It's good that you realized that cognitive ability is multi-faceted and that the capacity to be creative with abstract problems is not dependent on being quick-witted as you describe. I had the good luck to have a very high powered thesis supervisor (math), one of the top people in his field, and initially suffered from "imposter syndrome," feeling that I was unqualified to be his (or anyone's) grad student. I coped with that by adopting the attitude that I would hang in there until they threw me out. Of course, it never came to that, and I worked out my own ways of coping and using the abilities I had, eventually doing very well. One of my private requirements turned out to be working out extremely simple examples of difficult abstractions until I developed an intuitive understanding of them. My boss was annoyed and surprised at that but allowed me to work that way as long as I kept it to myself.
It was very amazing one day to see my own boss in the role of dunce when we were visited by the legendary number theorist Paul Erdös. Erdös was a very humble guy, ready to talk math with anyone. He was discussing some esoterica with my supervisor while simultaneously playing two chess games with math grad students, scribbling on the blackboard and not not looking at the chess boards. His opponents would call out a move, like "pawn to QB5”, and he would call out his answering move without missing a beat in the technical conversation. He won both games while teaching my boss some number theory. After witnessing all that, I realized that "genius" is relative and that I was bloody fortunate to be there as a member of that group, as were my boss and Erdös himself.
You described me exactly and this is a topic I think about often. Thanks for sharing. As a software engineer I put a lot of time and effort into building a solid reputation. This got me a job by referral a couple years ago where I work with mostly quicker thinking types. Overall, I think I end up working harder than a lot of my peers to be able to work at challenging jobs - which sucks - but I'd be miserable working at a company where I'm not being challenged.
I wonder if it could be relative. Sounds like you’re accustomed to being around bright and brilliant people and you’re comparing yourself to them? I don’t think that great sports people think a lot. They begin with natural ability, hand eye coordination for example, then they train and play a lot, they instinctively know how to deal with situations in the game. In art and other fields people hide their technique so that they seem natural. I was surprised when I heard an interview with the quick witted comedienne Joan Rivers who admitted that when she was invited to a dinner party, she made sure to prepare some anecdotes in advance. In any case as the saying goes you have to play the hand you’re dealt.
I was recommended to read this as I was describing to a friend that I hate how process things. And like you, I’ve been trying to come with ways to react faster in challenging situations. Anyway, I’m happy I got to read this and it made me feel seen.
This was very motivating. In my own life, I've noticed that I struggle the most to think clearly, at any speed, whenever I am nervous or afraid of how other people will perceive me.
When I was in second grade, I loved math, but as my eyesight worsened and before I realized I needed glasses, and perhaps because I sat in the back of the class, I wasn't following what the teacher was saying.
Then one day she asked me to come up and solve a problem in front of the class, and I remember just crying in front of everyone because I had no idea where to start. And all of that because I needed glasses!
Rationally, I understand now that it wasn't a big deal, but that one experience planted a deep fear of math in me, even though I loved it before and loved every other subject in school.
It was only after school that I started programming for fun, and later for work, which stoked the fire in me to learn math again. Working through those negative emotions and insecurity about my own mental abilities was very freeing.
I think there are a lot of things like that in the mind that dampen our true potential from being realized, whether it is trauma or simply wanting to look cool.
The most incredible freedom I found was realizing it was ok to think about approaching a problem however I chose to do it. The secret sauce really is confidence and equanimity of mind.
This is great, and it's just as valuable to consider the alternative: "You're a Quick Thinker. Now what?"
I'm a quick thinker. Not so much about tactical math or coding, under pressure. But with things like strategy, design, language, and argumentation. Essentially, if it's conceptual AND I even get to design or mold the very concepts myself, as I go. Throw me a question of those sorts and I can just take off at 99 miles an hour. And it will be good stuff. So... now what? Should I just consider that an unalloyed positive, and embrace it? Turns out, not so much:
1. "Good" isn't the same as doing my best work. Sometimes, good isn't even good enough.
2. I have slow processes too, which are kicking off simultaneously. If I commit too quickly, my solutions don't benefit from the output of those processes. "Sleeping on it" is as important for me as for anyone.
3. If I always move at my top speed, I lose the input of anyone slower. They can't keep up, so they shut up. I'm not smarter than these people. Just different.
4. Speed is rarely vital anyway. Practical, human-built processes don't tend to be designed that way, because they wouldn't be reliable.
I've learned to sit back, watching my thoughts spider off down their various dissections and flow charts. I wait for something universal to percolate back up, which I might share if the conversation is ripe for it. I scribble down ideas or outlines, lists of issues or questions, and then use them to respond to others' comments or to guide the conversation in a direction that feels promising to me. Preferably I give any slower thinkers time to prepare for the conversation, so they can do their thinking beforehand and we will start on equal footing. Finally, I try to remember that all words have a cost—a cognitive load for others, spending part of the finite supply that this conversation can afford without exhausting its participants. In summary...
