ABSTRACT
Is the person who answered “Yes” to this series of questions being flippant? Or merely factual? Or is the answerer just responding affirmatively to whatever question he is asked? Perhaps the questioner can decide among these possibilities by drawing on information acquired in previous interaction with the answerer, on the answerer’s reputation as a smart-aleck, or on the answerer’s ironic smile or tone of voice. It is difficult, however, for the rest of us to decide, having to rely only on the few short lines of conversation that are available. The point of this example is that knowing the answerer’s words (or, in this case, word) isn’t always sufficient for us to determine what our next response should be. To make that decision, we would want to know what the answerer meant or intended by saying “Yes” to every question. In other words, we would want to “read” the answerer’s mind.
