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I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

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Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#21

Post by toomanybeersies »

Swizec wrote: post #18
buchanae wrote: post #12

I'm the same way! I have to train myself not to think when people give a casual "hey, how are you?". The book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts" has an interesting message about how introverts struggle to fit into an image of society where one must be a quick-witted extrovert in order to be successful and powerful. I think it's the same for fast vs slow thinkers. It's important to know your a slow thinker, and accept i…

You would be surprised how often people don't even notice if you respond to "hey, how are you", with "hi". But, really, the script you're meant to follow goes like this: Hey how are you? Hey, good, how about you? Pretty good Then, if the conversation is meant to continue, which it most often is not, one of you says "So ... what's up in your life?" or "So ... how's that thing you're working on going?" or some other mo…

It's just a standard greeting. Personally, I find it weird if people actually tell me how they're going when I ask them.

It's even more peculiar/banal in French, where the conversation goes:

    Salut, ça va?
    Ça va, et toi?
    Ça va.
"Ça va" translates to "it is". So in essence, it's a completely meaningless exchange.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#22

Post by toomanybeersies »

voltagex_ wrote: post #20
Swizec wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised how often people don't even notice if you respond to "hey, how are you", with "hi". But, really, the script you're meant to follow goes like this: Hey how are you? Hey, good, how about you? Pretty good Then, if the conversation is meant to continue, which it most often is not, one of you says "So ... what's up in your life?" or "So ... how's that thing you're working on going?" or some other mo…

I wonder if it's an Australian thing for the response to "how ya goin'?" to be "how ya goin'?".

I've always considered the standard reply to be "yeah nah, not too bad, yourself?". I think that it's possibly more Kiwi than Australian though.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#23

Post by pnsr »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #21
Swizec wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised how often people don't even notice if you respond to "hey, how are you", with "hi". But, really, the script you're meant to follow goes like this: Hey how are you? Hey, good, how about you? Pretty good Then, if the conversation is meant to continue, which it most often is not, one of you says "So ... what's up in your life?" or "So ... how's that thing you're working on going?" or some other mo…

It's just a standard greeting. Personally, I find it weird if people actually tell me how they're going when I ask them. It's even more peculiar/banal in French, where the conversation goes: Salut, ça va? Ça va, et toi? Ça va. "Ça va" translates to "it is". So in essence, it's a completely meaningless exchange.

"Ça va." translates "It's going well", not "it is". Similarly, "Ça va?" translates to "Is it going well?".

It's as meaningless an exchange as most greetings (the only meaning being to actually acknowledge and greet the person), but it does mean something literally, and the exchange is technically more complete than when answering "How are you?" with "Hi".

That being said, you'll see someone answering "Salut, ça va?" with "Salut!" quite frequently as well. I would perhaps consider it slightly more of a misstep than in English, but only marginally so.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#24

Post by derefr »

voltagex_ wrote: post #20
Swizec wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised how often people don't even notice if you respond to "hey, how are you", with "hi". But, really, the script you're meant to follow goes like this: Hey how are you? Hey, good, how about you? Pretty good Then, if the conversation is meant to continue, which it most often is not, one of you says "So ... what's up in your life?" or "So ... how's that thing you're working on going?" or some other mo…

I wonder if it's an Australian thing for the response to "how ya goin'?" to be "how ya goin'?".

As well, the South African “howzit”, which from my observation isn’t even actually a question but just invites the other person to say what they wanted to say.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#25

Post by buchanae »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #22
voltagex_ wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if it's an Australian thing for the response to "how ya goin'?" to be "how ya goin'?".

I've always considered the standard reply to be "yeah nah, not too bad, yourself?". I think that it's possibly more Kiwi than Australian though.

I love how often phrases start with "yeah..."

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#26

Post by tomahunt »

A medical doctor friend of mine pointed out that thinking slow was fine, except in an emergency or indeed any time--limited situation where the rate of response needs to be above some threshold. Think: baraster responding to opponent, a and e doctor, board-room negotiation etc.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#27

Post by weberc2 »

exrook wrote: post #3

It's interesting to compare this to the idea of the brain having two systems of cognition: a "System 1" process that is automatic and quick to respond, relying on memorized behaviors; and a "System 2" process that is more methodical, logical, and deliberate, but far slower to react. The author's point being that we should try harder to use our System 2 thought process at the expense of quick turnaround from the Syste…

I relate to the author of the original article in that I'm a slow thinker. I really envy people who can vocalize intelligent, confident decisions or opinions on the spot. I don't like feeling stupid because I can't articulate moderately complex thoughts on the spot. It feels like I don't think in words anymore, but rather in something like abstract math (not like a savant, mind you), and translating back to words accurately is laborious and time consuming. I like the pace of commenting on an Internet forum like this one, where I can be thoughtful and take my time and rewrite a bit before sharing.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#28

Post by __s »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #21
Swizec wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised how often people don't even notice if you respond to "hey, how are you", with "hi". But, really, the script you're meant to follow goes like this: Hey how are you? Hey, good, how about you? Pretty good Then, if the conversation is meant to continue, which it most often is not, one of you says "So ... what's up in your life?" or "So ... how's that thing you're working on going?" or some other mo…

It's just a standard greeting. Personally, I find it weird if people actually tell me how they're going when I ask them. It's even more peculiar/banal in French, where the conversation goes: Salut, ça va? Ça va, et toi? Ça va. "Ça va" translates to "it is". So in essence, it's a completely meaningless exchange.

"It is" is "C'est"

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#29

Post by bmcfeeley »

pnsr wrote: post #23
toomanybeersies wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a standard greeting. Personally, I find it weird if people actually tell me how they're going when I ask them. It's even more peculiar/banal in French, where the conversation goes: Salut, ça va? Ça va, et toi? Ça va. "Ça va" translates to "it is". So in essence, it's a completely meaningless exchange.

"Ça va." translates "It's going well", not "it is". Similarly, "Ça va?" translates to "Is it going well?". It's as meaningless an exchange as most greetings (the only meaning being to actually acknowledge and greet the person), but it does mean something literally, and the exchange is technically more complete than when answering "How are you?" with "Hi". That being said, you'll see someone answering "Salut, ça va?"…

The literal translation of “Ça va” is neither “it is” nor “it goes well”, right? The literal translation is “it goes”. “It goes well” would be “ça va bien”, which is also used for both question and answer parts of a slightly longer standard greeting.

This isn’t a big distinction because I agree with both of you about the relative meaninglessness of the content of such a greeting in either language.

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