# Why should I listen to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063 "2017-04-08T16:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/41 "2017-04-09T18:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > **Why should I listen to you?** > > Or why should I care what you have to say or write? Try to pick something outside your primary line of expertise. Absolute beginners can have good ideas (a natural, as they say, or dumb luck) and really good advice and great ideas can come from the most unlikely sources. Beauty in the eye of the beholder, and all that. Looks like the thread is moving beyond addressing the OP specifically, but here’s my input: It’s very important to listen to others because everyone has a different vantage point, which could be interpreted as a unique point of view or a real pain in the ass: > **[Collective intelligence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_intelligence)** > > Collective intelligence (CI) is shared or group intelligence (GI) that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making. The term appears in sociobiology, political science and in context of mass peer review and crowdsourcing applications. It may involve consensus, social capital and formalisms such as voting systems, social media and other means of quantifying mass activity. Collective IQ is a measure of collectiv When people talk straight (not joking, bragging or lying) and the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of a given subject, they often end up describing their own limitations, very much like the parable about the blind men and the elephant: > **[Blind men and an elephant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant)** > > The parable of the blind men and an elephant is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the animal's body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the animal based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other. In some versions, they come to suspect that the other person is ... From the Wiki entry: _…the parable implies that one’s subjective experience can be true, but that such experience is inherently limited by its failure to account for other truths or a totality of truth._ ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/42 "2017-04-09T18:46:54Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > Absolute beginners can have good ideas (a natural, as they say, or dumb luck) and really good advice and great ideas can come from the most unlikely sources. Beauty in the eye of the beholder, and all that. > > Looks like the thread is moving beyond addressing the OP specifically, but here’s my input: It’s very important to listen to others because everyone has a different vantage point, which could be interpreted as a unique point of view or a real pain in the ass: > > [Collective intelligence - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_intelligence) > > When people talk straight (not joking, bragging or lying) and the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of a given subject, they often end up describing their own limitations, very much like the parable about the blind men and the elephant: > > [Blind men and an elephant - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant) > > From the Wiki entry: > _…the parable implies that one’s subjective experience can be true, but that such experience is inherently limited by its failure to account for other truths or a totality of truth._ ``` An old bow maker once said, if he has made one bow listen to what he has to say. There is something he learned that you didn't. ``` ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/43 "2017-04-09T19:38:44Z")
Wow, that was a quick response. If you don’t mind my saying so, this: > [@](#): > > I need to figure out a way to use my likability as an inroad to establish some credibility. doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Friendship, respect and, ultimately, love are things that can’t be expected of others. All you can do is to try to do a good job, to feel good about yourself and to take a real close look at how much of your own bullshit you choose to believe (“you” meaning anyone). ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/44 "2017-04-09T21:41:27Z")
Why should you listen to me? What else have you got to do? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/45 "2017-04-10T01:45:01Z")
You really shouldn’t. I very rarely have a clue what I’m talking about. Huh. \*stops posting on the SDMB forev — Hang on. Dick jokes. I still have the dick jokes. It’s worth it, for the dick jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/46 "2017-04-10T08:10:58Z")
Listen to me. As hard. As you fuckin’. Can. No, not the words that are commin’ out of my mouth, but the sound my stomach makes. It’s pretty gross right?! Yay! ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/47 "2017-04-10T22:18:08Z")
> [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](#): > > Because I am so. Fucking. Loud. Don’t you mean BECAUSE! I! AM! SO! FUCKING! LOUD! ?😉 ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/48 "2017-04-10T22:32:13Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I do a lot of writing in my job, which is focused on strategic planning and execution. I got the nickname because I talk a lot ;)._[SNIP]_…_[SNIP]_ So, it’s not because you’re an excellent lyricist, an adequate keyboardist, and hang out with Eddie? ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/49 "2017-04-10T23:09:50Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Or why should I care what you have to say or write? Try to pick something outside your primary line of expertise. It is ok to call atention to your primary expertise as a qualifier if you choose. You should never listen to me nor care what i say, and probably should not take my advice lest people throw stones at you. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/50 "2017-04-10T23:37:57Z")
> [@D.E.S.K.Top668](#): > > So, it’s not because you’re an excellent lyricist, an adequate keyboardist, and hang out with Eddie? Words and music man! Yeah, the guy who gave it to me had just seen the movie Eddie & the Cruisers. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-i-listen-to-you/784063/51 "2017-04-10T23:48:20Z")
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