ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

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Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

文章 Sherry Liao »

Dear ISG members,

This evening when the meeting was over, Navi waved me good-bye and said “See you on Skype”. Suddenly, I was electrified to recall that I was the host for the ISG meeting this coming Sunday. Last week I got a bad cold and when I recovered from it I seemed to have lost track of some important things. Luckily, I always got reminded at the last minute and so far it seems no tragedy has happened yet.

I hope you guys will buy my excuse... :oops: Here comes the topic for this week:

Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?” is an audio podcast released today by my favorite authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Here is the mp3 file of the podcast:
http://audio.wnyc.org/freakonomics_podc ... 010412.mp3

Or you can listen to it directly at iTune:
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/freakon ... d354668519

If you need the transcript, click the following link and scroll down the webpage a bit to find it:
http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/01/04/ ... o-podcast/

Assignment:
1. You are encouraged to write an article based on the talk in the podcast, explaining your idea and comments of this topic.
2. I will try to post a few questions for discussion these two days.
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

文章 Sherry Liao »

Questions for discussion:
Q1. Do you think it is hard for most people to say “I don’t know” for things they really have no idea? If so, what are the reasons for them?
Q2. Do you have any irrational fears? What are they and what reasons do you think that made them?
Q3. Do you think politicians should be given some training before they take up their official positions? If so, in what fields should courses be offered and who should be in charge of designing and offering training programs? Do you think parenting training should also be mandatory for parents-to-be? What other capacities or functions of a person should be certified while they are not now?
Kooper
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註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

文章 Kooper »

0:44
You sound a little _____ today.

1:01
But the cold are now ___ ____ ____.
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

文章 Kooper »

Human beings are gregarious animals. Whatever group we are in, we by nature want to be liked and respected. A person generally gets praises for knowing the ropes well or for achieving something challenging, not for admitting their own ignorance or incapability. This is true in not just the world of business but also academic fields. Though all scientists are trained to take the premise of not knowing a particular subject from the beginning, only those who managed to make phenomenal findings turn into big cheeses. Bluffing prevails in the business world because there exists many cases where a person’s performance cannot be assessed in a quantitative way or be exposed to an unsuspecting victim in a transparent way. Even if these can be done, there usually exists a time lag – could be as long as a number of years – before a person’s ability can be fairly examined. That provides a breeding ground for faking.
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Just JJ
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註冊時間: 週二 4月 29, 2008 7:34 pm

Re: ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

文章 Just JJ »

Guys, I'm back. (back from death :ccry: )


My essay about this topic:


Too much pride to say I don’t know??

To be a person delivering an impression of being incapable does not seem to be a good idea. A presentation of a man who appears less knowledgeable might be a proof of a brave act. Those who do less talking and more listening might have their own way of thinking.

The idea of “being a loser” is a rash comment, though many people tend to shun away being one. Loser sounds like a horrible comment, but what is a loser? A person is not able to be talkative? A person is acting like a “quiet boy”? To me, a person who shows no sign of fear of sharing both his strength and weakness is a smart person. This kind of “brave act” which is usually considered as a sign of being weak will be the challenge for many people. The challenge has been the conundrum of “acting like a loser, who is relatively less knowledgeable than people around him/her will suffer the rash comment of being incapable.”

The expression, “less is more”, can be the best spokesperson for anyone who is willing to learn the truth. This kind of person usually seems to be the one who has less knowledge than those who seems to know everything. They tend to keep their eyes open and know the fact that everyone holds the part of the truth. In order to access the whole picture, it requires less talking and more listening. This will help to picking up the missing puzzles and then they can put all the “pieces of partial truth” together.

The impression of being incapable might give rise to a comment of being loser, but it is a point of view that most of people take generally. People, however, are willing to listen hold the thought that they are trying to collect the part of the truth that they have no idea. They are brave enough to share soft side of them to learn more, and also smart enough to take the blame of being incapable.
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: ISG 120108 Why is “I don’t know” so hard to say?

文章 Sherry Liao »

Just JJ 寫:Guys, I'm back. (back from death :ccry: )


My essay about this topic:


Too much pride to say I don’t know??

To be a person delivering an impression of being incapable does not seem to be a good idea. A presentation of a man who appears less knowledgeable might be a proof of a brave act. Those who do less talking and more listening might have their own way of thinking.

The idea of “being a loser” is a rash comment, though many people tend to shun away being one. Loser sounds like a horrible comment, but what is a loser? A person is not able to be talkative? A person is acting like a “quiet boy”? To me, a person who shows no sign of fear of sharing both his strength and weakness is a smart person. This kind of “brave act” which is usually considered as a sign of being weak will be the challenge for many people. The challenge has been the conundrum of “acting like a loser, who is relatively less knowledgeable than people around him/her will suffer the rash comment of being incapable.”

The expression, “less is more”, can be the best spokesperson for anyone who is willing to learn the truth. This kind of person usually seems to be the one who has less knowledge than those who seems to know everything. They tend to keep their eyes open and know the fact that everyone holds the part of the truth. In order to access the whole picture, it requires less talking and more listening. This will help to picking up the missing puzzles and then they can put all the “pieces of partial truth” together.

The impression of being incapable might give rise to a comment of being loser, but it is a point of view that most of people take generally. People, however, are willing to listen hold the thought that they are trying to collect the part of the truth that they have no idea. They are brave enough to share soft side of them to learn more, and also smart enough to take the blame of being incapable.
Hi JJ, Welcome back!

This reminds me of an internal training course in my company. At the end of each lesson, the foreign teacher always expected that his students would raise some questions to what he was teaching; however, whenever he stopped and waited, the classroom was always silent. I think this conform to your idea but also conflict with it.


At school, we are well-trained to be a good listener and not to show up; however, in this educational system, we also developed to be less confident and fear to show incapability. I think in this case, some students did have some questions but did not dare to let others know that they didn’t know something.
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