Salami Tactics

And here is where I start to blur into a slightly different topic of my interest that many people may or may not know about me. Social engineering. Now, before I go any further here, let it be known that I write this post with a decent amount of hesitation. And here's why. It's not like I'm any sort of a social engineering expert. Not by a large margin. But I'd argue that among my group of friends, I'm probably the most qualified to give it a shot. Second, a lot of you gamers out there who I essentially intend to be my target audience for the most part likely don't care about this topic (though I will be tying it into gaming so don't you fret). And lastly, the more I actually reveal about social engineering, the more people can start to really understand how I interact with people. Not to say that I'm trying to manipulate all the time, but every interaction I have with anyone else is admittedly a calculation on my part that can be broken down and analyzed. That's just how I am and to have people understand that side of me leaves me pretty vulnerable. But on the flipside, this one blog post isn't going to be totally self-revealing in any such way so it's only a small sliver of a bigger picture.

Now, if I'm right about the demographic of people that would generally be viewing my blog anyway, I'd say that most of you gamer geeks out there could really take something out of the discussion of social engineering. Don't lie. Though the stereotypical geek has come a heckuva long way from even half a decade ago, there's still this stigma that's attached to a very real (mostly intrinsic) feeling that a lot of geeks are only comfortable around other people of the same geekdom caliber. Out in public where not everyone knows what a Magic card is, how exactly they should prioritize rotation to maximize dps, or even who shot first, some geeks have a hard time fitting in. I think my biggest pet peeve are those that are entirely socially inept. This is probably because since high school, it has always been my goal to be something of a social chameleon, which is likely too far to the opposite side of the spectrum that most people care to be on.

If everything I've said so far is complete jabberwocky, then feel free to stop here and go about your day. Otherwise, talking about salami tactics and what it has to do with gaming after the jump.

A friend (Austin) brought up to me in a quick discussion that social engineering really isn't too far removed from game theory. Which is a fantastic way to think about it. To me, social engineering is the game theory that occurs through social interaction. The difference is that we aren't necessarily always looking to "win" a social interaction... or are we? In my mind, we are. It's just that both sides of the interaction can win and that's ok too. Those involved can also have different definitions and goals for the interaction for their own "win condition", whether they know this on a conscious level or not. Either way, both social engineering and game theory are psychological studies and can have pretty neat intersections since they both deal with social interaction on a high level, so pretty universal stuff here.

I guess I should back up a little bit and talk about the overarching term "social engineering". I think a lot of people still look at this term in a very bad light because of what it meant before versus what I believe it means now. The term social engineering was a very real threat that started back in the 80's to describe manipulative social tricks that hackers used to use in order to obtain security information to help them hack systems. I'd like to believe we've come a long way from this definition. While the roots of this term are all about confidence tricks and hoaxing an opponent, I think this term is much more broad nowadays to describe social tactics that work to manipulate your way through tough situations and get more out of the interaction than you normally would. And I mean, that could be as harmless as switching your table at a restaurant without making your waitress feel bad. Or maybe getting a room upgrade at your hotel for no charge. Of course, there are social engineering experts that do use tactics for security breaching, but I'm staying far far away from that aspect of the topic.

So what the hell are salami tactics, eh? Ok. You ever go to your grocery store and to the deli counter? You see something you sort of want to try and you (very innocently) ask the deli person to have a slice of that thing. "No problem!" He cuts a slice and hands it over to you. Free of charge, of course. Just a small piece, a sample, a taste. Ok, well, you don't like that one. Let's try... the other meat. Or that cheese. "Sure, sure! Here you go." Now you've gotten two pieces of meat and a piece of cheese for free... How far exactly can you push this? And this is the salami tactic. Specifically named after doing what I just described with salami at the deli. How many insignificantly small slices of something can you get for free before you're completely full up and have gotten all you've wanted without the other person even knowing?

The psychology behind this is that everyone has an idea of what something is worth. Often, there are small pieces that the mind decides are close enough to zero value that the mind rounds down for the sake of argument. Of course, this is not the case since everything of non zero value, regardless of how close it is to zero, still has value. When you ask for that small sliver of something, it is easy for the other person to interact favorably because there is little sacrifice made. Permission or acceptance of the situation is given and interaction continues. The repeating of this action does not change the value of that sliver, so the person utilizing salami tactics will cleverly receive a large portion of whatever it was at little to no cost. Do you think anyone has ever gone to the deli counter and said "Hey, can I get a quarter of that wheel of cheese for free?" It wouldn't work. Starting small and staying incrementally small psychologically gets you much further than coming out with a bang.

