Transcription
Black text on white background reading “when i say “if i recall” or “if i remember correctly” i am being polite about being right. i remember and i am correct.”
Black text on white background reading “when i say “if i recall” or “if i remember correctly” i am being polite about being right. i remember and i am correct.”
That’s bullshit.
If I was completely certain of something, I would say so.
In most scenarios, if I’m wrong, I lacked pieces of information. It doesn’t really matter how strongly I feel I am right if I’m wrong. It certainly doesn’t matter how often I am right, because I could get it wrong.
In particular if there is a chunk of knowledge where I don’t know how much information I am lacking, that’s the worst outcome. I could be so extremely wrong that it requires more time than waiting to confirm whether or I am.
It’s very rude and condescending of management and clients to always be so critical of my “confidence.” It has nothing to do with how “confident” I am in an solution.
I get paid to be right. So I will be right a lot. It isn’t a magical he’s usually right so he’s right this time. If that is what is expected of me, use LLMs.
Edit: It may not be clear, but I have given the “certain” I am right 4 or 5 times over 13 years. It’s RARE. I do not sugarcoat. I don’t have the energy to play social games when time, money, and system availability is at stake.
People don’t like being told they are wrong, so, if you are sure they are indeed wrong, giving them the option to reconsider is usually more tactful and polite.
Also, I don’t know what your job is, but noone ks paid to be right. People make mistake because you can never be fully certain of anything. You are paid for your time/experience, and that allows you to be wrong (at least in a healthy environment).
I’m an engineer. I literally get paid to be right. Because of this, I give an accurate assessment of my own answer if I am not certain.
The amount of times I am certain of being right is probably countable on a single hand over the past dozen years of my career.