How often have we had this feeling that in a discussion, it seems we are banging our heads against the walls literally? I am sure we have all gone through this ordeal a number of times. Sometimes it is the stupid sales clerk who just doesn’t listen to any reason but just goes on blabbering endlessly, but when it is a senior person who is the perpetrator then it really becomes a test of patience. Well today was just one of those days, a very senior person decided to preach a sermon which probably was lost on him as well. He was clear about just one thing and that was to ensure that he gets some sort of an endorsement from us, irrespective of the merits or demerits of the case. Annoyingly repetitive, he had no clue on either of the projects but still he resorted to using some “high sounding” words, for example, let us “synergise” if we look at the “larger picture” or holistically speaking so on and so forth, meaningless words thrown in the air, trying to weave a web of confusion. It works on a number of occasions, when you can simply browbeat the listener with this tomfoolery, but one has to be smart enough to realise that not every one falls in the same category, moreover when the other person happens to be better informed.
A common weakness or may be it is a congenital disorder, is the reluctance to acknowledge ignorance, somehow, our know alls; and we have plenty of them, have to have an opinion on every subject under the sun. They feel belittled at admitting that they have no clue about the subject, so they resolve to disguise their ignorance by going into soliloquy, a unilateral declaration of verbal offensive, often achieving the desired end state; a moral supremacy or ascendance over the insignificant other . If the other person is a junior in professional hierarchy, he naturally goes by the age old adage of wisdom is better part of valour and gracefully nods his comprehension and if he wants to add his two penny worth, he adds a few more adjectives in the same vein to further his boss’s cause, i.e. to massage his rather inflated ego. Alternately he really may not just want to join issues and lets it pass without offering any comments on the subject, which may be construed as an act of utter disrespect by the master or an abject surrender. Then there are some who actually reach the end of their tether and respond trying to rationally address the issue, which only renders him vulnerable to another set of verbal volleys. There are no escapes from these and he is forced into a grudging silence, the boss of course now adorns the looks of “the slayer of the thousand demons”, emerging victorious as though from a Roman Arena.
Today I had the misfortune of suffering the same fate, but stupid that I am, I went through all the phases before retiring hurt, but with the satisfaction that at least I made an effort and did not give up without a fight. Anyway ,may be there are lessons in this as well…
1 comment:
I hope I am not stirring a hornets nest here but the trait of being voluble and showing off ones knowledge is something I find more prevalent in the Sub Continent.Maybe its because it is the culture I understand best and can therefore best pick holes in.I am seriously trying not to appear biased here but during the last eight years , my exposure has been more "international".
Perhaps as a result of learning by rote,for example, the holy texts which were traditionally handed down by word of mouth, we have tended to respect the power of recall as a mark of superior intelligence.And the Brahmin of old I am told did not make any bones of his intellectual superiority by talking down and volubly too.
Memory as an mark of intelligence also appeared to be the yardstick when I was a student.
I could go on but shall refrain because I cannot put forward a cogent thesis on that subject impromptu and I want to keep this brief.Just wondering aloud as to how I seem to have met most Know Alls from you know where. I love them though I sometimes find them embarrasingly funny!
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