To the extent that the underlying structure doesn’t matter and can’t be used, I agree that technically non-random “noise” behaves similarly and that this can be a reasonable use of the term. My objection to the term “noise” as a description of conversational landmines isn’t just that they’re “technically not completely random”, but that the information content is actually important and relevant. In other words, it’s not noise, it’s signal.
The “landmines” are part of how their values are actually encoded. It’s part of the belief structure you’re looking to interact with in the first place. They’re just little pockets of care which haven’t yet been integrated in a smooth and stable way with everything else. Or to continue the metaphor, it’s not “scary dangerous explosives to try to avoid”, it’s “inherently interesting stores of unstable potential energy which can be mined for energetic fuel”. If someone is touchy around the subject you want to talk about, that is the interesting thing itself. What is in here that they haven’t even finished explaining to themselves, and why is it so important to them that they can’t even contain themselves if you try to blow past it?
It doesn’t even require slow and cautious approach if you shift your focus appropriately. I’ve had good results starting a conversation with a complete stranger who was clearly insecure about her looks by telling her that she should make sure her makeup doesn’t come off because she’s probably ugly if she’s that concerned about it. Not only did she not explode at me, she decided to throw the fuse away and give me a high bandwidth and low noise channel to share my perspective on her little dilemma, and then took my advice and did the thing her insecurity had been stopping her from doing.
The point is that you only run into problems with landmines as noise if you mistake landmines for noise. If your response to the potential of landmines is “Gah! Why does that unimportant noise have to get in the way of what I want to do!? I wonder if I can get away with ignoring them and marching straight ahead”, then yeah, you’ll probably get blowed up if you don’t hold back. On the other hand, if your response is closer to “Ooh! Interesting landmine you got here! What happens if I poke it? Does it go off, or does the ensuing self reflection cause it to just dissolve away?”, then you get to have engaging and worthwhile high bandwidth low noise conversations immediately, and you will more quickly get what you came for.
To the extent that the underlying structure doesn’t matter and can’t be used, I agree that technically non-random “noise” behaves similarly and that this can be a reasonable use of the term. My objection to the term “noise” as a description of conversational landmines isn’t just that they’re “technically not completely random”, but that the information content is actually important and relevant. In other words, it’s not noise, it’s signal.
The “landmines” are part of how their values are actually encoded. It’s part of the belief structure you’re looking to interact with in the first place. They’re just little pockets of care which haven’t yet been integrated in a smooth and stable way with everything else. Or to continue the metaphor, it’s not “scary dangerous explosives to try to avoid”, it’s “inherently interesting stores of unstable potential energy which can be mined for energetic fuel”. If someone is touchy around the subject you want to talk about, that is the interesting thing itself. What is in here that they haven’t even finished explaining to themselves, and why is it so important to them that they can’t even contain themselves if you try to blow past it?
It doesn’t even require slow and cautious approach if you shift your focus appropriately. I’ve had good results starting a conversation with a complete stranger who was clearly insecure about her looks by telling her that she should make sure her makeup doesn’t come off because she’s probably ugly if she’s that concerned about it. Not only did she not explode at me, she decided to throw the fuse away and give me a high bandwidth and low noise channel to share my perspective on her little dilemma, and then took my advice and did the thing her insecurity had been stopping her from doing.
The point is that you only run into problems with landmines as noise if you mistake landmines for noise. If your response to the potential of landmines is “Gah! Why does that unimportant noise have to get in the way of what I want to do!? I wonder if I can get away with ignoring them and marching straight ahead”, then yeah, you’ll probably get blowed up if you don’t hold back. On the other hand, if your response is closer to “Ooh! Interesting landmine you got here! What happens if I poke it? Does it go off, or does the ensuing self reflection cause it to just dissolve away?”, then you get to have engaging and worthwhile high bandwidth low noise conversations immediately, and you will more quickly get what you came for.