If Alice says something to Bob, Alice (in general) has a plan, where Alice’s own speech act is part of the plan, and Bob interpreting the speech in a certain way is also part of the plan. If the plan concludes ”...and then Bob concludes that I am in his in-group”, then that’s level 3. If the plan concludes ”...and then Bob knows not to swim in the shark-infested river”, then that’s level 1. Etc.
Without the speaker modeling the listener and incorporating the listener’s expected interpretation into a plan, you can’t have different levels, I don’t think.
I’ll grant that this approximately works, but I don’t think it works in detail.
For example, I’ve operated at level 1 in cases where I have a low expectation of being believed—I simply say true things. My “plan” is more “Alice will know that I believe X” or something. I might be doing it because voicing thoughts aloud helps me to think things through, or because I value speaking the truth as a policy. These seem like they can be level 1 concerns. (Valuing truth as a policy could be a level 3 concern in some cases, if I value it for identity-type reasons. But this is also a counterexample to your pattern.)
Hmm, I think levels 2-4 absolutely require simulating the person you’re talking to, almost by definition, so if you’re just taking without thinking about how it will be understood by the person you’re talking to, I’d say that’s either level 1 or “none of the above”. (Like, singing in the shower or muttering under your breath are “none of the above”, probably.)
Also, speech acts (like all our other actions) have a messy mixture of various motivations. So, like, if you’re talking to rationalists, saying true and profound things about the world presumably works on both level 3 and level 1. I don’t think there’s an answer to “what level is it really?” It can be mostly level 1 or mostly level 3, but it’s unlikely to be 100% pure one or the other, at least for neurotypical speakers, I think.
If Alice says something to Bob, Alice (in general) has a plan, where Alice’s own speech act is part of the plan, and Bob interpreting the speech in a certain way is also part of the plan. If the plan concludes ”...and then Bob concludes that I am in his in-group”, then that’s level 3. If the plan concludes ”...and then Bob knows not to swim in the shark-infested river”, then that’s level 1. Etc.
Without the speaker modeling the listener and incorporating the listener’s expected interpretation into a plan, you can’t have different levels, I don’t think.
I’ll grant that this approximately works, but I don’t think it works in detail.
For example, I’ve operated at level 1 in cases where I have a low expectation of being believed—I simply say true things. My “plan” is more “Alice will know that I believe X” or something. I might be doing it because voicing thoughts aloud helps me to think things through, or because I value speaking the truth as a policy. These seem like they can be level 1 concerns. (Valuing truth as a policy could be a level 3 concern in some cases, if I value it for identity-type reasons. But this is also a counterexample to your pattern.)
Hmm, I think levels 2-4 absolutely require simulating the person you’re talking to, almost by definition, so if you’re just taking without thinking about how it will be understood by the person you’re talking to, I’d say that’s either level 1 or “none of the above”. (Like, singing in the shower or muttering under your breath are “none of the above”, probably.)
Also, speech acts (like all our other actions) have a messy mixture of various motivations. So, like, if you’re talking to rationalists, saying true and profound things about the world presumably works on both level 3 and level 1. I don’t think there’s an answer to “what level is it really?” It can be mostly level 1 or mostly level 3, but it’s unlikely to be 100% pure one or the other, at least for neurotypical speakers, I think.