Brain Mining: Are You Ready to Dig Deep?

[nitsuj]

Something a zombie would ask, or a co-worker looking to mine your brain for ideas?

I thought pick your brain refers to mining, but my "comedic" retort of "you'll find no gems." fell flat lol, with a "I don't want to mine your brain."

Maybe I'm a better poet than comedian

 

[jedishrfu]

They had a scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies where they literally got to pick a monkey's brain which was somewhat disturbing. They were dining with a raja somewhere in India.

From the movie: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom



and then there's the more corporate angle of someone not willing to pay you for your time and experience:

https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/stop-asking-can-i-pick-your-brain/

 

[256bits]

I haven't heard that expression in years.

Not only it does seem to be a one way request, but acts as an encouragement of a comedic reply, warding off bothersome requests. for "free" advice.

 

[Rive]

I did not know that expression, so my brain tried to make some sense of it automatically.
The process returned with 'pickle' as the key word what immediately draw some further error messages.
Took some google to get rid of all the confusion

 

[pinball1970]

Something a zombie would ask, or a co-worker looking to mine your brain for ideas?

I thought pick your brain refers to mining, but my "comedic" retort of "you'll find no gems." fell flat lol, with a "I don't want to mine your brain."

Maybe I'm a better poet than comedian

Yes we use it all the time in the NW England, I always take it as a compliment from a co-worker.

One that does confuse me is "This is probably a stupid question..."

The questions are very rarely stupid and I have taken to pointing this out before they ask. Usually from younger colleagues.

 

[kuruman]

One that does confuse me is "This is probably a stupid question..."

My standard answer to that is, "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people" immediately followed by "and stupid people are those who don't understand something and yet don't ask for clarifications."

 

[Klystron]

[snip]
Maybe I'm a better poet than comedian

Immediately before reading your post I encountered this quote in a novel I am rereading:
Poetry is what is avoided as it is surrounded by translation. *

A comedic translation of "pick your brains..." is "what is your take on...?", where take refers to a reaction to a statement including body language.

[*From Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Dust by S. R. Delany page 128]

 

[BillTre]

My standard answer to that is, "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people" immediately followed by "and stupid people are those who don't understand something and yet don't ask for clarifications."

I strongly encourage undergraduates (and others) to have confidence in their own thought processes and pursue their own enlightenment but asking questions about things they don't understand.

When I was a undergraduate, I would ask a lot of "Stupid questions" in classes.

This usually meant questions that other people were not confident enough to ask because they thought others would think they were stupid for asking something that they already knew.

My attitude was that I was there to learn things and if some discussion was losing me because of some little detail I did not get, I would sure ask for clarification.

This usually worked quite well, and afterwards, my friends in the class would say they were wondering about the same thing but were too worried about what others would think to ask the question.

 

[symbolipoint]

Mining someones brain is to search for and pull useful material from it.
Picking someones brain is to explore one topic and some related parts from that brain (mind). This seems more specific than Mining (maybe).
This interpretation might not be the best.My feeling is that you could use either of those but that "picking" is more common.

Something not usually meant would be like this: "Can I pick your brain?"
"No, not now. Let it heal first."

 

[russ_watters]

They had a scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies where they literally got to pick a monkey's brain which was somewhat disturbing.

Chilled, yes. You can also serve brains with fava beans and a nice chianti.

 

[pinball1970]

Chilled, yes. You can also serve brains with fava beans and a nice chianti.

That was liver but I get your point

 

[nitsuj]

I haven't heard that expression in years.

Not only it does seem to be a one way request, but acts as an encouragement of a comedic reply, warding off bothersome requests. for "free" advice.

I'm nearly indulgent in offering my opinion lol and I'm not "professional" enough to warrant a fee for my opinions / ideas; I take it as a compliment.

 

[256bits]

I'm nearly indulgent in offering my opinion lol and I'm not "professional" enough to warrant a fee for my opinions / ideas; I take it as a compliment.

