Let me get back to you on this. -- b
On Thu 9 Aug, 2018, 10:29 Udhay Shankar N, <ud...@pobox.com> wrote: > Very interesting point. The part that had the most resonance is "Your first > reaction is usually outdated". > > Thoughts? > > Udhay > > https://sivers.org/slow > > I’m a very slow thinker > 2016-08-26 > > When a friend says something interesting to me, I usually don’t have a > reaction until much later. > > When someone asks me a deep question, I say, “Hmm. I don’t know.” The next > morning, I have an answer. > > I’m a disappointing person to try to debate or attack. I just have nothing > to say in the moment, except maybe, “Good point.” Then a few days later, > after thinking about it a lot, I have a response. > > This probably makes me look stupid in the moment, but I don’t mind. I’m not > trying to win any debates. > > In fact, I’ll tell you a secret. For most of those interviews at > sivers.org/i, they sent me their questions a week in advance. I’d spend > hours writing down answers from different perspectives, before choosing the > most interesting one. Then once we were in a live conversation, I’d try to > make it sound spontaneous. > > It’s a common belief that your first reaction is the most honest, but I > disagree. Your first reaction is usually outdated. Either it’s an answer > you came up with long ago and now use instead of thinking, or it’s > triggering a knee-jerk emotional response to something that happened long > ago. > > If you take some time to think it through, you might find that your first > reaction wasn’t current and true. Or if it was, then you can say so with > more conviction. > > Point is: When you’re less impulsive and more deliberate like this, it can > be a little inconvenient for other people, but that’s OK. > > Someone asks you a question. You don’t need to answer. You can say, “I > don’t know,” and take your time to answer after thinking. > > Things happen. Someone expects you to respond. But you can say, “We’ll > see.” > > And maybe, through example, you can show them that they can do the same. > > (Can you imagine how the world would work if this was the norm?) > > -- > > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) >
