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I couldn't agree more. Force yourself to fake it. The conversation won't last forever and you'll leave a good impression which will be a) a social benefit for y

by bb101 10y ago

I couldn't agree more. Force yourself to fake it. The conversation won't last forever and you'll leave a good impression which will be a) a social benefit for you in future meetings, and b) possibly helpful to the other person (imagine if they are thinking "oh man, people usually find me so boring but this person is really listening to me"...) @smsm42 we might not be able to run like Usain Bolt, but we are able to force ourselves to maintain concentration and pretend for a while.

meowface 10y ago
What should I do when 95% or more of the conversations I have are me faking interest? I actively try to avoid acting rude whenever I can, but in the area I live, I am generally not interested in what people have to say.
snovv_crash 10y ago
I'm not sure if you're introverted to the same degree, but NO, I cannot just force myself to maintain concentration. Maybe for 30 seconds, then I'm back to staring blankly across the room until someone says my name again. This is not something I can control. I don't enjoy it and I'm not doing it on purpose. I've used this analogy too many times on this story already, but it is like I'm horribly sleep deprived and people want me to stay awake for things that I'm utterly incapable of doing in my present state.
- dismantlethesun 10y ago
  Faking it isn't about maintaining mental concentration. If someone is paying attention to you, then it's probably going to be obvious that you're faking it. Thing is... most people either (a) don't know you well enough to say that you're being flakey or (b) aren't paying that much attention... the free flowing alcohol of adult-aged parties and meetings really helps with this respect. How do you fake it without putting in concentration? Pay attention to what other people do in similar circumstances: platitudes, sounds of agreement, sticking to unspectacular and unnovel topics like weather/books/sports. I know personally, I don't even like certain sports, but after hearing 3-4 conversations about a particular team, I can regurgitate the mosaic of other peoples opinions about the team.

by bb101 10y ago

meowface 10y ago

What should I do when 95% or more of the conversations I have are me faking interest? I actively try to avoid acting rude whenever I can, but in the area I live, I am generally not interested in what people have to say.

snovv_crash 10y ago

I'm not sure if you're introverted to the same degree, but NO, I cannot just force myself to maintain concentration. Maybe for 30 seconds, then I'm back to staring blankly across the room until someone says my name again. This is not something I can control. I don't enjoy it and I'm not doing it on purpose. I've used this analogy too many times on this story already, but it is like I'm horribly sleep deprived and people want me to stay awake for things that I'm utterly incapable of doing in my present state.

dismantlethesun 10y ago
Faking it isn't about maintaining mental concentration. If someone is paying attention to you, then it's probably going to be obvious that you're faking it. Thing is... most people either (a) don't know you well enough to say that you're being flakey or (b) aren't paying that much attention... the free flowing alcohol of adult-aged parties and meetings really helps with this respect. How do you fake it without putting in concentration? Pay attention to what other people do in similar circumstances: platitudes, sounds of agreement, sticking to unspectacular and unnovel topics like weather/books/sports. I know personally, I don't even like certain sports, but after hearing 3-4 conversations about a particular team, I can regurgitate the mosaic of other peoples opinions about the team.