Tact Filters

[dawnd]

According to Jeff Bigler:

All people have a "tact filter", which applies tact in one direction to everything that passes through it. Most "normal people" have the tact filter positioned to apply tact in the outgoing direction. ... "Nerds," on the other hand, have their tact filter positioned to apply tact in the incoming direction.

Comments

[tacit]

Waaaaay oversimplified, and to me creates a false distinction between "nerds" and "normal" people. (How do you quantify who belongs to each group

[jcgbigler]

Waaaaay oversimplified

Agreed, though the oversimplifications were largely deliberate. I doubt people would have gotten nearly as much out of the concept and discussions that followed if I had buried it in the appropriate qualifications and disclaimers.

1. Overgeneralization. The author says "all people" are equipped with this 'tact filter,' and that it works only in one direction. If we accept the notion of a "tact filter," which I think is a useful abstraction, then there are actually four possibilities: a person who never applies it at all, a person who applies it only to incoming communication, a person who only applies it to outgoing communication, and a person who applies it to communication in both directions. I know I've met people who can reasonably be said to work in all four modes.

I hadn't thought about the both/neither combinations, but you're right.

2. Persistency. There seems to be an unspoken assumption that this "tact filter" is fixed. I would say from my own experience that it's highly contextual, and may work