Chesslike Conversations

Does anyone else ever apply or visualize chess technigues when conversating? 

Example: In my head I always anylize points and counter points when I go over potential arguments Im going to have with someone.  I think about what they are going to say (which move they are going to make next).  Then I think of my best option to to counter and also make headway on my point (block their development while attacking as well in one move).   When I think in my head about a series of points and counter points that are going to go my way in the conversation but then hit a snag with something they can say which would stop me dead in my string of points, I go back a few points (moves) and say something which makes them say something that will prevent them from making that point later in the converation.  It's the equivilent of a conversatinal pin.  Ive pinned that statement so that it cannot be made against me.  I studied law in college and lawyers seem to do this very well.  They can get a witness to say something early which may SEEM irrevelant then a few points later that statement comes back to bit them bc it may contridict something the witness would like to say later but now they cant.

Its kinda confusing.  Sorry I didn't explain myself better but does anyone else view conversations as chesslike sequences?

yep, all the time. i generally go through a few possible things i could say and what that might lead them to say afterwards. i can generally drive a conversation the way that suits me that way. makes it much easier to pose the questions in my mind. =)

so then what do you do when someone surprises you or says something you never thought they'd say? 

i don't play that way, either in chess or in conversation (which probably accounts for my low rating) I usually think the person I'm playing or conversing with has original thoughts that I haven't heard before and therefore I'm not thinking of anything else while they are speaking, I'm listening to them. 

The longer you go preparing for the most probable and best scenerios, the less often you will be surprised by anything.  And even if a move is made or something is said that you didn't prepare for it's usually a treat bc since you've already prepared for the worst anything else is a bonus.

Another similarity is this.  I like to be the one to initiate the conversation/argument if I know that there will be one bc then it's like starting off as white.  You can drive the conversation bc you went first so to speak and as long as you don't bluder and say something self defeating, you should come out on top.

The reason I thought about it today specifically is bc I have a friend that really let me down yesterday so I was going over a list of points I was going to bring up explaining why he is unrealiable.  So for every point I was going to bring up I would prepare for his best counterpoint.  I hit a wall when I realized that he did recently come through for me in a big way for once despite all the times he fell short so he pinned my point that he is "always" unrealiable.  I couldn't say "always" bc that one act where he did come through pinned that down so I needed to bring something up early in the conversation to free up that point so it could be made. 

I dont know, I go through that sort of mentality with a lot of interactions with people I guess.

LOL

Sometimes I enter a conversation reading my key points directly from notes.  The person with whom I'm speaking will say something along the lines of "what the heck are you doing?", to which I'll reply "I'm reading from my notes", to which he replies "well I'm not reading from notes", to which I counter "ok then that's your choice, but you are going to lose."  I call this the database approach.

Although in a real life conversation instead of just thinking I'm weak-minded my debating "opponent" just thinks I'm insane.  Win some ya lose some I guess...  Ok Ok so that wasn't as funny as all the other examples but I tried...

Majere I tend to do what you speak of in forums which is why most of my posts can become huge walls of text especially when I'm starting off or responding to a thread that I suspect will stir up a bit of controversy. Likewise, when playing chess I'll often cover my bases to a fault where I'll exhaustively try to analyze a position much deeper then anyone in their right mind probably should...

However in real life I try to be a bit more spontaneous and rely on my intuition.  I find that if I go into a conversation with too many preconceived thoughts and ideas I become too rigid and as others have said fail to truly listen and be "in the moment".  Similarly this is why I play my correspondence chess without databases.  Using a database makes my chess too controlled, pre-determined and lacking intuition, instead of me simply playing "chess". (conversing).

Hope that made sense.  It probably didn't, it's late here. Cheers.

p.s.  Of course if it was in my profession to win all arguments (like a lawyer) then I'd be all over structuring my every statement.  As it pertains to family and friends though, I try to keep things as real and free-flowing as possible.  Well I try.