People who can sit through a long pause in conversation without rushing to fill it aren’t always socially confident, some grew up around adults whose silences were dangerous and learned, for their own safety, that filling them only made things worse

AI Briefing

• – People who can sit through a long pause in conversation without rushing to fill it aren't always socially confident.
• – Comfort with long silences in conversation often gets read as social confidence.
• – For some people it is something else entirely: a survival skill learned in homes where silences were warnings and speaking up only made things worse.