Problem with Being Too Logical
The following chapter is from Tough Love: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
I have a friend who I have known for years.
We chilled recently.
He used to be an avid Twitter user.
He was using the platform when he was getting into sports analytics.
Before, he tweeted a lot.
But since moving on from sports analytics, he hasn’t tweeted too often.
However, when he does….he tries to make it a good one.
Each rare tweet that he fires out, he keeps checking the statistics.
How many impressions he got.
How many profile clicks.
How many new followers etc.
He looks so much at the numbers that he creates each tweet with a lot of thought.
A lot of thought which seems like efficient work from the inside.
But seems like a waste of time from the outside.
When you turn a task like creative writing (which is what Twitter pretty much is) into some logical endeavor, you take the magic out of it.
It becomes homework.
Same thing with a lot of politicians who build their entire campaign on stats.
Rather than getting to know the people, they read the numbers.
If you wondered why many politicians seem phony, that’s why.
Not hating though.
It’s hard to get to know EVERYONE in your district, state, country when you’re running for office.
But as an individual who is communicating, you want to avoid being too logical.
Logic is meant more for analysis.
And being too analytical with humans will often disappoint you & enrage others.
Humans don’t like being analyzed too much.
Makes them feel uncomfortable because they feel like they’re being watched.
‘Why is analysis a poor strategy in the social world?’
Because in order to analyze, you need certain frameworks to follow.
The frameworks you often rely on are what you consider “normal” or “not normal” behavior.
The problem with the “normal” or “not normal” is that you design these traits based on YOUR life experiences.
Even though your ego feels like it’s being logical & objective, that’s not the case:
- The ego is predominantly being subjective.
Overly logical people have a difficult time understanding that humans aren’t logical creatures.
They are emotional ones.
Emotional creatures who have behaviors that are pretty much impossible to predict.
You may get close at times, but you’ll never have a 100/100 swinging average.
Just understanding that you can never fully predict human behavior allows you to shed the:
- 1+1=2 mindset.
1+1 will always equal 2 in the logical math world.
But a joke which makes Joe laugh will not necessarily make Jim laugh.
Understand that.
Too much logic is a problem in the social world because it takes you out of the present moment & has you focusing on the wrong things.
The easiest way to begin getting out of the overly logical mindset is by bringing awareness to 2-3 of your flaws.
No need to announce them out loud.
But just bring awareness to it.
Then imagine how annoying it would be if some guy was constantly analyzing it.
Not pretty, right?
‘Nah, not at all.’
Exactly.
Logic has its role, don’t get me wrong.
But use it as a backup tool in the social world rather than the main paradigm.
Don’t expect humans to make sense.
Actually, expect that they don’t.
GET THE FULL TOUGH LOVE BOOK HERE:
Paperback/Kindle
Audiobook
