How to have a conversation about a topic you’re not interested in or don’t know anything about:
Listen to what the other person has to say about the topic.
Ask a question about what they said. Asking them to clarify or explain something you don’t understand is great, but any question will do. All else fails, ask them to explain what they like about some part of the topic.
Listen to their responses and go back to step 2.
Do this until 5-15 minutes has passed, then change the subject to a topic of your interest, unless you are actually interested in learning more on this subject, in which case, go on for as long as you like.
Sometimes, they will say something like “I’m sorry to blather on about [topic].” This is an attempt at a conversational dismount. You can either say “no, it was fascinating, thanks” and then bring up your own topic, or you can say “no, it’s fascinating, please keep going” if you want to keep hearing about their topic. Note the tense difference (past -> moving on, present -> keep going).
I just thought I’d write a script for this, because someone who can’t / won’t do this came up in a Captain Awkward column, and listening about topics you have no interest in is a really useful skill to have and not often explicitly taught, particularly to boys and men.
This is really helpful advice for people with adhd/autism because we’re often not great at social skills and holding conversations
i wont starve for the week which is good but breakup mixed with financial crisis due to my own poor choices mixed with having to go to my terrible job every day mixed with not having anyone closer that a 2.5hr drive away that i can get a hug from mixed with feeling very much like i am terrible at all relationships and doomed to a life of isolation has rly got me feeling so hopeless!!! i came home early and i think im gonna wfh tomorrow too but i am just so fuckin….. tired……. idk how im supposed to keep pretending to be a person every day
take some time to notice your vision. see how easily you detect motion. focus on something in your peripheral (without moving your eyes to it). see how it works. look at your hands. pick something up with your fingers. appreciate how ridiculously specialized they are in fine motor skills (even if your personal motor skills are lackluster). think about how you have a body built to be an apex predator through use of tools. think about how the brain of your kind has created a digital hivemind uniting the whole world. now look back at the screen. look at the tab where you are in an argument about cartoons on tumblr. close the tab. open a new tab. google “tribute to anomalocaris”. watch the video that comes up. leave a like. subscribe even though the channel has been inactive for 8 years. you will need it in the coming times
i just beefed with someone online and I got tired of it so I said “I ate some really good blueberries today” and they replied “I had a fire ass peach today”. world peace
