Logic Bulling

I’m listening to this podcast where Adam Grant talks about being a Logic Bully.

When a student approached him seeking advice about a hard life decision, he proceeds to give a very logical answer. But instead of convincing the student; the argument simply confuses the student more.

Logical Bullying is when you overwhelm someone with rational arguments so much so that even though they don’t agree with you, they cant fight back.

Adam further describes that; even though you have given the seeker a rational and truthful opinion, you are still depriving them of their own thoughts by overwhelming them with logic.

I’ve been at the receiving end of this situation. I’ve also been on the serving end one times too many.

The irony is we rarely seek others for problem solving. Often it’s to have someone hear us talk through our own thoughts so that we can make some sense out of the chaos. Adding more external opinions and logic to our own mess rarely helps.

The most logical option is to simply, listen.