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Willingness to look stupid

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Re: Willingness to look stupid

#311

Post by andi999 »

watwut wrote: post #204
medstrom wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going by Wikipedia, it's not agreed why exactly he was executed, but you don't execute someone for being annoying. The official charges were impiety and "corrupting the youth". Probably some political groups felt threatened by the idea of lots of people turning to a different set of ethics or starting to distrust authority.

His students and friends took power once before and instituted dictatorship with help of Sparta (enemy city). Killed and tortured opposition, then were taken down in contra revolution. So yeah, "different set of ethics or starting to distrust authority" but no necessary in a nice way.

I don't remember Plato mentioning that :-)

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#312

Post by bambax »

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…

Yes. It seems the point of the article is to take revenge at those who might have thought he was stupid (although they didn't say anything at the time) and tell them: "See? I was right all along!"

He sounds more like my mother in law than like a keen philosopher.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#314

Post by ciconia »

If there's one thing I learned in my time on this earth it's that there are very few stupid people. If my first impression is that the person is "stupid", I usually find that it's just a matter of really listening to the them and to what they have to say with an open mind and an open heart.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#315

Post by bambax »

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…

What would be funny would be if in some alternate universe the small box contained the biggest, bulkiest, most powerful computer.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#316

Post by NovemberWhiskey »

gizmo wrote: post #39
terabytest wrote: post #27

I guess the "stupid question" I'd ask of this article is: why don't you reveal your goals or thought process when challenged after asking a question that might be perceived as stupid? Take the Apple Store example: why not explain the reason why you were asking for a product by the size of its box when they responded by saying that size of the box does not map to size of the product? Being open about your goal would'v…

But why can't you just ask for what you want without people automatically assuming you're stupid? If you care that strangers think you're dumb you have to adjust your behavior a lot and some people would rather just be genuine. Besides, the easiest way to not look stupid is to make up a reason that sounds reasonable (i.e. lying) to get what you want. This is what many (most?) people do. If they want the Apple compute…

The writer conflates "the person at the Apple Store was trying to be helpful" with "the person at the Apple Store thought I was stupid".

Part of the job of someone working in a customer-facing, sales job is to understand what the customer wants. A sales associate at an Apple Store probably has dozens of interactions every day where they're able to help people understand the products better and enable them to make a more informed decision. That is their job.

Saying "I just want the one that's in the smallest box" makes you look like a customer that's in need of guidance and help, and someone who's probably going to have a bad experience with the product if they don't get it.

Getting irritated by a response that is trying to help just shows a lack of empathy. People are not robots and there is a really good reason that the "white lie" is a thing.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#317

Post by stavros »

ghufran_syed wrote: post #181
alexandrerond wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally. There's distance between: "people think I'm stupid because I'm not scared to show that I don't know about something" and some of the examples which are more along the lines of "people think I'm stupid because I act as a self-entitled genius who provides little context or reasoning behind choices and expect everyone to line up behind with no question" What is the Apple store employee supposed to do to not mak…

“What is the Apple store employee supposed to do to not make someone feel stupid when they ask for the smallest box?” Maybe ask the customer, “can I ask why you would like the one with the smallest box?” instead of making assumptions? Although note that this might also be classified as a question where the person asking is admitting they don’t understand why someone would want this aka “looking dumb” in the wording f…

I don't understand why he was asking for the smallest box, though? Isn't that an inefficient proxy? Wouldn't asking to see the computers have been more accurate?

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#318

Post by dangerface »

twobitshifter wrote: post #269
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…

In would say it goes even further than humblebragging, and ventures into narcissism and an inability to handle criticism, explain oneself, or accept help. If the car insurance salesperson disagrees with you, maybe you should try to understand why? Did you really consider the possible that a tree branch could fall in front of your car or that you could get caught in a hail storm? If the Apple store employee doesn’t un…

> explain oneself

I hate this, the idea that I should have to explain myself to a random stranger in a shop as if they are entitled to know anything about me. I buy a lot of sweets on Friday for the weekend and regularly the clerk behind the till will make a comment, "Thats a lot of chocolate! Who is going to eat all that! You must be having a party whats the occasion?". In front of a line of customers who are eager to get home I have to explain myself to the clerk "Im depressed!"... and then just stand there awkwardly waiting for them to finish doing their job.

I get it they are just trying to be friendly but I don't want it no one in the queue behind me wants it, no one wants to explain themselves to a stranger we will never meet again, I just want the sweets / laptop please and thank you.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#319

Post by bambax »

ciconia wrote: post #314

If there's one thing I learned in my time on this earth it's that there are very few stupid people. If my first impression is that the person is "stupid", I usually find that it's just a matter of really listening to the them and to what they have to say with an open mind and an open heart.

Yes and no. Yes there are very few stupid "people", but there are stupid reactions and actions. The reason isn't that the people are stupid, it's often that they are busy with other things.

It's amazing to me how conservative people are with their mental energy. Many people hate to think. Not because they can't! Just because they would rather not. I'm not sure why.

Re: Willingness to look stupid

#320

Post by karol »

yetihehe wrote: post #114
karol wrote: post #62

This is terrible advice, I would call it a lack of willingness to communicate openly. Also even if you are in the highest echelons of intelligence making yourself look stupid will close access to some opportunities that might propel you forward. Also, over time this behaviour might form a habit that will also influence your personal life.

> Also even if you are in the highest echelons of intelligence making yourself look stupid will close access to some opportunities that might propel you forward. But maybe we should educate our society so that this isn't the case anymore? I know this sounds unattainable, but we should still try to make such outcomes invalid.

Of course, write a book about it.
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