This is a really useful article. I’ve long observed this subconsciously but never seen it framed this way. It’s quite cultural though. Different cultures have

This is a really useful article. I’ve long observed this subconsciously but never seen it framed this way. It’s quite cultural though. Different cultures have different tolerances for the amount of asking/guessing. My parents came from two different ask and guess cultures — whole countries mainly of one or the other. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of “askers” in the US — at first it was oppressive then (I know realize) exhilarating. Note also that in the cultures I grew up in there’s a cultural (learned) gender difference in who is allowed to ask and who is not. That can change (daughters must guess, while grandmothers and mothers in law are almost ask only). IMHO in a less hierarchical society like the USA ironically these rules are enforced more strictly and don’t change as much as roles change because the roles themselves are more fluid.