>>13600837You're giving me far too much credit, anon.
As an example, I was talking to my professor the other day, a brilliant guy, and upon receiving a very generous compliment from him I was flattered. This feeling lasted a very short while until I remembered an age-old wisdom about compliments.
The problem with compliments is that they may fill one with a sense of pride, a hubris that can make one complacent. This is a danger for obvious reasons.
I wanted to thank him, which I did. When I began realizing the aforementioned issue with compliments after this vanity filled my heart, I wanted to tell him and share my thoughts. I also did not want to offend him. I didn't want him to think that his compliment-especially his appraisal of my ability-to be either incorrect or unwelcome. I struggled to get the words out. That's when he doubled down on his compliment, saying that I did not need to be in the class I was in, that I was far above the level of the class. I felt bad because my lab partner was within earshot. I began to feel like I was disappointing him as I was saying absolutely nothing. In this whirlwind of doubt and inner confliction, all I could muster out after a full minute since my thank you was "I enjoy doing the work" after several failed attempts at sentences I can no longer recollect.
This problem I have is almost worse with intelligent people, because I know they are able to criticize it. It's not even so much criticism, but the idea that if I forget to include a point, or that I structure my thoughts incorrectly that I won't make sense.
