It was a part of his personality, as it is for many people who are intelligent and opinionated, and some can mistake that for unkindness. But I wanted to emphasize that in his case it wasn't.
I haven't read much by Lenat, and haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe he was particularly blunt, I disagree with attributing bluntness to intelligence. Some of the most intellectually blunt people I've met were some of the most conversationally blunt, and some of the most brilliant were absolute social butterflies. Making people needlessly uncomfortable when communicating is a shortcoming regardless of your intellectual capacity. Even if difficulty communicating appropriately and intelligence are correlated somewhat through common neuropsychiatric profiles, the relationship is not causal.
> Making people needlessly uncomfortable when communicating is a shortcoming regardless of your intellectual capacity.
Emphasis on needlessly. Some bluntness is a good thing, even if it makes people uncomfortable. The alternative usually is prolonged awkwardness and beating around the bush, which likely will make people uncomfortable anyways. Just get it over with like an adult. Don't drag an uncomfortable thing out or even risk people not getting the message at all the first time around.
Bluntness is associated for intelligence because when your mind works faster than the room and you reach conclusions that the room is 15 minutes away from making it feels blunt and crude to them.
The socially acceptable thing to do is wait for them to catch up but that gets old.
It was a part of his personality, as it is for many people who are intelligent and opinionated, and some can mistake that for unkindness. But I wanted to emphasize that in his case it wasn't.
I haven't read much by Lenat, and haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe he was particularly blunt, I disagree with attributing bluntness to intelligence. Some of the most intellectually blunt people I've met were some of the most conversationally blunt, and some of the most brilliant were absolute social butterflies. Making people needlessly uncomfortable when communicating is a shortcoming regardless of your intellectual capacity. Even if difficulty communicating appropriately and intelligence are correlated somewhat through common neuropsychiatric profiles, the relationship is not causal.
> Making people needlessly uncomfortable when communicating is a shortcoming regardless of your intellectual capacity.
Emphasis on needlessly. Some bluntness is a good thing, even if it makes people uncomfortable. The alternative usually is prolonged awkwardness and beating around the bush, which likely will make people uncomfortable anyways. Just get it over with like an adult. Don't drag an uncomfortable thing out or even risk people not getting the message at all the first time around.
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Bluntness is associated for intelligence because when your mind works faster than the room and you reach conclusions that the room is 15 minutes away from making it feels blunt and crude to them.
The socially acceptable thing to do is wait for them to catch up but that gets old.
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I suspect you and the person you're responding to have different ideas of what the word blunt means in this context?
Got it. I was merely curious if there were any particular stories, rumors, or legends about his bluntness (like there is Linus).
No, it was never anything at that level. I would describe (pre-reformed) Linus as more than just "blunt"