Sep
14
When you ask somebody something embarrassing or something they simply want to avoid or if you point out somebody’s shortcoming, the person “portrays” ignorance, in his/her defence.
The person is trying to hold the attitude to the effect of “What’s the big deal?” or “Oh really? I never knew/noticed!” or “Who cares?”
The outcome of their reaction:
- You can’t really press the topic further(after all its not a big deal to talk about) and if it doesn’t strike this to you as a case of POIAD, then you are just hanging there wondering “wasn’t I correct?” or “After all it was for his/her good, why doesn’t he/she understand?”.
- At the same time the person who has indulged in POIAD feels that he/she has won the argument by silencing you.
The truth behind POIAD:
- You can actually rejoice that the person has indirectly admitted that your point was right.
- He/she is really uncomfortable talking about the subject.
- Be sympathetic(if you can) and try to understand that its not fun criticizing somebody(even your friends) and “imposing” solutions (suggesting is different from imposing solutions).
- You understand their fallacy and you have nothing to lose, hence let the other person save his face.
Words of Caution about POAID:
- Don’t apply POAID unless you fully understand it.
- Even if you understand POAID it is not really applicable in all circumstances.
- Use your intelligence while making decisions unless you want to practice POAID yourself.
- POIAD is patented in my research papers so don’t bother publishing it as a piece of your genius creation.