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I try to remind myself that there are perfectly fine reasons for this to occur. For example, the person might suffer from insomnia. They might have a lower func

I try to remind myself that there are perfectly fine reasons for this to occur. For example, the person might suffer from insomnia. They might have a lower functioning brain due to developmental issues. They may have been in an accident which caused brain trauma. They might operate on a wavelength sufficiently different from you in that moment such that communication seems impossible, and you perceive that as their deficiency rather than a mutual problem. The reasons to be compassionate are far more realistic and numerous than the possibility of a person being a zombie. It’s best to assume they have a story and a reason attached to their current state that, given time to consider, you would probably relate to them easily.

hutzlibu 4y ago
Or, they might have been zombies for real. That is, people who merely exist, but do not really live anymore. The world is full of them. People who have no more hopes or dreams, other than to make it somehow through the day.
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  These people likely have rich inner lives. What makes it hard to hope and dream other than incredible sensitivity, difficult experiences, and complex stories and histories that paralyze a person as they move through life? Life can be incredibly difficult. It can become scary to dream. The will and desire to do so comes much more easily when you world tells you it’s permissible and rewarding to do so. For many of us, this doesn’t happen. Dreams get crushed over and over, hopes washed away, and fortune doesn’t favour us nearly as much as others. Not all of us are Epictetus, Viktor Frankl, or other wise philosophers who could take adversity and transform it into meaning and joy. Even so, I doubt very much that this kind of person is anything like a zombie. Maybe outwardly so, but that means very little.
  - hutzlibu 4y ago
    You know the condition burn out? Some people have this as default, after being grinded down enough. There is then also no more rich inner life. Only different grades of sadness, stress and numbness.
fllawless 4y ago
There's another explanation which should be very realistically considered, but which people are (probably intentionally) blind to: they're not as dumb as you think, and you're not as smart as you think.
whatshisface 4y ago
The most common explanation is one that didn't make your list, which is that they might not care at all about the subject being discussed. If it's a work situation that prompted it, that's by far the most likely answer to why they aren't using any brainpower to think about how to use the new system: their brainpower is already being used in the background to compare fishing lures. :-)
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  Absolutely! I love this point. This was me as a child, quite literally. What kind of lure should I use after school at the lake, and how can I function minimally to survive class until then? My teachers thought I was a complete idiot, haha.

hutzlibu 4y ago

Or, they might have been zombies for real. That is, people who merely exist, but do not really live anymore. The world is full of them. People who have no more hopes or dreams, other than to make it somehow through the day.

steve_adams_86 4y ago
These people likely have rich inner lives. What makes it hard to hope and dream other than incredible sensitivity, difficult experiences, and complex stories and histories that paralyze a person as they move through life? Life can be incredibly difficult. It can become scary to dream. The will and desire to do so comes much more easily when you world tells you it’s permissible and rewarding to do so. For many of us, this doesn’t happen. Dreams get crushed over and over, hopes washed away, and fortune doesn’t favour us nearly as much as others. Not all of us are Epictetus, Viktor Frankl, or other wise philosophers who could take adversity and transform it into meaning and joy. Even so, I doubt very much that this kind of person is anything like a zombie. Maybe outwardly so, but that means very little.
- hutzlibu 4y ago
  You know the condition burn out? Some people have this as default, after being grinded down enough. There is then also no more rich inner life. Only different grades of sadness, stress and numbness.

fllawless 4y ago

There's another explanation which should be very realistically considered, but which people are (probably intentionally) blind to: they're not as dumb as you think, and you're not as smart as you think.

whatshisface 4y ago

The most common explanation is one that didn't make your list, which is that they might not care at all about the subject being discussed. If it's a work situation that prompted it, that's by far the most likely answer to why they aren't using any brainpower to think about how to use the new system: their brainpower is already being used in the background to compare fishing lures. :-)

steve_adams_86 4y ago
Absolutely! I love this point. This was me as a child, quite literally. What kind of lure should I use after school at the lake, and how can I function minimally to survive class until then? My teachers thought I was a complete idiot, haha.