this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2024
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[โ€“] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Silence is a weapon. People don't like awkward pauses and will talk to fill in the gap and sometimes they end up putting their foot in their mouth.

[โ€“] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I use this all the time. At some point in my life I just stopped being uncomfortable with silence, but it drives most people mad.

And it's not just useful in terms of having an "opponent" stew in some social discomfort.

Use it to take a moment to think. Use it to give the other party time to think. Use it to let your most recent words hang in the air and gain more weight. Etc.