Uncertainty or Absolutes

A few years ago I used to run a meetup group for people who wanted to speak or learn German, or who were generally interested in the country, whether they traced their family tree back to it or were stationed there once. And every once in a while we would inevitably have a guest attend who would make bold claims about all of Germany and all of Germans, often after a recent 1-2 week trip. Even if I would try and weigh in, they would dismiss it as a guaranteed outlier or too dated of an example given my move to the US.

To me this was always a Dunning-Kruger effect par excellence.

However, nowadays, I get a similar impression on LinkedIn. I see bold statements about certain areas where it is obvious that the background and perspective are fairly narrow and limited.

It is not uncommon that the people who know the most about something talk in terms that involve uncertainty (e.g., generally, if, but, yet, possible, unlikely).

People that know the least, tend to talk in absolutes (e.g., always, will, never).

The language you read and hear, be it online or in person, is a proxy for quality. While we have a tendency to seek out certainty, nuance is generally more accurate.

The problem is that such nuance does not seem to make the most compelling sales pitch. And in the age of the split second attention span, who has time for nuance if everybody just scans for quips and soundbites?

Yet I believe that nuance is an important factor in building trust. One cannot build a relationship as a trusted advisor or partner if one is unwilling or unable to acknowledge edge cases, compromises, limitations, and general uncertainties.