Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know this and I have learned more than enough about it to internalize it, but it just doesn't work. I can't find a way to stop the automatic jumping to conclusion and self blame. It takes hours to get over it and that's exhausting. I am trying for years to find a way out, but it just hasn't internalized yet
Any tips for the person on the other side? I often mention something without implying blame (or even assuming blame), but it’s still processed that way. I’m trying to be conscious of this though.
Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
101–110 of 144 posts
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#102If this resonated with you, consider reading Nonviolent Communication by Rosenberg, the ultimate guide in thermostat-speak. You focus on stating unmet needs. Good stuff.
When I hear people trying to use "Nonviolent Communication" it only makes me more angry. It is manipulation and so transparent and condescending. Sometimes communication needs to be violent.
Have you read the book by chance?
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#103> You’re being a thermometer. When they’re subtly giving off weird vibes—they’re frowning, answering your questions with fewer words than normal, etc.—you’ve noticed that their temperature is different. And if you are doing this as a coping mechanism from having an unstable parent and you are like me (also maybe a bit of adhd): you internalize the person's chilled behavior and often assume it is your fault. In case y…
"What you say, and what you do, says nothing about me, and everything about you."
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#104> You’re being a thermometer. When they’re subtly giving off weird vibes—they’re frowning, answering your questions with fewer words than normal, etc.—you’ve noticed that their temperature is different. And if you are doing this as a coping mechanism from having an unstable parent and you are like me (also maybe a bit of adhd): you internalize the person's chilled behavior and often assume it is your fault. In case y…
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm skeptical about the idea that we can simply "choose" to be thermostats. Well, it’s like most things, it takes practice and time to be good at it if natural talent isn’t there. Sure, things out of our control can trigger emotions, but one incredible ability of humans is to rationalize those emotions and act in more constructive ways than to immediate react back. It can be quite liberating and fun to understand a…
> It can be quite liberating and fun to understand and process these things, much like understanding code and data structures in order to recombine them into things you want to achieve. This thread actually made me realize it's much easier to express this in code vs words since it deals with state and logic: https://gist.github.com/TheUltDev/fc8386e42205504c55d1cf2127... This is the my process of rationalization and…
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Emotional outbursts (like being startled/angered/in pain) may be temporarily irrational your own logic-wise, but your regular emotional background absolutely reflects what you actually believe is happening and the way you think. Yes your emotional background reflects what you believe is happening, but you can correct your belief if you analyze and rationalize the emotional response when you feel it, which then upda…
I find it very hard to impossible to do immediately afterwards. I can detect it, which is somewhat obvious, and write down the situation, but finding the source of it immediately I find unrealistic. Either we talk about different things here, or I lack some Sherlock Holmes level skills that you have. Anyway, if something bothers me that hard, making it unbother me is an improvement to work in a stupid situation, not…
Can you elaborate on these techniques?
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> stating the obvious If interpersonal relationships were obvious we would not need abuse laws nor CPS.
They are usually obvious, except for psychopaths and people struggling with autism. The latter is rather prominent in tech, so we see more of these issues then outside of tech.
What am I then? Autistic or psycopath?
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#108This post is all three: what they're describing is true (these dynamics in meetings do exist, very often), it is kind (in the sense they're giving you a skill to help both yourself and others), and I'll give it necessary in the sense it's used in the original definition (if you want to get ahead in an organization with a nontrivial amount of internal politics - which is most places - you need to have at least some of this skill).
And yet, something about this post gives me "weird vibes".
Basically, with a bit of sarcasm you could sum it up as "DON'T BE AUTISTIC", and if you are then at least get therapy until you can act normal.
When the author says "We [humans] are wired to spidey sense this [vibes] stuff", it turns out some humans are above and some below the mean in this skill distribution. [2]
And sometimes, in a meeting to decide about how you're going to set up your database sharding, it helps the business' bottom line if you pay more attention to the database specialist than the soft-eye-contact specialist.
(Don't you want to hire people who are good at both? Yes, but unless you're really, really lucky, you're going to hit Berkson's paradox [3]. And then if you want your databases to run smoothly, you're going to have to compromise.)
[1] https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/03/02/the-comment-policy-is-... [2] However, the latest research suggest that autistic people are perfectly wired to read the room and sense vibes if the room is full of other autistic people. It's just one autist in a room of neurotypicals, or vice versa, that doesn't go too well. [3] https://www.allendowney.com/blog/2021/04/07/berkson-goes-to-...
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I hear people trying to use "Nonviolent Communication" it only makes me more angry. It is manipulation and so transparent and condescending. Sometimes communication needs to be violent.
What makes you believe that nonviolent communication is manipulation? It focuses on ways to hear unmet needs in others and to express unmet needs in a way that can be heard by others. Have you read the book by chance?
Maybe read some critiques about it.
https://realsocialskills.org/2014/07/17/nonviolent-communica...
https://www.collectivelyfree.org/nonviolent-communication-pr...
Re: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (2023)
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
What makes you believe that nonviolent communication is manipulation? It focuses on ways to hear unmet needs in others and to express unmet needs in a way that can be heard by others. Have you read the book by chance?
Yes, read the book and my nephew teaches a form of it. It balmes the victim for the most part. It reminds of of"you are acting hysterical" and gaslighting. Maybe read some critiques about it. https://realsocialskills.org/2014/07/17/nonviolent-communica... https://www.collectivelyfree.org/nonviolent-communication-pr...