Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 280 posts

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#271

Post by replwoacause »

another-dave wrote: post #270
replwoacause wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens if your working memory is so poor that by the time you’ve put on your opposition hat to scrutinize your original position, your brain is out of bandwidth and it forgets the details of original position, or it can’t scrutinize that position because there isn’t enough bandwidth to hold both the original idea and the counter position simultaneously? So now you’ve got a counter argument to a now forgotten or…

Your alignment has shifted and you've gone from lawful good to chaotic good :) As a serious answer, just make liberal use of notes.

Haha… Yes, I was being a bit cheeky but you’re right, in a case like this using notes is indeed the answer perhaps like Nathan Fielder in the show The Rehearsal, if you’re looking for a ridiculous and extreme example!

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#272

Post by s4074433 »

Given a choice to pause and ponder versus jumping in and saying something that you might regret, I would always pick the latter.

Most of the time, people who are 'quick-witted' have either come across the situation before and recalled a good response (think chess players memorizing good opening or endgame moves), or that they are actually really good at analyzing and solving a particular type of problem really well (think prodigies that have an abundance of natural talent).

This is something that you can practice by listening to what other people say and analyzing the situation rather than jumping in with a comment of your own.

In time, you'll be the one jumping in with the 'quick-witted' comment.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#273

Post by tinfoil3843 »

jebarker wrote: post #198
dijit wrote: post #38

This is something that's easy to have an opinion on so you're going to get buried. I'll do my best to make a high-signal comment here, but it will be drowned by all the other replies, which also likely touch on these points. First, "slow-thinking" is really just a different way of expressing your thinking and you should begin by leaning into it rather than leaning away. Take time, allow yourself to pause to collect y…

> Finally, do your best to avoid situations where a "quick decision" is needed I find this easier said than done. I dislike most meetings because I don't think quickly enough to keep up and contribute to the discussion. That often means that others will make decisions that I could have contributed usefully to before I've had the chance to think deliberately about the question.

Can you request the slides be sent ahead of time so you can think of ideas?

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#274

Post by tinfoil3843 »

bigfont wrote: post #213
samtho wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why bother? Because knowing about the presence of a condition is better than not. Depending on the severity, untreated ADHD during the years of life where a child begins to establish good study habits, management of the condition, and other tools that work for them, can lead to issue down the road and into adulthood. We have the ability to address conditions like dyscalcula with little interventions to help the stu…

I agree that knowing about something, and accepting it, is better than the alternative. Does that mean we need to diagnose it as a disorder? For instance, I have an introverted personality, and I accept that, even though I didn't receive a diagnosis of introverted. On a more serious note, I have friends who I know and accept as gay, but I don't consider them disordered. The diagnostic and statistics manual used to in…

There are people who genuinely struggle with these things because their brains literally don’t work the same as everyone else. I have ADHD and struggle to be on time to things and god forbid even early. Getting a diagnosis was a life saver because at least I don’t beat myself up for not trying harder.

A diagnosis isn’t a “label”, but understanding of how someone works. It is like being diagnosed with myopia: it explains why your kid can’t keep up in school because they literally can’t see the chalkboard (me, had glasses before finishing 1st grade).

So, no we can’t drop the diagnosis. Chances are you may have something too and not realize it. Does that make you less human? No. It just means you think a little different.

Assuming you grew up in a loving home with stability, in theory you learn life skills as a kid that you don’t need training as an adult for. However, most people don’t have loving parents that stay together, love each other, and can teach you every skill. Some don’t know they have a brain that is different, and need specialized training that works with them. Because of childhood trauma and ADHD, I have had to learn other techniques to handle my life and executive dysfunction. Finally approaching 40 I’m starting to put it together.

So no, we can’t discard the diagnosis. It isn’t a label or problem, but an explanation and scientifically proven reason for the problematic behaviors seen.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#275

Post by tinfoil3843 »

bigfont wrote: post #179
user_7832 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any chance he might have dyscalculia and/or ADHD? Though I guess he’d might have already been tested.

