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Willingness to look stupid

danluu.com

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Re: Willingness to look stupid

#231

Post by baobabKoodaa »

tremon wrote: post #17
sillysaurusx wrote: post #2

> Going into an Apple store and asking for (and buying) the computer that comes in the smallest box, which I had a good reason to want at the time > The person who helped me, despite being very polite, also clearly thought I was a bozo and kept explaining things like "the size of the box and the size of the computer aren't the same". Of course I knew that, but I didn't want to say something like "I design CPUs. I und…

I'm going to guess it's about luggage size restrictions for (air) travel.

Presumably you would throw the box away before air travel, and according to the article box size != laptop size.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#232

Post by pydry »

afarrell wrote: post #152
pydry wrote: post #55

One way to prove that he truly doesn't mind looking stupid would be to list times when he risked looking stupid... and it turns out he actually was. It's happened to all of us though we dont like to admit it. I'm sure it's happened to him too and I looked but I didn't see any of those examples listed. Giving only examples of when people thought he was dumb and it turned out he wasn't... that's kind of just a roundabo…

Or it is an unwillingness to be vulnerable to the entire internet. Why? Probably fear of being misinterpreted and pilloried by strangers. It is a justifiable fear. For example, it is easy for people to interpret an imperfect amount of courage as "humble-bragging".

Maybe. He didnt add the caveat "I don't mind looking stupid except when the entire internet can see" though.

I thought it was heavily implied from the way the article started that we'd be reading some embarrassing stories.

I was somewhat disappointed to see that he was presenting himself as just a humble genius who thinks different.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#234

Post by sethammons »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #2

> Going into an Apple store and asking for (and buying) the computer that comes in the smallest box, which I had a good reason to want at the time > The person who helped me, despite being very polite, also clearly thought I was a bozo and kept explaining things like "the size of the box and the size of the computer aren't the same". Of course I knew that, but I didn't want to say something like "I design CPUs. I und…

I'm thinking the reason why people think the author is "stupid" is because each is working with a different set of base assumptions. The worker can't imagine a case where the box dimensions would be material as that box is likely to be in the trash can in n minutes. The author wouldn't hit so many cases of being looked at crossly if they worked to bridge understanding with the other person. All of the cases presented suggest to me person may have some emotional intelligence to develop.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#235

Post by wccrawford »

Ensorceled wrote: post #112
MrQuincle wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's better to be a bit more charitable here indeed. I also found it striking how the post is emphasizing how important transparency in asking questions is which might or might not reveal the intelectual qualities of the person asking, but then failing to be that transparent towards both the clerk and the reader of the blog post about the internal thought process. If one would like people to learn, enlighten…

I have encountered both, I'm sort of leaning towards being charitable since the "just asking questions" crowd tends not to write articles about their behaviour! That lack of transparency seems to be a theme. I have difficulty with blood draws as well and I have never encountered a health care professional that didn't immediately switch to "ok, which arm is usually best" mode.

I've seen people getting a blood draw that the nurse wasn't willing to listen to. They'd tell them what usually happens, and how it goes best, and the nurse would ignore them.

In the end, every single one of the patients was correct. Anyone who typically had problems with blood draws knew their problems well.

Yes, most nurses listen. But there are enough out there that don't that I've seen it multiple times.

I've said nurses, but I don't actually know their professions.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#237

Post by baobabKoodaa »

jbjohns wrote: post #136
sillysaurusx wrote: post #2

> Going into an Apple store and asking for (and buying) the computer that comes in the smallest box, which I had a good reason to want at the time > The person who helped me, despite being very polite, also clearly thought I was a bozo and kept explaining things like "the size of the box and the size of the computer aren't the same". Of course I knew that, but I didn't want to say something like "I design CPUs. I und…

It's amusing how many people are literally offended that they didn't explain why. But the answer we have is: because they wanted the smaller box. They are paying for it, no further explanation is required to the employee or anyone else. The employee should get the smallest box as requested and then they can try something like "may I know why you want the smallest box? I might be able to provide better help".

I'll try my best to alleviate you bewilderment. I think people are offended because there is a certain "contract" to social interactions that people are expected to comply with, and this behavior broke that unwritten contract. Furthermore, it's not apparent to readers what could be gained from breaking the contract like that, so it seems like breaking the contract for no reason.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#238

Post by dd36 »

HeckFeck wrote: post #157
dotancohen wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Naturally, the established powers and polite society didn't find this to their liking. We all know how his story ended. Socrates was sentenced to death not for exposing how little everyone else knew. The esteemed philosopher was sentenced to death because he was deliberately annoying people - like a fly - with badgering questions that would force the questionee into a corner. Today we call this method of exposing c…

Ah, didn't expect the venerable Meletus to show up in the conversation today. How's the weather in Athens? > sentenced to death because he was deliberately annoying people I see you're still certain of Socrates' motives. When you claimed he was 'corrupting the minds of the youth' and 'denying the gods of the city' you were simply repeating the charges laid at any philosopher who threatens the powers that be. If anyon…

Who has been deplatformed for questioning the status quo? Isn’t literally all of BLM challenging the status quo?

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#239

Post by unbalancedevh »

akudha wrote: post #164
dusted wrote: post #50

When I was younger, I often met people who seemed kind of dim to me, at first, and later found the majority of them to be orders of magnitude brighter than me. It was not hard to connect the dots, the reason they were so much brighter was (in part) exactly because of what made them initially seem dim.. They asked questions, honestly. Not the showoff kind of question you ask to show how much you know, but real, honest…

I think people who are afraid to ask questions are conditioned to be that way. It is just easy to keep quiet in a team meeting than risk asking/saying something that might expose one's lack of knowledge on the topic being discussed. People also secretly hope that someone else might ask the same question that they are thinking about, so the other person can take that risk. The environment largely shapes people's behav…

So, there's that saying, "stay quiet and be thought a fool; open your mouth and remove all doubt." In a team meeting, it's easy to feel like you'll not only look foolish because you asked a question that everyone else knows the answer to, but you're also wasting everyone's time.

I certainly remember feeling that way when I was a junior engineer. It was kind of a shock to me when I realized how many others generally had the same questions I did.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#240

Post by known »

"Understanding is more important than memorization! Schools should teach the students how to understand, think, doubt, and question. They should be made open to imagination and creativity" --Feynman
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