It signals fear, lack of confidence, untrustworthiness, incompetence at navigating the flow of conversation and submissiveness.
I don’t know—depends on the context. Imagine a relationship that is strongly based on the Guess culture. The interpretation then would be quite different:
Request for feedback.
Evasiveness (this is a signal: I won’t comment positively, don’t ask)
More requests (either “I didn’t understand your signal” or “I really want your positive comments”)
More evasive answers (another signal: I REALLY won’t say positive things, back off, you’re setting yourself for a fall)
Push for clear communication (either “I’m clueless about your signals” or “I don’t fucking care”)
Critical comment (“Well, you forced the situation to this, if you really insist you can have it”)
Certainly not the best way a conversation can develop, but it’s mostly miscommunication, not lack of confidence or being not trustworthy.
I agree that the implications of a conversation can vary drastically based on the context. If we had a video of the conversation (even without the sound) we would have much more information about the social meaning than just seeing the words.
Certainly not the best way a conversation can develop, but it’s mostly miscommunication, not lack of confidence or being not trustworthy.
For whatever it is worth in my evaluation even in the ‘guess culture’ perspective would be that there is still some signal of both undesirable traits and likely of an underlying lack of respect when it comes to this kind of conversation. In not small part this is because guess culture initiates are supposed to get to the white lies sooner!
I can’t claim particular expertise at social dynamics—I’m just a curious observer who tries to comprehend what was once incomprehensible as best he can. As best as I can establish from what I do know that particular configuration of social persona—in the ‘normal’ guess culture—has some degree of social weakness of the kind that tends to result in bad outcomes for both parties. It is the kind of thing that reduces respect and happens to an instance where that instinctive reduction in respect happens to be practical and not just the human desire for association with the socially powerful.
I don’t know—depends on the context. Imagine a relationship that is strongly based on the Guess culture. The interpretation then would be quite different:
Request for feedback.
Evasiveness (this is a signal: I won’t comment positively, don’t ask)
More requests (either “I didn’t understand your signal” or “I really want your positive comments”)
More evasive answers (another signal: I REALLY won’t say positive things, back off, you’re setting yourself for a fall)
Push for clear communication (either “I’m clueless about your signals” or “I don’t fucking care”)
Critical comment (“Well, you forced the situation to this, if you really insist you can have it”)
Certainly not the best way a conversation can develop, but it’s mostly miscommunication, not lack of confidence or being not trustworthy.
I agree that the implications of a conversation can vary drastically based on the context. If we had a video of the conversation (even without the sound) we would have much more information about the social meaning than just seeing the words.
For whatever it is worth in my evaluation even in the ‘guess culture’ perspective would be that there is still some signal of both undesirable traits and likely of an underlying lack of respect when it comes to this kind of conversation. In not small part this is because guess culture initiates are supposed to get to the white lies sooner!
I can’t claim particular expertise at social dynamics—I’m just a curious observer who tries to comprehend what was once incomprehensible as best he can. As best as I can establish from what I do know that particular configuration of social persona—in the ‘normal’ guess culture—has some degree of social weakness of the kind that tends to result in bad outcomes for both parties. It is the kind of thing that reduces respect and happens to an instance where that instinctive reduction in respect happens to be practical and not just the human desire for association with the socially powerful.
That’s the way I read it, BTW.