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Thank you for the thoughtful response. I was up all night finishing a project, and I am killing time right now staying awake, so understand if I'm not writing
by RevRal 17y ago
Thank you for the thoughtful response.
I was up all night finishing a project, and I am killing time right now staying awake, so understand if I'm not writing with precision.
When I said I speak to people the way humans should be spoken to, I meant that I am speaking to them with respect. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but keep in mind that I am talking specifically about conversations about meaningful things. So in order to avoid speaking dis-respectfully, I avoid these conversations if the other persons can't handle them.
When I say meaningful, I mostly mean things that can be dissected into components and analyzed using logic. It is painful to listen to some people talk about quantum mechanics, or even movies or books. They find a conclusion too soon, instead of relishing the antecedent ideas and facts. It takes the human power of inference to examine these preceding, and surrounding, ideas and to connect them in a way that makes sense (this is that human thing that I am respecting in my first paragraph, btw). And, it often takes more than one brain to do this well.
Okay, the problem is a little clearer: I am much more interested in the process of finding a precise conclusion than weighing the conclusion itself against another person's. I get the impression that most people perceive it as some kind of battle.
Also, keep in mind, I was talking specifically about laypeople, whose attitude is normally this: "don't mess with my opinion. That is sacred territory." And I am speaking about laypeople because they are the majority and tend to decide these social norms.
This is why I don't talk to them about meaningful things. It is too much like a minefield, where I'm talking myself in circles trying to avoid upsetting the other person. Think about talking to a fundamentalist christian about evolution, but you have to do it in a way that wont upset them. A layperson's thought process is jacked up just like that fundamentalist's. And it shows in how they want to speak to one another.
Again, that is why I choose not to engage in discussion about meaningful things with these people. I keep my head by engaging them with charm, humor, wit, anecdotes.... which is fine exercise and I'm rather good at it. I'm not a non-functioning nerd; I know tact very well.
I don't like it like this, but I accept it. I want to be able to talk to anybody about important things.
It's a good thing that I've picked good close friends and partners who know how to communicate well, and we never play the "you're not allowed to say that card," or the "you're not allowed to omit that card" hahaha. Funny how we never manipulate, lie, or have terrible arguments with one-another and yet people who uphold bad communication and these silly social pleasantries, their lives are wrought with unnecessary drama.
Please, let me know if there was anything else you would like for me to clarify. I haven't done an all-nighter in a long time, so it's hard for me to tell if I'm being clear or if I read your comment clearly.