Ron sent me this.
I remember when my mother and her cousin were still alive I watched a conversation with them and my sister where all three of them were talking at the same time and they all understood what the others were saying. Amazing! How do they do that?
As a homeschool dad I have often found myself in the company of other moms, at parks, swimming lessons, co-ops, etc. Handicapped with an inferior male brain such as I am, I frequently am unable to make much sense of their conversations. The females don’t finish their sentences — there are some nouns and verbs scattered here and there but I often miss the subject, meaning, or point of what they are saying. There are lots of pronouns, especially I/me/us/we, and her/him/they/them, that’s for sure.
As they speak their eyes get real big and they lean forward and make direct eye contact and bob their heads up and down like birds in acknowledgement and interrupt each other constantly. Maybe they don’t need to hear the rest of the sentence because they already know what the speaker means but I have developed another theory: they actually aren’t really listening to each other in the first place. It’s all about affirmation. It’s more important to appear sympathetic/empathetic and in agreement than it is to be understood. There is another purpose to this phatic communion that goes far beyond the mere exchange of information.
Anyway, that’s what it looks like from this male perspective.
^ Wrong. We do hear and we can understand what the other women are saying. But I don’t know how we do it either.
Granted. If my theory is wrong, then I stand corrected. I wish I had a daughter, though, so she could be an interpreter; it’s a foreign language to me.
The female brain seems complicated because its task is to sort-through and-catalog vast quantities of information at lightening speed, whereas the male brain operates on an endless loop of porn interspersed with Game of the Week highlights.
Men only have two things on their mind: sex and food. So, if he’s not horny, make him a sandwich.
I have three daughters and I can understand when we get together, also with my sister; it’s one of the mysteries of the universe. I just enjoy it.
My mother and grandmother were the same way. And it was almost non-stop, all day, everyday, until we went back home. We lived in Montana and my grandma lived in Portland, Oregon. This was back in the late 40s and early 50s.
I have four sisters; I have a functional off-switch.
Cheers
With so many browsers open at once, is it any wonder their processors are so slow that they must feel rather than think?
Bingo! I think you’ve been awarded the internets for the day. Please watch for the brown truck that is on its way to your door.
And not a single damn page has anything to do with learning to drive a car!