Why bother? Given the breadth of diagnostic classes these days, there's a good chance you can find a practitioner[0] willing to make a diagnosis. That said, aside from getting funding for treatment or acceptance of accommodations, receiving a label of disordered often does not help, but does add harmful stigmatization. The OP's son seems normal, functioning, and isn't harming anyone. On the other hand, the diagnosing…

That in itself disproves your point though. That’s talking about a specific characteristic: mislabeling. It is really the symptom of someone talking about something they don’t know enough about to be talking about it.

Some people say ADHD for example is overdiagnosed. Perhaps that is true so college kids can get drugs or kids can be calmed down, but it is like saying people who don’t always wear glasses don’t need them and shouldn’t bother.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#276

Post by tinfoil3843 »

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #178

I was/am a very slow thinker, and I've never met anyone with higher task switching costs, around 15 I learned how to be clever and quick witted. In high school I got really into drama and improv, to succeed at improv AT ALL I had to effectively have to be in an altered mental state. When I am being quick witted my brain is literally functioning differently, there is no truth, no data, no thoughtfulness, it's stream o…

I do the same, but I slightly modify this. Sometimes I respond fast, but a lot of times I like to say “I have an idea that is not thought out but what if…” and go on. That gives me time to process it and I can bounce a terrible idea out of others and I can say “ok yeah like I said I didn’t think it through but it was a bad idea” or it can be refined and clarified. I use the group to think it through with me. It helps.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#277

Post by john2095 »

ryandrake wrote: post #173
rfrey wrote: post #161

Sorry OP, for a bit of a diversion. I notice a lot of folks saying that "quick wit" or fast thinking or whatever, is just advance preparation (perhaps subconscious) or a memorized script, etc. It may be, but for those who think it always is, it definitely isn't. My son is/was quite bright - reading at 3, reading the Economist and understanding 20% of it at 5, teaching himself calculus at 7. He got terrible grades in…

I have no background in pedagogy, but I've never understood the point of timed, high pressure tests, especially for children. You really just want to know the child has mastered the material such that they can solve the problems correctly--why is it necessary for them to do them in under 30 seconds, or whatever the bar is? If one kid gets the test done in 20 minutes and the other one takes 2 hours, but they both get…

A time limit identifies knowledge, rather than 'smarts':

An individual who has "mastered the material" can answer quickly irrespective of their smarts: they learnt both the fundamental concepts and the derivatives in preparation for the test, and can commence answering the question immediately from the derivatives.

An individual who has not "mastered the material", but is smart, can start with the fundamentals, work out the derivatives, then commence answering the question: but only given enough time.

So tests which include a time element are, or should be, knowledge tests, and not an intelligence, or 'ability to answer the question', test.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#278

Post by skirmish »

Arech wrote: post #186
ryandrake wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no background in pedagogy, but I've never understood the point of timed, high pressure tests, especially for children. You really just want to know the child has mastered the material such that they can solve the problems correctly--why is it necessary for them to do them in under 30 seconds, or whatever the bar is? If one kid gets the test done in 20 minutes and the other one takes 2 hours, but they both get…

even more than that - it's quite possible the one who did it too fast have just recalled most of it from his memory, but the other is likely to have found solution for himself from scratch, which is usually much more valuable. Even the perseverance to find the solution is something worthy by itself... (obviously, "mileage may vary", but still)

I had a friend in high school who proudly proclaimed that he never memorized trigonometry formulas, he would just derive them from scratch when he needed them. He would often run out of time on our regular 20-minutes long tests. Admirable but not practical.

Re: Ask HN: Slow thinkers, how do you compensate for your lack of quick-wittedness?

#280

Post by Y_Y »

Y_Y wrote: post #222
datadrivenangel wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago I went to a thinktank event on drone policy, and the congressmen they brought in spent 15 minutes saying that we needed to start discussing the important conversation of beginning to plan our policy creation dialog. Nothing but hot air.

I think a lot of those think-tank guys have a policy to drone for as long as possible

I agree that I shouldn't
Post reply on HN