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by LoganDark 1192 days ago
Going too far in the other direction can be pretty annoying, too, though.

I'm autistic and vehemently ignore and reject most pieces of news, especially political, and that causes tons of terrible things to happen whenever some sort of spoiler gets out and I happen to see it.

It's like I'm proud of my great ignorance and having that threatened with mere knowledge sends me into a panic of some sort.

It's not just news. If I say "I don't know what that is lol" to someone, 9 times out of 10 their default response to tell me what it is (if it is some cultural/media thing) is the complete opposite of what I want, which is usually just for the other person to move on without telling.

Knowing things can't be undone, so I strive not to know most things, apparently.

1 comments

Reply with a response that will get the response you want. If you want them to leave the topic, say something non-engaging like “ok”.

You’re likely to come across not entirely socially acceptable in either case, but that’s probably impossible to counter.

> Reply with a response that will get the response you want.

This is something that I understand, but unfortunately can't really perform for some reason. I always have to be... "honest", for lack of a better word. I will always say something that makes things worse for me because it's... just how I feel.

I used to be a pathological liar, and from a young age I had this one friend who was a living lie detector, and they trained it out of me so hard that I now obsessively tell the truth in all situations even when it would be detrimental. ;-;

That’s not quite lying. It’s just not being interested in a topic and being clear but polite about it.
...Maybe I didn't do a good enough job of trying to avoid that implication, but the point is not "I don't lie anymore" (implying "that would be a lie"), but rather "I now obsessively tell the truth in all situations even when it would be detrimental" (meaning "that would be omitting things I Absolutely Must Say").

In other words, even if I know just saying "ok" would probably work, I feel the need to somehow "brag" or otherwise disclose my proud ignorance, even if that only results in the literal opposite of what I want.