Ray On Interpreting An Author's Personality And Motivation

[JCastro]

When I first went to college, I was a literature, English major. For several years, I specialized in English literature, mostly. Doing that, you learn how to really interpret who a person is just from fairly short passages of their writing. You can tell pretty much what their philosophy is, what their mind is like just from the way they make a few sentences. Starting almost 100 years ago, science and medical journals started imposing a way of writing that creates the impression that there's no person present. Despite that stylized, impersonal, so-called objective way of writing, you can detect, at some level, the mind of the person behind those pseudo-objective sentences. I think of science and medical writing as political propaganda writing. It's the same as reading the newspaper; you know it's going to be 90% lies, but if you figure out the motives, why they chose that subject to write on, and the motives will explain the way they use their terms, the assumptions they make, and the way they draw conclusions from the evidence.

source: Ray Peat on Healing The Body, February 19, 2019, One Radio Network (2 minutes in)

 

['peataphysique]

 

[lampofred]

Maybe this is why he never responds to my emails. He dislikes the kind of person I am from my writing

 

[Pufas Shmoofas]

Maybe this is why he never responds to my emails. He dislikes the kind of person I am from my writing

What a dreadful couple of sentences. Insufferable!

 

[shepherdgirl]

@lampofred
When you could probably come up with hundreds of plausible reasons why he does not respond to you, why do you choose to believe the one that makes you feel the worst?
(I had to ask you, because I have done the same thing, only now I question my thoughts more and don't fall prey to my mind's manipulation as often!)
I don't agree with your conclusion, btw - Peat is not a judgmental kind of person.

 

[lampofred]

@lampofred
When you could probably come up with hundreds of plausible reasons why he does not respond to you, why do you choose to believe the one that makes you feel the worst?
(I had to ask you, because I have done the same thing, only now I question my thoughts more and don't fall prey to my mind's manipulation as often!)
I don't agree with your conclusion, btw - Peat is not a judgmental kind of person.

Well he responds to all kinds of questions based on the email depository so it's not like he only responds to life-or-death cancer/heart disease types of questions, and I pay him in advance for the questions I ask, so it's a logical conclusion...

But interestingly it seems like several lines in his recent newsletters are directly answering my questions...

 

[Beastmode]

Well he responds to all kinds of questions based on the email depository so it's not like he only responds to life-or-death cancer/heart disease types of questions, and I pay him in advance for the questions I ask, so it's a logical conclusion...

Getting a response from Peat is variable. I'm sure some may have a relationship with him in which he prioritizes them, but I've noticed it really comes down to the period of time I'm emailing him. He'll respond to 6 emails in a row then not respond the next 6. My first thoughts are either 1) Is he dead 2) Can I answer my own question that may lead to a better one to send.

In an audio I heard a while back in that documentary he's in, he mentioned something about responding to emails and trying to steer the person in what he believes is a more useful direction to look into.

I've noticed that he often only responds to parts of my email a lot and it leads me to believe the parts he doesn't respond to are probably not in the line of thinking he would encourage.

I imagine others can relate to some of what I wrote.

 

[lampofred]

Getting a response from Peat is variable. I'm sure some may have a relationship with him in which he prioritizes them, but I've noticed it really comes down to the period of time I'm emailing him. He'll respond to 6 emails in a row then not respond the next 6. My first thoughts are either 1) Is he dead 2) Can I answer my own question that may lead to a better one to send.

In an audio I heard a while back in that documentary he's in, he mentioned something about responding to emails and trying to steer the person in what he believes is a more useful direction to look into.

I've noticed that he often only responds to parts of my email a lot and it leads me to believe the parts he doesn't respond to are probably not in the line of thinking he would encourage.

I imagine others can relate to some of what I wrote.

You've sent 6 in a row before with no response? I've sent 3 without a response, and I'm scared of irritating/annoying him by sending any more...

It's one thing if he's not responding because he wants you to figure it out on your own, but it's another if the emails are pissing him off...

 

[managing]

Getting a response from Peat is variable. I'm sure some may have a relationship with him in which he prioritizes them, but I've noticed it really comes down to the period of time I'm emailing him. He'll respond to 6 emails in a row then not respond the next 6. My first thoughts are either 1) Is he dead 2) Can I answer my own question that may lead to a better one to send.

In an audio I heard a while back in that documentary he's in, he mentioned something about responding to emails and trying to steer the person in what he believes is a more useful direction to look into.

I've noticed that he often only responds to parts of my email a lot and it leads me to believe the parts he doesn't respond to are probably not in the line of thinking he would encourage.

I imagine others can relate to some of what I wrote.

Precisely my experience in emailing Dr. P. I am sure that sometimes he is just busy or maybe doesn't find the email interesting. I've also had the experience of writing him, getting no response, and rewriting my question more directly and concisely and getting a response. In reading HIS writing, I think one can deduce that he is a very terse and efficient person who doesn't waste words. I think he appreciates that approach when asking for help.

In general, I think (based solely on my experience) that having a question that is very concise, direct, and on topic is very helpful. I also get the impression that he shies away from "help me cure/treat my condition" kinds of questions. Maybe because of liability, maybe just because, as terse as he is, he despises reductionism.

 

[Blossom]

Precisely my experience in emailing Dr. P. I am sure that sometimes he is just busy or maybe doesn't find the email interesting. I've also had the experience of writing him, getting no response, and rewriting my question more directly and concisely and getting a response. In reading HIS writing, I think one can deduce that he is a very terse and efficient person who doesn't waste words. I think he appreciates that approach when asking for help.

In general, I think (based solely on my experience) that having a question that is very concise, direct, and on topic is very helpful. I also get the impression that he shies away from "help me cure/treat my condition" kinds of questions. Maybe because of liability, maybe just because, as terse as he is, he despises reductionism.

I’ve only emailed him 3 times and one time was on behalf of a question for the forum in general. I have always framed my question as stating the situation or issue, my brief thoughts on the matter and then ask if he has any input. I’m not saying that my way is the right way or best way to communicate but I do like him to know I try to figure out things for myself. He is a teacher so I get the impression he likes to see others putting forth the effort to understand before just turning to him for answers. He has answered me all three times but I try to not to email him excessively.

 

[managing]

I’ve only emailed him 3 times and one time was on behalf of a question for the forum in general. I have always framed my question as stating the situation or issue, my brief thoughts on the matter and then ask if he has any input. I’m not saying that my way is the right way or best way to communicate but I do like him to know I try to figure out things for myself. He is a teacher so I get the impression he likes to see others putting forth the effort to understand before just turning to him for answers. He has answered me all three times but I try to not to email him excessively.

Right on. I would say I've emailed him 10 times and gotten a response 6. That's over the course of 5 years or so.

 

[RWilly]

He probably gets a bizzilian emails a day.

 

[ilikecats]

.

 

[Grischbal]

What a dreadful couple of sentences. Insufferable!

 

[koky]

i've had some emails where i got no response and asked. him if he received them
he told me to ask if he's received it
when I've done that on the 2nd try, he almost always responds

 

[Vileplume]

This is a great post. I love Ray's emphasis on using short passages to study authors' minds and purposes for writing -- he suggested the same to me in an email, when I asked him about teaching English.

(and I can definitely relate to thinking I may have pissed him off with one to many emails.)