Stephen's Secure Blog #183
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 16 in this story, in the Summer after year 6 of his special
school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #183 "Argumentals"
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When we were nearing the house, Srinoy said, "Stephen, there are
monkeys in the trees, but none come to you." I said, teasingly, "I know
that." He poked me and I acted like it really hurt. I said "Well, if
you want to be mean about it. I am telling them not to come close. If I
let them, we would be swarmed all over, and they would even invade the
house to get close to me. They are NOT clean animals. I don't think any
of us would appreciate their overexcited company. I thought about
letting one or two come to me, but that wouldn't be fair to the others.
Oh, and the same for the insects. Didn't you notice we haven't been
bothered by them? Fortunate I did that, with all the surprised open
mouthes around me." He laughed. His father said, "Now that I think of
it, fortunate indeed." We bowed to each other, with grins. I said, "So,
what are we going to do the rest of the day?" Srinoy said "Food. Then
music." I directed his gaze at the monks. He said to them, "Please come
in and eat with us." They were about to refuse, when I said, "There
could be some talk you might not want to miss." They were conflicted. I
just grinned. They had to laugh. They accepted. I said "After that, you
can go back to the Temple. I promise we are not going to go outside the
doors until morning, when we go to the Temple to see the sword
fighting. That way you can bring them the results of your er,
observations in time for some wildly unproductive discussions, to
create some interesting dreams, before we arrive tomorrow." The leader
smiled, and said, "I don't know how you do it, and with humor, but you
are VERY convincing. Do you ever lose an argument?" I said "You lose
less arguments, when you only pick the ones you can win." He looked
very thoughtful.
We went inside. We let them wash up first. Srinoy's mother got busy.
I said "Anything you need, including full meals, I can create in an
instant for you." She said a few things, and they appeared on the
kitchen counter. That included hot cooked rice. It also included a lot
of hugs and kisses for me, which I didn't mind at all. We ate. The
monks only ate vegetarian things. So did I, which they noticed. Srinoy
copied me, and them, out of politeness. He knew I approved of that. The
monk asked me, "Master Teacher, how do you know which arguments you can
win?" I said "With preparation. If you think of the position of the
opponent, and what he might use for his argument, and think of useful
counters, before the argument starts, you will likely win." He said
"But how do you actually win?" I said "By providing the opponent with a
solution he will think is in his own interest, which satisfies your own
goals. Yes, you give him what he wants. The trick is to make him want
what you want. You do that by emphasizing the advantages to him of your
proposal, and the disadvantages to him, of his. If you do this from
your prior planning, you will direct his thinking along your path
without the hesitation which might allow him to think between your
words and see what you are doing, to the conclusion you desire, and he
will likely not be aware of what you did, until long after the solution
you desire is implemented. He will usually then think you were a clever
arguer, but that he actually won the argument, because he rationalizes
that the benefits he sees for himself, are better than what he had
originally wanted. Thus, you are getting a good meal, which you
wouldn't have had, and we have your pleasant company, and will have
privacy for the night, which is what we desired. Unless you succeeded
in manipulating me, through my desire to teach, into ruining that
solution. In which case, I would say 'well done'."
Srinoy was staring at me in rapt attention. So were his parents. The
monks were astounded, not expecting such a discourse. I said "Your
turn." He looked a little lost. Then he said, "Isn't that
manipulation?" I said "Sure. What of it?" He didn't know what to say,
which wouldn't be in insult. I grinned really wide at that, and he knew
why. I said gently, "ALL communication is manipulation, because you
intend to add to somebody's knowledge, which changes that person. You
manipulate their thinking and understanding to accomplish that. So you
see, not all manipulation is bad. If your intent is ethical, and you
mean no harm, then your manipulation is good. A great example of that,
was what happened with the possible gang war today. They were
manipulated to not only not fight each other, but to possibly improve
themselves." He thought a little, and said, "I see. I have learned
something important. Thank you very much! Your title of Master Teacher
is very well deserved!" Srinoy shouted "Yes!" Then he looked around in
embarrassment. His father said, "I have to agree." His mother nodded. I
said "Well, thank you. One more thing. Like in everything else, the
ability to debate, convince, argue, or any other words you would use
for the skill to influence people to comply with your desire, improves
with practice. Quickness of wit, and facility with language are helpful
skills. Sometimes, so is humor. It's a great distractor. Understanding
people and how they think, and even more, how they do not think, is
also very useful. Sincerity and honesty are very good things to bring
to an argument. There is one more thing which can help you win your
arguments. Anybody want to guess what that is?" Nobody did. I said
"Love. Well, I feel that working for me." They all nodded.
When the meal was over, and they were preparing to leave, I said,
"Are you going back to the Temple now?" He hesitated. I tried to look
like I wasn't planning anything. He said cautiously, "Do you have
something more to persuade us?" I said "Well, what do YOU think? And,
do you want to risk it?" I crossed my arms, and gave him a really evil
grin. Srinoy collapsed to the floor, laughing his head almost off his
shoulders. I said "Well, HE seems to think so." The monk couldn't help
laughing. He said "We will go. My word." I said "Aww, it would have
been a knockout. Here is a crystal of the incident of the gang war." He
grinned, and said, "And the winner by anticipated knockout, Stephen,
the true Master Teacher!" We bowed to each other. I said "One more part
of the lesson. Always hold something in reserve, to nail the lid on the
decision." He said "Effective teaching. I will be sure to remember
that." I said "And to help with that, a crystal of our conversation."
He took it, and we exchanged bows, with his thanks. They left.
