There's a specific kind of person who answers 'what do you want for dinner' with 'whatever you want' and isn't being easygoing. They genuinely lost access to the question a long time ago, in a house where wanting things drew the wrong kind of attention. - Silicon Canals

"The truth is closer to the opposite. They're not deferring because they don't mind. They're deferring because the muscle that knows what they mind has gone slack from decades of disuse."

"In some houses, expressing a preference triggered something. A sigh. A lecture about money. A comment about being ungrateful. A parent who took the request as a personal failure."

"The lesson wasn't 'don't want pasta.' The lesson was: wanting draws fire. Better to not have a position. Better to be the easy one."

Many individuals who respond with 'whatever you want' do so not out of ease but because they have lost the ability to express their preferences. This inability often stems from childhood experiences where expressing desires led to negative consequences, such as criticism or feelings of ungratefulness. Over time, these individuals learn that wanting something can draw unwanted attention or criticism, leading them to adopt a more passive approach in decision-making, ultimately resulting in a disconnection from their own desires.

Read at Silicon Canals