"offering my opinion ... as a compliment"
A whole lotta people would agree.
Professionals charge money( legalities and all that other jazz regarding accountability ) , others don't - they may charge, or possible expect, a fee of favour returned, a thank you, a name drop, etc. maybe nothing except satisfaction in helping out - basic human social behaviorisms.

It happens all the time free service and free information in our daily interactions - directions to the city centre, time of the next bus, opening the stuck pickle jar.
Question is, why do we feel the need and use such openings as an attempt to ease into a conversation with people we know and not with strangers. Can you imagine going up to a stranger and saying that you want to pick his/her brain? before asking for directions.

 

[Ophiolite]

Question is, why do we feel the need and use such openings as an attempt to ease into a conversation with people we know and not with strangers.

It is a shorthand way of defining the parameters of the forthcoming exchange. The discussion is not to be a casual discussion of the yesterday's big game. It is not a catch-up about family members. It is not a update on current business. Etc.
Rather it is a request for information, or for an opinion. When I use it, which I used to do frequently when I was gainfully employed, it is the equivalent of saying, "I've got this idea. I think it might be valuable. I haven't got anywhere near formulating it fully yet, but I want to run it by you and get your impression. Also, just talking about it will help it gel in my own mind. I hope you can spare a moment to help."

 

[russ_watters]

That was liver but I get your point

You're right, I was mixing movies together. In the second one he gratuitously ate a guy's brain at dinner (I think he shared).

I'm not sure what kind of wine he paired it with, but a white seems more appropriate.

 

[pinball1970]

You're right, I was mixing movies together. In the second one he gratuitously ate a guy's brain at dinner (I think he shared).

I'm not sure what kind of wine he paired it with, but a white seems more appropriate.

Yes that was nasty, Ray Liotta had his own brains fed to him. Anthony Hopkins character cooked them first of course, raw brains would have been in bad taste.

 

[nitsuj]

an odd tangent lol

anyways

It is a shorthand way of defining the parameters of the forthcoming exchange. ...

it is the equivalent of saying, "I've got this idea. I think it might be valuable. I haven't got anywhere near formulating it fully yet, but I want to run it by you and get your impression. Also, just talking about it will help it gel in my own mind. I hope you can spare a moment to help."

Wow that's a lot.

I'm simpleton so think of it as social "butter", though in an office maybe an olive branch for the interruption / break in current train of thought perhaps.

 

[Ophiolite]

Wow that's a lot.

I'm simpleton so think of it as social "butter", though in an office maybe an olive branch for the interruption / break in current train of thought perhaps.

It is merely social lubricant the first time you use it, but by the third application with the same recipient she/he knows what to expect. Of course one must be consistent in its application and not use it when "We have a problem", or "What do you know about X,Y,Z?" would be more appropriate.

Lexical, grammatical and structural usage are unique to each of us and communication is enhanced when we recognise the signature of others and are consistent in our own usage.

 

[WWGD]

I strongly encourage undergraduates (and others) to have confidence in their own thought processes and pursue their own enlightenment but asking questions about things they don't understand.

When I was a undergraduate, I would ask a lot of "Stupid questions" in classes.

This usually meant questions that other people were not confident enough to ask because they thought others would think they were stupid for asking something that they already knew.

My attitude was that I was there to learn things and if some discussion was losing me because of some little detail I did not get, I would sure ask for clarification.

This usually worked quite well, and afterwards, my friends in the class would say they were wondering about the same thing but were too worried about what others would think to ask the question.

Ditto. Better look dumb early in front of other students than looking dumb during your thesis , a job interview or with colleagues in a conference.

 

[WWGD]

From what I have heard on this , what bothers some who receive or are at the end of this question is that some do not have a clear-enough goal in mind when asking ,but instead just a vague, fuzzy need for help. Out of respect for someone, have a clear-enough idea of what you need, want help with to avoid pointlessly circling without aiming for a concrete goal. People mostly want to help but don't want to be caught up in open-ended exchanges.