You're a Quick Thinker. Now what? Good for you. Use that strength internally to produce better outcomes, and shut up while you're doing it.
Indeed, I am also a slow or average speed thinker. Like Joan rivers I have an archive of maxims which I go over every now and then, most of my quick witted responses come from this war-chest. Just as you I am better off communicating through writing, as it avails me the luxury of playing around with words and phrases until it sounds right. I am glad to know that I am not alone on this boat. I am also a procrastinator like Di Vinci with a lot of incomplete works, I am wondering if you have a solution for that in your bag of tricks ….
I once had a case interview with a consulting firm before I knew what that was. They asked me a bunch of weird math questions, so naturally I picked up my calculator. They looked at me weird, and I felt weird using it, but I answered what they wanted. I found out later what I did wrong. Still annoyed.
I have had the same thing for years now nd what you wrote is so relatable, lots of people would find it too..could please write more on this topic?
Although its in our nature to slow process sometimes we really need quick processing like you mentioned… and also could you pls post on a detailed version of what all techniques you used to temporarily change it.
for others I’ll tell you mine as far as now..im increasing my reading speed on outread app, to boost my articulation speed im taking rapid fire rounds on chatgpt , to increase my reflex im viewing fps training videos on youtube, used to take brain games on websites…all of these are helping mental processing speed.
As someone who grew up in slow-paced environment, I do have the same problem especially when I move to metropolitan area. for math, I am not sure if i really have the math mental since I am not training myself for the past four years, and sadly I forgot some basic math formulas.. and hey, thank you for raising this story up!
In the end, the only thing that matters is whether you're able to accomplish your goals. A slower cognitive tempo doesn't seem to have been detrimental to your life.
I'm on the same league as you. A way I found myself masking this is by saying "Thanks for the question, let me think a little bit and get to you by X".
did you ever consider asd as a possible cause? some of what's described fits with common issues and commobidities (dyscalculia, slower processing speed in discussions)
It's good that you realized that cognitive ability is multi-faceted and that the capacity to be creative with abstract problems is not dependent on being quick-witted as you describe. I had the good luck to have a very high powered thesis supervisor (math), one of the top people in his field, and initially suffered from "imposter syndrome," feeling that I was unqualified to be his (or anyone's) grad student. I coped with that by adopting the attitude that I would hang in there until they threw me out. Of course, it never came to that, and I worked out my own ways of coping and using the abilities I had, eventually doing very well. One of my private requirements turned out to be working out extremely simple examples of difficult abstractions until I developed an intuitive understanding of them. My boss was annoyed and surprised at that but allowed me to work that way as long as I kept it to myself.
It was very amazing one day to see my own boss in the role of dunce when we were visited by the legendary number theorist Paul Erdös. Erdös was a very humble guy, ready to talk math with anyone. He was discussing some esoterica with my supervisor while simultaneously playing two chess games with math grad students, scribbling on the blackboard and not not looking at the chess boards. His opponents would call out a move, like "pawn to QB5”, and he would call out his answering move without missing a beat in the technical conversation. He won both games while teaching my boss some number theory. After witnessing all that, I realized that "genius" is relative and that I was bloody fortunate to be there as a member of that group, as were my boss and Erdös himself.
Thanks for this comment, I get the vibe you are hearing what I am saying in the way I am trying to say it. I am grateful for that :)
And that is a great story about Erdos!
You described me exactly and this is a topic I think about often. Thanks for sharing. As a software engineer I put a lot of time and effort into building a solid reputation. This got me a job by referral a couple years ago where I work with mostly quicker thinking types. Overall, I think I end up working harder than a lot of my peers to be able to work at challenging jobs - which sucks - but I'd be miserable working at a company where I'm not being challenged.
Just the title and image are worthy of launching a thousand ships
I wonder if it could be relative. Sounds like you’re accustomed to being around bright and brilliant people and you’re comparing yourself to them? I don’t think that great sports people think a lot. They begin with natural ability, hand eye coordination for example, then they train and play a lot, they instinctively know how to deal with situations in the game. In art and other fields people hide their technique so that they seem natural. I was surprised when I heard an interview with the quick witted comedienne Joan Rivers who admitted that when she was invited to a dinner party, she made sure to prepare some anecdotes in advance. In any case as the saying goes you have to play the hand you’re dealt.
Haha, i've never heard that nugget about Joan Rivers before, thank you for sharing
I was recommended to read this as I was describing to a friend that I hate how process things. And like you, I’ve been trying to come with ways to react faster in challenging situations. Anyway, I’m happy I got to read this and it made me feel seen.
