The result: A complete flummoxing, as Dr. Potter predicted. Accusing him of monopolizing the conversation, not ten words into an answer to a question I had in fact asked of him, left him speechless, and wondering what he might have done to warrant such an aggressively rude response.

The aftermath: Given that this was merely a Test Run -- I am not yet a Lifeman and certified to attempt these ploys in actual social combat -- I explained to The Mark I had run a ploy on him, as part of a Laboratory of Lifemanship experiment. He seemed reassured to know that he was not, in fact, guilty of any faux pas, and I was not, at least not demonstrably, a lunatic.

I have forwarded this data to the Lifemanship Institute in England for further analysis. It is entirely possible that these ploys, having been left to fallow for so long, are now effectively novel again, and may be of usefulness to the practicing modern Lifeman. Perhaps a Renaissance in the Art of Being a Dick may yet come.



digg this
posted by Ace at 05:42 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Diogenes: "I look forward to the discussion of COIN, so I can ..."

Ciampino - Vitreous Humour is funny glass #201: "If Germany had had a rational leader, they would h ..."

18-1: "[i]The reason I'm anti-war now is because we don't ..."

Axeman: "FFS it took the 2nd a-bomb to get their attention. ..."

jim (in Kalifornia)[/b][/s][/i][/u]: "Dunno. War is brutal. When one side engages in bru ..."

junior: "@401 I've heard it said they were ready to surren ..."

tsj017: "Ace just wants to be cool like Ben Shapiro. ..."

Marcus T: ""No worries. It's just a way for military planner ..."

DaveA: "FFS it took the 2nd a-bomb to get their attention. ..."

WaPo: "Your bread ration has risen to two loaves from fou ..."

18-1: "[i]More Americans killed in the battle for Okinawa ..."

polynikes: "Japan was working on biological warfare against th ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64