Bugmaster comments on Don't Get Offended - LessWrong

32 Post author: katydee 07 March 2013 02:11AM

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Comment author: jooyous 07 March 2013 06:17:47PM 4 points [-]

I'd like to propose another procedure!

  1. "Are you okay?" This covers the Sensitivity angle by Showing Concern.
  2. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" This allows you to obtain a procedure for Doing Something, but not only are you Doing Something, you are also doing the exact Thing that the crying person wants you to do. Customization! Sometimes, crying people don't want you to do anything, but also if they tell you something random at step 2 and see you actually do it, they might be more inclined to trust you with the actual Thing they want you to do.

I think this is pretty versatile!

Comment author: Bugmaster 07 March 2013 07:24:58PM 2 points [-]

In my own entirely anecdotal experience, some crying people react very negatively to #2; a fewer number react negatively to #1. This procedure is far from universal.

Comment author: jooyous 07 March 2013 09:24:52PM *  0 points [-]

I wish there was some way to prove that my procedure is optimal under uncertainty and we should just train everyone to use it, but I might be drastically overestimating the number of articulate-while-crying people or knowing-what-they-need-while-crying people or expect-you-to-read-mind-while-crying people. =P

Maybe someone could build a model and then we can take a huge poll to fill in the model numbers.

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