Lawyers actually talk about this. We have the phrase “thinking like a lawyer.” We debated what it meant all the way back in jurisprudence class. We reached no conclusions. (Hey, we’re lawyers: a conclusion arrives only with hourly fees!)
The modes of thinking for a lawyer alternate between two things: issue-spotting and issue-analysis. The key to thinking like a lawyer is being able to move back and forth between the two modes of thought. As you are issue-spotting, you have to edit down by quick analysis. As you are doing analysis, you have to be aware of issues that you might otherwise pass by. So, issue-spot and issue-analyze.
The other critical thing about thinking like a lawyer is being able to hold multiple contradictory descriptions of reality in your head. The states have to include both the facts (in a pretty probabilistic way) and the law (in terms of the arguments that might be made and again some probabilistic sense of their strength). So, two limited quantum multiverses in your head.
Then trivially, I could say things about being able to communicate well in person, and write well, and work well with other people. But really, that should be an “or,” not “and.” If you can do one thing really well, that’s good enough. So, one good social skill.
Yes, about this. You know, I always was amazed by how lawyers could hold on to their lines of thinking despite the conversation meandering as it will. Some teachers in our college seem to think it is not a good thing, but really, we students appreciated structured lectures greatly.
Here’s my answer for being a lawyer.
Lawyers actually talk about this. We have the phrase “thinking like a lawyer.” We debated what it meant all the way back in jurisprudence class. We reached no conclusions. (Hey, we’re lawyers: a conclusion arrives only with hourly fees!)
The modes of thinking for a lawyer alternate between two things: issue-spotting and issue-analysis. The key to thinking like a lawyer is being able to move back and forth between the two modes of thought. As you are issue-spotting, you have to edit down by quick analysis. As you are doing analysis, you have to be aware of issues that you might otherwise pass by. So, issue-spot and issue-analyze.
The other critical thing about thinking like a lawyer is being able to hold multiple contradictory descriptions of reality in your head. The states have to include both the facts (in a pretty probabilistic way) and the law (in terms of the arguments that might be made and again some probabilistic sense of their strength). So, two limited quantum multiverses in your head.
Then trivially, I could say things about being able to communicate well in person, and write well, and work well with other people. But really, that should be an “or,” not “and.” If you can do one thing really well, that’s good enough. So, one good social skill.
Am I on track for what you were asking?
Yes, about this. You know, I always was amazed by how lawyers could hold on to their lines of thinking despite the conversation meandering as it will. Some teachers in our college seem to think it is not a good thing, but really, we students appreciated structured lectures greatly.