I’ve been reviewing some old Forum posts for an upcoming post I’m writing, and incidentally came across this by Howie Lempel for noticing in what spirit you’re engaging with someone’s ideas:
“Did I ask this question because I think they will have a good answer or because I think they will not have a good answer?”
I felt pretty called out :P
To be fair, I think the latter is sometimes a reasonable persuasive tactic, and it’s fine to put yourself in a teaching role rather than a learning role if that’s your endorsed intention and the other party is on board. But the value of this quote to me is that it successfully highlights how easily we can tell ourselves we’re being intellectually curious, when we’re actually doing something else.
I’ve been reviewing some old Forum posts for an upcoming post I’m writing, and incidentally came across this by Howie Lempel for noticing in what spirit you’re engaging with someone’s ideas:
I felt pretty called out :P
To be fair, I think the latter is sometimes a reasonable persuasive tactic, and it’s fine to put yourself in a teaching role rather than a learning role if that’s your endorsed intention and the other party is on board. But the value of this quote to me is that it successfully highlights how easily we can tell ourselves we’re being intellectually curious, when we’re actually doing something else.