Weird tendency of many professors

[AndreasC]

I've noticed lots of physics professors reply before you finish talking. Not specifically talking about questions in a lecture etc, I mean more generally. Not sure how common it is in other disciplines or why, but generally they don't tend to let you finish. As a result often when someone has a question, the professor initially doesn't understand it (as they didn't finish) and they have to repeat the question. Sometimes they just guess what you want to tell them, but they don't tend to get it right. In general they're not great at hearing. Obviously it's not everyone but it's just weird that this is a personality trait so many of them share, in my experience at least.

 

[Drakkith]

Probably because they hear the same questions over and over again and are sort of 'conditioned' by this. If you've been asked the same question 50 times, you're likely to skip ahead to what you think the person is asking when they mention, say, angular momentum, than take the time to listen to the full question.

 

[topsquark]

I've noticed lots of physics professors reply before you finish talking. Not specifically talking about questions in a lecture etc, I mean more generally. Not sure how common it is in other disciplines or why, but generally they don't tend to let you finish. As a result often when someone has a question, the professor initially doesn't understand it (as they didn't finish) and they have to repeat the question. Sometimes they just guess what you want to tell them, but they don't tend to get it right. In general they're not great at hearing. Obviously it's not everyone but it's just weird that this is a personality trait so many of them share, in my experience at least.

If you think that is "weird," you've clearly never been to one of my 7AM lectures, where I tended to put on a little dog and pony show to keep the students awake.

Honestly, some of them probably thought I was a little nuts, but frankly, I am!

-Dan

 

[pinball1970]

I've noticed lots of physics professors reply before you finish talking. Not specifically talking about questions in a lecture etc, I mean more generally. Not sure how common it is in other disciplines or why, but generally they don't tend to let you finish. As a result often when someone has a question, the professor initially doesn't understand it (as they didn't finish) and they have to repeat the question. Sometimes they just guess what you want to tell them, but they don't tend to get it right. In general they're not great at hearing. Obviously it's not everyone but it's just weird that this is a personality trait so many of them share, in my experience at least.

On the whole my experiences were positive and I cannot remember being interrupted when I was asking something.
EDT: This happens far more now (at work) usually with the non tech people.

 

[martinbn]

How many have you seen doing this to think that it is many of them?

 

[Hornbein]

Tom "Biff" Wilson Sings The Question Song.​

 

[berkeman]

I've noticed lots of physics professors reply before you

Sorry, that's as far as I got when reading your question...

 

[Lnewqban]

It is not a thing related to academia, it is related to expertise.

“If your mind is empty, it is ready for anything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.” - Shunryu Suzuki

It could also be associated with short attention span that many persons are suffering nowdays.

Copied from
https://time.com/6302294/why-you-cant-focus-anymore-and-what-to-do-about-it/

“When you give in to temptation by pausing a task to check your phone, your brain also has to shift gears to stop what it was previously doing and move to a new task, Brown says. This process negatively affects the overall speed and quality of your work in the short term, research suggests, and in the long term, “the more you engage in task switching, the more your brain wants to wander and look for that new thing,” Brown says.”

 

[AndreasC]

How many have you seen doing this to think that it is many of them?

Well, at least 3 the last month... And I had kind of a similar problem earlier. Just today it happened twice haha

 

[AndreasC]

Probably because they hear the same questions over and over again and are sort of 'conditioned' by this. If you've been asked the same question 50 times, you're likely to skip ahead to what you think the person is asking when they mention, say, angular momentum, than take the time to listen to the full question.

Yeah I thought about that, although I also noticed it with things that are not exactly questions. For instance I was trying to tell some professor that I'm not sure about visiting some lab course because... And before I could finish he interrupted me and started saying "because it doesn't have the math we do here?". I was like, ok, but what I'm worried about is they may not have... and he interrupts me again, saying "physics is made in the lab, not in math!". Well alright but I was just trying to say they may not have room for me... I mean, I like him, and he's friendly enough, but, you know, it's kind of weird to just interrupt people like that...

A related problem is one my partner had with her supervisor for some project. It took I don't know how many visits until he started remembering what she told him she was doing. It's like they are constantly distracted when talking to you. Maybe they are too busy and that explains part of it...

 

[martinbn]

Well, at least 3 the last month... And I had kind of a similar problem earlier. Just today it happened twice haha

And how many didn't?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Well, at least 3 the last month...

So once every ten days.

 

[AndreasC]

So once every ten days.

Well admittedly I don't have to face hordes of physics professors daily.

 

[AndreasC]

And how many didn't?

Two, in the last month.

 

[strangerep]

[...] my 7AM lectures, where I tended to put on a little dog and pony show [...]

??? I'd have thought a pony would leave a slippery mess on the floor. (?)

 

[topsquark]

??? I'd have thought a pony would leave a slippery mess on the floor. (?)

Strangely enough, it didn't. My show pony is well trained!

Now, the day I was wearing snowy boots and came into the classroom dancing... that was a bit tricky!

-Dan

 

[strangerep]

[...] I mean, I like him, and he's friendly enough, but, you know, it's kind of weird to just interrupt people like that...

Weird,... and surprisingly common.

A related problem is one my partner had with her supervisor for some project. It took I don't know how many visits until he started remembering what she told him she was doing. It's like they are constantly distracted when talking to you. Maybe they are too busy and that explains part of it...

I think it's a sign of significant anxiety, maybe even mild autism. They cannot tolerate listening to someone else for more than 5 seconds. Think about Rain Man: he was really bad at listening, but could babble on for hours.

This problem in modern society is one reason I try to use email or SMS if I need to convey a nontrivial message. There's a higher chance the recipient will at least skim-read the whole message before replying. (Of course, there's always a chance they'll just ignore your message.)

 

[Swamp Thing]

A related phenomenon: A questioner asks a question, and the other person pauses to gather their thoughts... and the questioner rephrases and elaborates the question unnecessarily.

 

[Drakkith]

Interpersonal communication is fraught with problems, even in the best of times.

 

[DaveC426913]

I've noticed lots of physics professors reply before you finish talking. Not specifically talking about questions in a lecture etc, I mean more generally. Not sure how common it is in other disciplines or why, but generally they don't tend to let you finish. As a result often when someone has a question, the professor initially doesn't understand it (as they didn't finish) and they have to repeat the question.

This is not endemic to professors or even any discipline.

I think it is more general. And I think it is partly a control issue, and partly a touch of egotism with a dash of narcissism.

I know quite a few people - family and friends - who think they know what the rest of someone;s question is and head them off with their idea. With me at least, they're always wrong. (Because I'm not (always) an idiot and I don't usually have to ask the obvious question, so I'm invariably asking the processed, subsequent non-obvious question.)

Also, often these people are over-thinkers. It's as if they have already run into a question in their own lives and have developed a shrink-wrapped solution to it (usually because they think they're The Smartest Guys In The Room.) and they just blurt it out the moment someone utters key words related to the subject.

Some people have gotten quite used to my sigh, followed by a along pause, followed by slowly uttering the phrase "... If. I could finish. The question..."

The change in tenor seems break them out of their frenetic "talking rather than listening" mode.