Power of focus

In the article “Artificial intelligence takes over fiction writing too“, I have written already how in May 1997, Kasparov played against Deep Blue and lost the first time. There are still a controversy and several conspiracy theories that “explain” such an outcome. But it seems to me Kasparov has lost because of the software bug that allowed Deep Blue to make an unexpected move. You can read about it here. It is fascinating!

Recently, in an interview Kasparov said that his biggest challenge was psychological: “the pressure on the human player facing the machine is simply unbearable.”

Computer is not getting upset by its mistakes.

Modern best chess players have similar quality. Well, they extensively use computers during their training and probably adjust to this style. And natural selection has picked up those who are less affected by emotions. Otherwise, there is no chance to become a world champion. Kasparov rates the pretenders exactly by this quality, not by how much they know (they all know more than can use in practice). Such a focus on success draws from persistence and burning desire to reach the goal too.

The burning desire and positive thinking are also at the foundation of many teachings and even training courses that claim to help you to succeed in anything you really want. Books by Norman Peel were sold by millions, especially his “The Power of Positive Thinking”. The author was a personal friend of presidents Nixon and Reagan. President Clinton kept him in a high esteem too. And Trump. The family of the latter attended the church, where Peel preached. Trump and his two sisters were married there.

Such an optimism and positive attitude are the main cultural sources of American optimism and persistence. Oscar Wilde once said: “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.” So, it is very helpful and quite healthy – to move ahead and follow your dream.

But it is also useful to understand at the right time (that’s the clincher!) that the direction is wrong and we better stop pushing there. We call such an ability a wisdom. Negative emotions help by weakening our drive and forcing us to revisit the original plan. We stop sticking to the erroneous decision and survive, even at a risk of missing an opportunity this time.

Driving towards a set goal at a high price (towards money, power, or even a more noble and constructive goal) remains your private matter until you obtain a position of power (at the head of a big corporation or a government) when lives of many people depend on your decisions. Many of us experienced consequences of bad policаl decisions made by people at the top of the social pyramid. The root cause is often associated with corruption and negative human qualities.

To avoid such problems, we hope that computers can help us to make more rational (better!) decisions. Let us give AI the power and there will be no corruption, ah?

But will we be able to instill wisdom in the AI? How about compassion and empathy that can be the cause of a correct but irrational decision? Or those human qualities are just childhood dreams that do not belong to the incoming reality? I do not think so and hope that life will not be reduced to the winning of a chess game.

– Do you live by law or by conscience?

– By circumstances.