[barberousse]

This is a real thing and not just some dude who thinks he's really smart and everybody else isn't. I coached a public HS debate team in Chicago for eight years and the problem really does start there in school. Most teenagers are not only frightened of public speaking (I had a student vomit on the podium out of anxiety) they have almost zero experience with someone asking them to give an account of themselves, neither from an adult or a peer. Because college in this country is equally unchallenging, a lot of these issues are being taken unmodified into adulthood

[tabtab]

I'm frightened of public speaking also, I'd note. But in a small meeting where I know my sh8t, I'm not afraid to justify my conclusions and opinions when questioned. Sometimes I'll admit I have a hard time explaining something immediately, but later follow up in an email with carefully worded details. We don't have to do all our thinking at live meetings. Wiki's etc. are good also for longer chains of reasoning.

Others don't seem able or motivated to do the same. If they have great logic, they hide it from the world.