In which Americans in business are always right, no matter how you think about it

I was unable to apply my credit voucher to the purchase of my ticket, because when I called, the agent I spoke to said that the voucher could only be applied if I have a reservation number. I've selected my trip already on line, I said, can you tell me where is this number? You have to buy the ticket, first, she replied.

“It seems you are telling me that I cannot apply the credit to my purchase,” I said. “Because if I must have a reservation number to apply the credit, and if I first must pay for the ticket in order to have a reservation number, then it follows that I must pay for the ticket before I can apply the credit to the purchase of the ticket.”

"I did not say that. Don't put words into my mouth."

"It clearly follows from what you said." This is where I went wrong. Americans do not understand the idea of drawing conclusions from inferences, and that anyone would try to think "rationally" in this way is just absurd and pretentious; who do we think we are?

American business does not think in this way, and Americans mostly do not. But they almost always think they are being rational, and they honor the idea of using reason in thinking by giving explanations which make sense to them. A customer service agent only needs to know that it makes sense to her- or himself. If an argument can be made showing that they are in the right and you are in the wrong, then it must be true. No argument anyone makes can ever be criticized, unless it is from the point of view of an authority that knows itself to be always and necessarily in the right.

Because of this, I find Americans in general impossible to deal with, and it is almost always pointless to try. Since this invariably makes me angry, they can fight with me about that. Then they start accusing me of interrupting (which is probably true) and not listening to what they are saying (which is not true). Much attention is given to managing business conversations, especially with customers, in terms of appreciation of emotions, fair chances to speak and be heard, and sometimes having an explanation for the position taken. That explanation is taken as sufficing because it can be made. Americans, if they are in a position of any authority, almost always know that their thinking is correct because they can say something. The explanation is that saying. It is subject to no language-specific norms, but only a conversational pragmatics that is about conversational turn taking, politeness, avoidance of anger or other strong emotions, and ultimately being agreeable and nice.

In college I was offered a course in "social skills." (It was based on Transaction Analysis). I wound up not taking it. I do not believe that that would help me. At best, it would enable me to understand WASPs, perhaps about as well as by reading motivational and business skills books like "How to win friends and influence people." Rule #1: the authority a person in authority can refer to is always right. (For instance, the customer is always right if the boss can cite this customer theory while refusing any claim of a worker, such as to be treated fairly). Rule #2: rationality is bullshit, and argument is something that disobedience children do, while adults are politely compliant.

I know of no way to deal with Americans in business that doesn't mean I wind up losing more often than not. The amount of energy expended is great, and that expenditure of energy only burns me out, because it brings no gain. I want people to think rationally, and they don't. I believe you cannot solve any problem to mutual satisfaction without a conversation in which people think rationally together. Schools in America do not teach rational thinking, and it is mostly absent from our professional culture. Instead, people believe what they are told. They may believe in evidence-based practices, but that is insufficient for being rational. The reason is that the existing practice can always be legitimated by that available evidence that can be used to support it, and the inferences involved cannot be represented or criticized.

I do not like the way Americans do business. It seems to be an area in which people like myself can only lose. I would undoubtedly be more contented with these conversations if I didn't care or was happy to be politely compliant and want nothing else. The skills that work in dealing with Americans in business or in any situation of practical problems and potential disagreement that call for thought -- are little better than a dice roll or other invocation of chance results.

A college education is little help in this regard. People who argue more rationally are more often poor people in the ghetto who I see on trains. Though in New York it is still the case that everyone always thinks they are right.

People are right or wrong in what they say because of the relationship between what they want and their social position.

The lady on a later call, where Amtrak refused to help me, but took up a lot of my time, even told me to not think about anything she has said, but just listen to what she was saying.

Thinking (rationally) is prohibited.