This tactic is/can be helpful everywhere you look. Let's move onto an example in Magic. Remember, salami tactics revolve around a permission-based mindset. What better method to talk about permission than to talk about control decks? The matchup is something like Red Deck Wins piloted by you vs. Bant Control. What happens in Magic when it's turn 6 and your opponent just cast Supreme Verdict two turns ago? You have 5 cards in hand after your draw step, your opponent has 5 cards in hand, life totals are 16 (you) to 8 (them). Board is clear, you each have 5 lands in play untapped, nothing else important of note in graveyard or elsewhere. Cards in hand: Mountain, Ash Zealot, Ash Zealot, Searing Spear, Thundermaw Hellkite. Note, here I'm not actually looking for the absolute "correct play", as this is more an exhibit on how a social engineering tactic works alongside game theory. Whether the plays I discuss to follow are the utmost in correctness I'm not particularly concerned with, especially as I explore the result of only two options.

Let's see what happens if we do this:
OPTION 1:
You: Play Mountain. Tap out for Hellkite.
Opponent: No way. I don't like that. Dissipate Hellkite.

OPTION 2You: Play Mountain. Tap 2, Ash Zealot.
Opponent: ...Ok. (Thought process: 4 Mountain still untapped, enough for a Hellrider). Resolves.
You: Tap 2, Ash Zealot.
Opponent: (Thought process: Let's try to conserve some life.) Dissipate Ash Zealot.
You: Ok. Swing Ash Zealot. You take 2. Second main, Searing Spear you.

Again, there can be much debate as to correctness of either of these options when it comes to play, but in looking at the difference here, we can clearly see that option 1 does not utilize salami tactics whereas option 2 does. Option 1 has the mindset of dealing 5 now and then finishing the game with Searing Spear next turn. Sounds good, but the opponent does not allow it. Having a 5/5 flier is just not acceptable. It is too large a threat and if there is a counterspell in hand, that Hellkite will get countered. Option 2 plays small threats, a la salami tactics. A small 2/2 often flies under the radar, especially when the opponent thinks there could be a follow-up big threat. The 2/2 resolves. The second 2/2 does not, but then the counterspell is used on it so that the Searing Spear can also resolve. Option 1 does very little (nothing, really) whereas Option 2 leaves you with a board presence of a 2/2, the opponent down 5 life, and a major threat still in hand.

 

How about elsewhere? I've seen this happen specifically in WoW. A new player joins a medium-sized guild and within the hour says "Hey, what do I have to do to be class champion here? I'm really good, I can prove it." Chances are, that moron will never actually get to be class champion of that guild. I don't care how good he actually is. Large majestic claims and pursuits of that nature are off putting. Instead, here's how I became Shaman class champion (this was during Burning Crusade, by the way). After a few hours of joining and guild chat banter, I asked how long the usual wait was to get promoted to the next step up - the one that was basically non-newb guild chump. The leader laughed and just promoted me to the next step. About a week later, I asked about the next step and what it required of the members. I got to know a lot of the guild members at this point, so the guild leader again just promoted me. This trend continued until I had to prove I knew my class and beat the current guild leader in a duel challenge, especially since the guild leaders/champions knew I was around more than the former shaman champion anyway. Salami tactics.

So how does this tie into everyday life? Well, it actually comes quite naturally and you probably don't even know it. For those gamers out there that get nervous in social situations, listen up. The next time you see a group of people you don't know talking amongst themselves about a movie or a video game and you get all excited, don't bust into the group and chime in with your two cents. Awkward. You get weird looks like "who invited this guy?" It's too much, too quick. Instead, chuckle from outside the group and make an unassuming comment. "Hah. Hey, cool shirt." An unassuming, unthreatening comment with value. The response (unless they're complete jerks) will likely be a short pause in conversation, a smile, and a thank you. Then you can make a quick comment about whatever they are talking about. Non-awkard. Salami tactics. The same way you wouldn't see a cute girl at the bar and immediately ask her out. No, you say hi and then ask if you can get her a drink. Make small talk with her and her friends. Salami tactics.

Well, this is clearly the longest blog post I've ever made. Sorry for those of you who waded through it and didn't like it. Otherwise, and either way, I'd love some feedback! Would you guys like more on social engineering or never again? Do you have specific topics that you'd like my opinion on? Leave some comments.