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“Backyard cat fight shows Schelling points preexist language” by jchan

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Two cats fighting for control over my backyard appear to have settled on a particular chain-link fence as the delineation between their territories. This suggests that:

  1. Animals are capable of recognizing Schelling points
  2. Therefore, Schelling points do not depend on language for their Schelling-ness
  3. Therefore, tacit bargaining should be understood not as a special case of bargaining where communication happens to be restricted, but rather as the norm from which the exceptional case of explicit bargaining is derived.

    4. Summary of cat situation

    I don't have any pets, so my backyard is terra nullius according to Cat Law. This situation is unstable, as there are several outdoor cats in the neighborhood who would like to claim it. Our two contenders are Tabby Cat, who lives on the other side of the waist-high chain-link fence marking the back edge of my lot, and Tuxedo Cat, who lives in the place next-door to me.

    | |
    | Tabby's |
    | yard |
    | (A) |
    ------+...........+--------
    | (B) |
    | | Tuxedo's
    | My yard | yard
    | |
    |
    | -- tall wooden fences
    .... short chain-link fence

    In the first [...]

    ---

    Outline:

    (00:43) Summary of cat situation

    (03:28) Why the fence?

    (04:00) If animals have Schelling points, then...

    ---

    First published:

    January 14th, 2026

    Source:

    https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/uYr8pba7TqaPpszX5/backyard-cat-fight-shows-schelling-points-preexist-language

    ---

    Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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