6 ms·
This is the first popular publication article I've seen that has given the very important cognitive overload aspect of nagging--and especially multi-pronged nag
by abalashov 16y ago
This is the first popular publication article I've seen that has given the very important cognitive overload aspect of nagging--and especially multi-pronged nagging litany, which seems to be the most common kind--the treatment it deserves:
But when it comes to nagging reminders about what your
spouse still has to do after a long day working for the
man—take out the recycling, walk the dog, write a
thank-you letter, defrost the chicken, fix the
stereo—keep a lid on it. Economists talk about
“information processing costs,” or the costs incurred
from processing, absorbing and filtering information.
When information processing costs get too high, we
tend to become paralyzed.
- ojbyrne 16y agoThis doesn't actually take into account that the naggee can influence this. As a 12 year old, I remember finally getting so sick of my Dad nagging me to mow the lawn, that I started doing it before he had a chance to.
- cema 16y agoOther teenagers may rebel and refuse to do it. YMMV, and the "naggees", teens or not, definitely react in different ways.
- abalashov 16y agoAs long as mowing the lawn was +/- the only thing he was nagging you about, I could see how that could work.
- alextp 16y agoWith my mother this failed miserably. After I gave up on her nagging for someone to do the dishes, she started nagging that the dishes weren't coming out as clean as they should. After I started scrubbing a lot longer and harder she started nagging that the drain and the sink weren't always pristine. After I started cleaning the drain and sink every time I did the dishes she complained the the countertop got wet. After I started drying the countertop, then the kitchen table had crumbs over it. After that, I broke down and had a really bad fight with her, and got her to shut up and just clean whatever it was that bothered her so much in the kitchen.
- SapphireSun 16y agoMy mom used to (and occasionally still) do a lot of nagging. By the time I was five years old, I had learned to shut it out. Nagging just does not work over extended time periods unless the other person is completely submissive.
- bartonfink 16y agoNow I just need to figure out a good way to pass that hint along to my wife without her inferring that I hate her and don't ever want to speak to her about anything.
- r00fus 16y agoFind a way to infect her friend with this info/site. They'll be more likely to influence her than you.
- tertius 16y agoI always found this very scary. If I'm not the largest influencer (positive/negative) then I have bigger problems to worry about.
- saraid216 16y agoThere was an article in the NYTimes called "Are your Friends Making you Fat?" that's surprisingly relevant to that comment: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/magazine/13contagion-t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/magazine/13contagion-t.htm...
- sudhirc 16y agoThis is a great read.I have submitted it independent submission here. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2220912 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2220912
- r00fus 16y agoYou're thinking about it the wrong way... bartonfink's issue was that for this issue his input had a conflict of interest. You remove that by getting a separate person to lead the input... which you can reference later on. This is not so different from the standard sales approach of gaining the confidence of an SME on the client side who advises the decision maker.
- momotomo 16y ago
- Qz 16y agoHere's the other half of the story: it takes two to nag.
- demallien 16y agoIt really doesn't.