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I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

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Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#31

Post by sitkack »

glangdale wrote: post #4

I feel this way too. Someone once told me about their Google interview and mentioned one of the problems. I spent a fruitless 20 mins flailing around trying for a good solution, then stopped thinking about it. 5 hours later on public transit the entire (and, as it happens, perfect) solution popped, unbidden, into my head. I always thought that would have been particularly galling if it had been my interview...

Those questions are horrible. They have almost no signal, I interview a ton of people and I ask much much simpler questions, a question that starts easy and can be made more complex is best. I used to ask stupid hard questions and I have matured.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#32

Post by Pimpus »

weberc2 wrote: post #27
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 acc…

Getting sharper takes practice. I like to unwind on forums too but it's not pushing you to think faster. Also, getting your thoughts, actions, and words all in alignment will help, as there will be less hesitation on each front.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#33

Post by brookside »

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…

David E. Davis, founder of Automobile magazine was known to ask "Is your life a rich tapestry?" instead of the usual "How are you?". I like that.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#34

Post by BuckRogers »

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.

I worked/lived in France for some time earlier in my career, you can just use ca va. No real need for salut or the et toi. I had this conversation many mornings in the office. Ca is closer to "it goes" than "it is" in this context. Va being the same as in Spanish.

Ca va?

Ca va ca va. Ca va?

Ca va.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#35

Post by msaltz »

bmcfeeley wrote: post #29
pnsr wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

As a question it does literally translate to “How’s it going?” and then as a response it’s like “It’s going”, but translating common idioms like this completely literally word-by-word doesn’t really make sense. It’s sort of interesting to think about for the same reason that all idioms are interesting, but it’s not very helpful when it comes to translation.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#36

Post by toomanybeersies »

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?"…

Well apparently my French is a bit rusty.

"Ça va" translates literally to "it goes".

So the above exchange would literally translate to:

    Hello, it goes?
    It goes, and you?
    It goes.
I guess it's no more banal than answering "how's it going" with "it's going", which isn't that uncommon for people to say. Answering "how's it going" with "not bad, yourself?" isn't really any better either.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#37

Post by jordansmithnz »

I often feel the same way, although I’ve learnt to react quickly with an answer slightly better than ‘I don’t know’. Answering with related principles that you believe in and commenting on what you can, followed by ‘I need to think about this some more’ comes across better than ‘I don’t know’.

I wonder if this could be related somehow to the Dunning-Kruger effect? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effec...

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#38

Post by keithnz »

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.

usually we'd do a yeah nah, as an optimized "I hear what you are saying, but that's not true... "

as in "You're looking well", "yeah, nah, been a bit crook lately"

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#39

Post by n4r9 »

brookside wrote: post #33
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…

David E. Davis, founder of Automobile magazine was known to ask "Is your life a rich tapestry?" instead of the usual "How are you?". I like that.

The existentialist in me finds that intriguing; the introvert in me finds that terrifying.

Re: I’m a very slow thinker (2016)

#40

Post by jaza »

Yes. This is me too. And I've seldom been bothered about it. I have many times been called slow, but never stupid, and that's fine with me.

I consider myself quite articulate, but I'm much more comfortable expressing myself in written than in spoken form, mainly because I need and I cherish the extra time that the former medium gives me, to more eloquently structure and refine what's being communicated.

Just because the accelerator pedal is there, doesn't mean you have to floor it all the time.

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