The Rosie Result (Don Tillman, #3)

by Graeme Simsion

“Bible seems an inappropriate term for a document that should be evidence-based and regularly revised.”

Julie called for questions. The first came from a male of approximately forty. “I know you said not to say it, but you seem pretty normal to me.” He laughed. Liz did not. “I mean, you’re obviously at the high-functioning end of the spectrum. How does what you say relate to—” Liz didn’t let him finish. “See,” she said, “this happens. I ask you not to say something—I tell you it’s hurtful and insulting—but you treat it as a joke and say it anyway. So, let me say something hurtful and insulting to you. Fuck off. Asshole.” Julie attempted to interject, but Liz raised her hand in a stop sign and spoke over her. “You didn’t shut him down when he was offensive, so don’t shut me down.

you should know by now not to limit yourself to the overt.”

things that I didn’t like: unreasonable rules; aesthetic, religious and political positions presented as fact; favoritism and discrimination.

Maybe you could just go part-time.” “My current job requires more than a full-time effort. If the person doing the job is me.”

I had long ago learned that withholding information from Rosie was unwise. The reduction in her stress levels was more than offset by the increase when she detected deceit.

“How did the swimming teacher persuade you to overcome your dislike of submersion?” I asked him. “Easy. First, I had to splash my face with water, then put just my nose in, then my face, then …” I let him finish the explanation, but I had seen the pattern of gradual increase in exposure—under personal control.

my father had given high priority to teaching me the skills I needed for school and adult life. And I hadn’t liked him for it.

“Excellent. The process for problem-solving is first to explain and explore the situation and objectives. We can ask questions and share information, but we can’t propose solutions. Then we require an incubation period for subconscious problem-solving, during which we undertake some mundane activity. As we have only one day total, I recommend we allow three to four hours. Then we co-operate on finding solutions.”

“Sometimes, if you want to understand a situation where things seem to have gone wrong, it’s helpful to imagine that what has happened is exactly what the person—in this case Hudson—wanted to happen.” “You’re suggesting Hudson wanted to get into trouble and possibly be expelled? It seems totally irrational, and Hudson is not generally irrational. Unless overcome by emotions.” “I’m not suggesting it’s conscious.” “Of course not. You’re a psychologist.”

Rosie had, surprisingly, endorsed Claudia’s analysis, even to the extent that I was routinely critical of Hudson. “No worse than your dad was of you,” she said. I did not regard this comparison as a compliment.

“Always better to talk face to face,” he said. On the contrary, face-to-face communication was likely not to be better if it required long-distance travel for a minor matter or if one or both parties was potentially violent. I could have cited numerous other examples, but I let Rabbit continue.

“We’re not going to let anything smaller than that stand in our way. If we have problems—with technology, with resources, with each other—we solve them, we get past them, and we’re never afraid to ask for help to do that, because what we’re creating matters so much more.”