This was very motivating. In my own life, I've noticed that I struggle the most to think clearly, at any speed, whenever I am nervous or afraid of how other people will perceive me.
When I was in second grade, I loved math, but as my eyesight worsened and before I realized I needed glasses, and perhaps because I sat in the back of the class, I wasn't following what the teacher was saying.
Then one day she asked me to come up and solve a problem in front of the class, and I remember just crying in front of everyone because I had no idea where to start. And all of that because I needed glasses!
Rationally, I understand now that it wasn't a big deal, but that one experience planted a deep fear of math in me, even though I loved it before and loved every other subject in school.
It was only after school that I started programming for fun, and later for work, which stoked the fire in me to learn math again. Working through those negative emotions and insecurity about my own mental abilities was very freeing.
I think there are a lot of things like that in the mind that dampen our true potential from being realized, whether it is trauma or simply wanting to look cool.
The most incredible freedom I found was realizing it was ok to think about approaching a problem however I chose to do it. The secret sauce really is confidence and equanimity of mind.
This is great, and it's just as valuable to consider the alternative: "You're a Quick Thinker. Now what?"
I'm a quick thinker. Not so much about tactical math or coding, under pressure. But with things like strategy, design, language, and argumentation. Essentially, if it's conceptual AND I even get to design or mold the very concepts myself, as I go. Throw me a question of those sorts and I can just take off at 99 miles an hour. And it will be good stuff. So... now what? Should I just consider that an unalloyed positive, and embrace it? Turns out, not so much:
1. "Good" isn't the same as doing my best work. Sometimes, good isn't even good enough.
2. I have slow processes too, which are kicking off simultaneously. If I commit too quickly, my solutions don't benefit from the output of those processes. "Sleeping on it" is as important for me as for anyone.
3. If I always move at my top speed, I lose the input of anyone slower. They can't keep up, so they shut up. I'm not smarter than these people. Just different.
4. Speed is rarely vital anyway. Practical, human-built processes don't tend to be designed that way, because they wouldn't be reliable.
I've learned to sit back, watching my thoughts spider off down their various dissections and flow charts. I wait for something universal to percolate back up, which I might share if the conversation is ripe for it. I scribble down ideas or outlines, lists of issues or questions, and then use them to respond to others' comments or to guide the conversation in a direction that feels promising to me. Preferably I give any slower thinkers time to prepare for the conversation, so they can do their thinking beforehand and we will start on equal footing. Finally, I try to remember that all words have a cost—a cognitive load for others, spending part of the finite supply that this conversation can afford without exhausting its participants. In summary...
You're a Quick Thinker. Now what? Good for you. Use that strength internally to produce better outcomes, and shut up while you're doing it.
Indeed, I am also a slow or average speed thinker. Like Joan rivers I have an archive of maxims which I go over every now and then, most of my quick witted responses come from this war-chest. Just as you I am better off communicating through writing, as it avails me the luxury of playing around with words and phrases until it sounds right. I am glad to know that I am not alone on this boat. I am also a procrastinator like Di Vinci with a lot of incomplete works, I am wondering if you have a solution for that in your bag of tricks ….
I love your book recommendations!
thank you! really excited to see your biosecurity stuff on the platform!!!
I once had a case interview with a consulting firm before I knew what that was. They asked me a bunch of weird math questions, so naturally I picked up my calculator. They looked at me weird, and I felt weird using it, but I answered what they wanted. I found out later what I did wrong. Still annoyed.
I have had the same thing for years now nd what you wrote is so relatable, lots of people would find it too..could please write more on this topic?
Although its in our nature to slow process sometimes we really need quick processing like you mentioned… and also could you pls post on a detailed version of what all techniques you used to temporarily change it.
for others I’ll tell you mine as far as now..im increasing my reading speed on outread app, to boost my articulation speed im taking rapid fire rounds on chatgpt , to increase my reflex im viewing fps training videos on youtube, used to take brain games on websites…all of these are helping mental processing speed.
As someone who grew up in slow-paced environment, I do have the same problem especially when I move to metropolitan area. for math, I am not sure if i really have the math mental since I am not training myself for the past four years, and sadly I forgot some basic math formulas.. and hey, thank you for raising this story up!
In the end, the only thing that matters is whether you're able to accomplish your goals. A slower cognitive tempo doesn't seem to have been detrimental to your life.
I'm on the same league as you. A way I found myself masking this is by saying "Thanks for the question, let me think a little bit and get to you by X".
did you ever consider asd as a possible cause? some of what's described fits with common issues and commobidities (dyscalculia, slower processing speed in discussions)