[ShinyObject]

The researchers obviously have to keep the scope narrow in order to get numbers at all.

That said, we should be aware that a tech nerd audience will find simple answers to complex non-tech questions appealing, and we should not over-estimate our understanding here just because we have a number.

There is a large amount of data transmitted through sub-communication and context, particularly during an in-person interaction, which is what people are wired for. Overall tone, body language, eye contact, and various social cues make up the bulk of data being transferred in many interactions. There's a reason why talking to some people feels exhausting and others invigorating, and it's not just the transcript.

[knzhou]

We can avoid reading too much into the study by just remembering the error bars. It's not like 39 is a universal constant. It's more like 39 with a standard deviation of 6. That's a wide spread, but it's less wide than the spread you get from syllable rate alone, and that's all the study quantitatively tells us.

[d-sc]

What are the things that make the difference between invigorating and exhausting?