3 ms·

It is far more important to be able to explain your line of reasoning to those around you, especially professionally (much of the essay was about school/work),

It is far more important to be able to explain your line of reasoning to those around you, especially professionally (much of the essay was about school/work), than it is to hope your coworkers are able to "see beyond the obvious".

civilized 5y ago
Or maybe it's far more important to be okay with looking stupid than to assume that lack of understanding from others always means something negative about your communication abilities or choices. If someone can't imagine any other reason someone would look stupid in the eyes of others than because they explained something poorly, I wonder how much experience of life have they had?
- babelfish 5y ago
  > If someone can't imagine any other reason someone would look stupid in the eyes of others than because they explained something poorly, I wonder how much experience of life have they had? This is not what I'm saying - of course I can personally relate to the experience of looking stupid due to a poor explanation, and I'd imagine most people here have too. My issue with the article is that the author doubled down that looking stupid was correct. When I feel like I look stupid because I can't explain my line of reasoning, or because I didn't have enough prerequisite knowledge for the conversation, I will typically apologize and immediately start explaining my line of thought and asking questions around the unknowns. However, the author's attitude is that when they look stupid it must be an issue with the other party, and they have zero obligation to try and make themself look better. This is a MASSIVE red flag (especially in terms of hiring)! If the author doesn't have the empathy or emotional intellect to understand why being able to explain what you're trying to communicate is a /good thing/, it's difficult for me to take them seriously.
  - civilized 5y ago
    I think you misread my post. There are other reasons people can look stupid than they did something wrong. It is neither accurate nor virtuous to blame yourself for every negative outcome.

civilized 5y ago

Or maybe it's far more important to be okay with looking stupid than to assume that lack of understanding from others always means something negative about your communication abilities or choices. If someone can't imagine any other reason someone would look stupid in the eyes of others than because they explained something poorly, I wonder how much experience of life have they had?

babelfish 5y ago
> If someone can't imagine any other reason someone would look stupid in the eyes of others than because they explained something poorly, I wonder how much experience of life have they had? This is not what I'm saying - of course I can personally relate to the experience of looking stupid due to a poor explanation, and I'd imagine most people here have too. My issue with the article is that the author doubled down that looking stupid was correct. When I feel like I look stupid because I can't explain my line of reasoning, or because I didn't have enough prerequisite knowledge for the conversation, I will typically apologize and immediately start explaining my line of thought and asking questions around the unknowns. However, the author's attitude is that when they look stupid it must be an issue with the other party, and they have zero obligation to try and make themself look better. This is a MASSIVE red flag (especially in terms of hiring)! If the author doesn't have the empathy or emotional intellect to understand why being able to explain what you're trying to communicate is a /good thing/, it's difficult for me to take them seriously.
- civilized 5y ago
  I think you misread my post. There are other reasons people can look stupid than they did something wrong. It is neither accurate nor virtuous to blame yourself for every negative outcome.