Wit & Attitude Quote by Harry Stack Sullivan

Sullivan’s line is a sly inversion of the expert myth: the psychologist isn’t the smooth mind-reader gliding toward insight, but the deliberate bungler willing to sound dumb long enough for something real to surface. The “stupid questions” aren’t a confession of incompetence; they’re a technique. By irritating people early, he tests the seams of their self-presentation - the place where rehearsed narratives start to wobble.

The intent is methodological humility with teeth. Sullivan, shaped by a midcentury psychiatric culture that could be paternalistic and grandiose, insists that understanding another person begins in a zone of discomfort. “Annoyed” matters: annoyance is social, relational, slightly shaming. It signals that the interview is already an interpersonal event, not a neutral data extraction. That aligns with Sullivan’s broader interpersonal approach, where symptoms and stories aren’t private artifacts but patterns that appear between people.

The subtext is also ethical. Asking naïve questions redistributes power. It forces the subject to clarify, define terms, confront assumptions - and it exposes the interviewer’s dependence on the other person’s meanings. Early irritation becomes a diagnostic instrument: what does the person do when they feel misunderstood, challenged, slowed down? Do they correct, perform, withdraw, attack? In that friction, Sullivan finds the live circuitry of a personality.

Contextually, it’s a quiet critique of “clinical authority.” The best listening, he implies, risks looking foolish. If the room stays too smooth, you’re probably only collecting the version of the person that’s been optimized for approval.