Instead of saying true things or trying to make a point that meaningfully advances the conversation, you can just make points that aren’t that good. Apply a bad analogy if you want.
I think this is surprisingly important around the watercooler for especially generative people, and something I’ve been missing and wrong about when I vaguely look down on bad metaphors. Obviously you should not use this type of conversation in getting-things-done convos or many-person convos, but it seems tailored for few-person brainstorming/decompression/speculation with open time to fill. I’ve never really understood why people make lots of advancements while drinking beer after work (and sorry to those who I gaslit) but I get it more now.
I know things like “brainstorming” or “babble” are supposed to already fill this gap, but they didn’t do it for me. I think it’s because there’s an important difference between saying a ton of things that very loosely fit vs taking one thing that sort of fits, saying about it what seems natural, then taking another one and doing the same, etc. That’s much more a “standard cognitive process” than doing explicit lateral thinking, and I think hewing closer to your brain’s standard is a big part of what getting a beer is supposed to do for work.
Bad metaphor mode of conversation:
Instead of saying true things or trying to make a point that meaningfully advances the conversation, you can just make points that aren’t that good. Apply a bad analogy if you want.
I think this is surprisingly important around the watercooler for especially generative people, and something I’ve been missing and wrong about when I vaguely look down on bad metaphors. Obviously you should not use this type of conversation in getting-things-done convos or many-person convos, but it seems tailored for few-person brainstorming/decompression/speculation with open time to fill. I’ve never really understood why people make lots of advancements while drinking beer after work (and sorry to those who I gaslit) but I get it more now.
I know things like “brainstorming” or “babble” are supposed to already fill this gap, but they didn’t do it for me. I think it’s because there’s an important difference between saying a ton of things that very loosely fit vs taking one thing that sort of fits, saying about it what seems natural, then taking another one and doing the same, etc. That’s much more a “standard cognitive process” than doing explicit lateral thinking, and I think hewing closer to your brain’s standard is a big part of what getting a beer is supposed to do for work.