The family all hugged and kissed me, with a lot of complements. Then
his father said with awe, "You are teaching the whole Temple, aren't
you." I said "Oh, I feel SO exposed." Srinoy said in admiration, "With
Stephen you never really know how many jobs he's working on at the same
time. He likes efficiency, so if one thing can do many things at once,
he is sure to do that." I said, after poking him, "REALLY exposed."
They laughed. I cleaned up the kitchen in less than a second, and said,
"Ready to go play some music?" His mother said, "I should really clean
up, first." I grinned and said, "What needs cleaning?" She looked
around and said, "Oh." I laughed. She hugged and kissed me, in thanks.
We did our bathroom things, and then ported to my house on Allguard,
directly to the music room. Hawk and Rose were there, naturally. Srinoy
went directly to his piano. I said to his parents. "You have an
electric piano at home in Bangkok. Would you have room for that grand?"
They discussed it, and said to me, "If we move some things, yes, and we
would really like to have it." I said "How long would it take to move
the things?" He said "Just a few minutes." I said "Then we should do it
now. There is a reason for that. Alright?" They nodded, and I ported us
there when they were ready. They did make the arrangements in a short
time, and I ported the piano in. I said "An exact duplicate. However,
the climate and floor are different here. The instrument should have
time to adjust to it, and then be tuned before playing. I'll take care
of that when it's time." They thanked me, and we ported back. Srinoy
was already playing something by Chopin.
When he was finished, I said, "I loved that. Chopin was Polish, but
had to leave his country, but he was still loyal to it. Do you know the
Warsaw Concerto?" He said "Yes. Can we play it in his honor?" I said
"If you will allow me to conduct, like I did before." He bowed to me,
and said, "I would be honored." I picked up the baton, and poised, and
he sat at the piano and nodded. Chad ported in. He nodded to me. I
stroked the explosion of sound into life from the phantom orchestra,
and Srinoy began. Nine minutes later, we were done. Chad cried and said
it was magnificent. We all agreed. We squished Srinoy like a tube of
toothpaste with our hugs, and kissed his skin almost off. He loved it,
naturally. I said "Time for you to rest. Now, Rose will play the minute
waltz on the piano." She said "I will?" I said, imperiously, "I am the
conductor!" She said "You just wait till I get you alone!" I said "Oh!
In that case, skip the piano, and tell me where!" They all laughed,
with Rose the loudest. She played it well, in just under a minute.
I said "Now another request. Hawk, on the piano, and with me on the
flute, playing the Flight of the Bumblebee. Hawk, here's the
arrangement." He nodded. We played it, alternating who took the lead,
weaving the sound around each other. When we finished, Srinoy said
"Wow!" His parents applauded. Chad said in amazement, "Stephen, was
that your own arrangement?" I said "Er, yes. I just thought of it, and
thought it might sound nice." He said "We HAVE to publish that!" I said
"Any of this is fine, if it keeps within our secrecy requirements."
Rose said, "I see now, why you chose these things to play. You are
leading up to something." Hawk said "When is he not?" Chad said, "True,
but what?" I said "That is for Srinoy to decide." He thought for a few
seconds, and said, "Technique. Expression. Expansion, then technique.
Then composition with all of that together, in virtuoso playing. My
progression in my future. Something to work toward." His father looked
at me in approval, and said, "Always the teacher. Thank you." I bowed.
Srinoy said, "What do we play next?" I said "You decide." He said
"Can you sing for us?" I said "I don't know. I can try. If my changing
voice has a problem, I'll stop." He said "Tenor about right?" I said
"For now." He said "I know you can do this. Send me an arrangement for
piano to accompany Tosca, act 3, 'E lucevan le stelle'." I said "Wow!
You sure are becoming demanding in your old age." He laughed. I made
and sent it to him. He said "Ready?" I said "When I raise my hand." I
did some vocal exercises, and then immersed myself in the role. I
raised my hand, and he began the introduction. I sang with my full
heart and skill, projecting it in full voice. When the last note tied
away, I ported a glass of water to me, and said through a 4th speaker,
while I was drinking, "Please excuse me for not speaking normally. My
vocal chords are a little raw. I'm healing them now. It should take a
few minutes." I said "Why are you all staring at me?" Srinoy said "You
are a GREAT singer!" I said "Well, I always try to do my best, but I
have to disagree. I know there are still ways I can and should
improve." Chad said, "Srinoy is right. That was brilliant. You were too
into it to realize it. You'll see when I play it back." He did, and I
said in surprise, "That was ME? Wow!" Hawk laughed and said, "You
aren't supposed to say wow about yourself." I said "Right. Thanks for
reminding me. I see it's true that you can't hear your voice correctly
while you are using it. I prefer instruments where you can."
I said, "Chad, can I play with your organ?" He said with a grin, "I'm
not going to fall for that again." He said to the others, "He means my
musical one." I said "Aww. I'll copy it, and power it with the 4th." He
said "That's right. There are no power outlets in your houses." I
ported the organ in. I announced, "Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. I
love it!" I started playing. Eight minutes later, I finished, to a big
round of applause. I said in my regular voice, "Thank you." I said a
silent "Oh!" Rose said "Wait! I'll check. Hmm, no damage. Your singing
just pushed your voice over the last edge in its changing. Any changes
now will be normally adult gradual. I have to say I like it a lot. VERY
resonant." Srinoy's mother said, "Me too. If I weren't already
and then he did. I said "It will take me a while to get used to this.
It just doesn't sound like me." Rose said, "Well, it sure doesn't sound
like ME." I said "Good." She laughed. I said "It sounds like I
swallowed a frog." Srinoy leapt on that opportunity to say, "Oh, but a
very nice frog." I laughed really hard. He explained why, while I was
hugging him.
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Grant
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