I promise I do this for real, I don’t do it from some contrived Machiavellian planning: if I don’t know something, I’ll ask. But you can use this simple thing in a contrived Machiavellian planning way.
Even if you believe in the whole “There’s no such thing as a stupid question” mantra, sometimes you’d just rather hold your tongue than look stupid. New research suggests, however, that you’ll appear more competent to others if you ask for advice rather than keeping quiet.
I’m not sure stupider is a real word, but.
But I think the principle is true because I’ve seen it: if you ask someone their advice or their opinion, they do like it. I don’t think that’s surprising but what might be is that because you have made them feel smart by asking them, they really do conclude that you are smart for the same reason. You’ve spotted how clever they are, therefore you are clever. QED.
Aren’t we human beings peculiar?
No, unless we set out to use contrived Machiavellian planning.