Why do things so often break down so intelligibly into these 2x2 matrices? Like the "urgent vs important" one? Is there a word for this phenomenon?

Are people primed / wired to more readily understand things when they're explained in a "two tribes" way?

I think you could choose many other two properties and they would still make sense.

We all know it's simplification and it's easy to read so it looks intelligent, albeit incomplete.

For example I make 2x2 matrix of growing roses where axis are: amount of water and amount of sunlight, seems reasonable but we know that there are many other variables at play: soil, atmosphere, solar cycle, temperature, fungal growth etc.

I could make NxM matrix of all known variables, but it would be quite intimidating.

Wow, thanks for posting that. I am learning more about not interrupting now.

Articles like this are why I come to Hacker News. They have contributed so much to my career it's not even funny.

Another good article on differing communication styles is the ask vs guess post.

https://ask.metafilter.com/55153/Whats-the-middle-ground-bet...

Talking to someone who will finish their piece no matter what is the most annoying thing in the world when the speaker doesn’t keep things brief. Interruption, to an extent, necessary for interacting with those individuals who may not interrupt but who also can’t stop talking to let the other sure get a word in

I came here to say this. The similarity was so striking it was jarring. Both really great articles. Might both be explaining the ~same thing in different terms.

Wow, thanks, that post is brilliant, funny, and useful. Bookmarked.