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Comment by marstall | Hacker News Reader

why is it that you can't control it?

Part of it is how I was raised, part of it is that I'll forget whatever I have to say in like 5 seconds. Often times, if I'm having deep technical discussion I'll interrupt to ask clarifying questions while the specific topic is still relevant because it's easier for me to digest related information without gaps.

> I'll interrupt to ask clarifying questions while the specific topic is still relevant

As someone who usually does not like to be interrupted, I would have no problem being interrupted this way. I prefer being understood as I speak so I can clarify and possibly adapt as we speak.

Most people do not seem to mind, and I usually try to avoid cutting people off as much as possible; even if that means I have to be like "hold on, did you mean xyz?" as they start the next sentence/topic. Usually works out pretty well.

On that note, asking a clarifying question in the form of a statement of your current understanding of something is IME the best way to come to an understanding of complex discussion.

I agree with this, fwiw, and do this too. Interrupting is often also a tactic for keeping me engaged, given the ADHD. My advice in the above comment is meant for tangential interruptions rather than clarifying interruptions.

My brain is a stack, and most people are queues, so if I don’t write it down, I have already forgotten it; but that’s only really important for interruptions that lead to tangents.

I'm skeptical that most people's short-term memory is queue-like. More likely that they are better at remembering earlier stack entries, or that they are simply less neurotic when forgetting about them.

That hasn’t been my experience. Most people around me seem to have mental checklists, and new things get added to the bottom of those checklists, not the top.

More specifically: interrupting to advance or clarify what a speaker is saying is very, very different from interrupting to redirect a conversation (especially interrupting to change topic to the interrupter's preference).

Interrupts from an active, engaged listener are usually received positively.

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