When a friend says something interesting to me, I usually don’t have a reaction until much later.
When someone asks me a deep question, I say, “Hmm. I don’t know.” The next day, I have an answer.
I’m a disappointing person to try to debate or attack. I just have nothing to say in the moment, except maybe, “Good point.” Then a few days later, after thinking about it a lot, I have a response.
This probably makes me look stupid in the moment, but I don’t mind. I’m not trying to win any debates.
Extracted from Derek Sivers’s article - I’m a very slow thinker.
It was both interesting and shocking to see someone be so truthful about himself.
Before reading this article, I was always bothered by my inability to handle incoming questions gracefully and was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing (which happened from time to time). I always find myself requiring extra time to prepare for what comes naturally to others.
This is particularly true in the workplace, especially when there are expectations for me to handle certain tasks under stress. Or when my boss has a very active mind, I often feel slow in the moment whenever they want to discuss something that just came into their mind, and I feel bad whenever I feel I’ve failed to contribute effectively to a productive discussion.
And now I know I am not alone or intellectually impaired or anything like that. It’s about how external information is processed – fast or slow, deliberate or impulsive.