It's funny how many comments like yours are insisting that, of course everyone knows what's going on, they just have more context and relevant expertise -- obviously it makes sense to them and they're being totally productive, you're just not keeping up...
... and yet 8 months ago there was a discussion[1] that revealed that many such meetings were actually built on foundations of sand, and infected with false domain beliefs and double-illusions of transparency[2]. Where someone had to come in and say, "wait, stop, explain all this like I'm an idiot" before anyone could actually get on the same page.
One example[3]:
>>I get pulled into a meeting about something that I have no context on because it touches my area of expertise, and the discussions have apparently been stalling out.
>>I brace myself to be the idiot. I'm going to waste everyone's time asking questions that everyone knows the answer to, and I just got looped in, so everyone's going to feel like they need to walk through all the super-obvious stuff to satisfy the one guy who didn't do his homework.
>>So I start asking questions, and slowly begin to realize that nobody in the room has any idea what they are talking about.
Another[4]:
>>This is me all the time haha sometimes I really am just "stupid" and the only one in the room without a clue, but many many times my stupidity has revealed no one really has any idea what they or the others are talking about.
So yes, I don't doubt that sometimes what you're describing is what's going on. But also, the OP may be deeply aware of something others don't realize.
Several times on email lists or in Slack channels, I’ve stuck my neck out and said stuff along the lines of “Whenever anyone asks a question about this stuff, people throw out these code words and obscure references to internal projects, and for people new to the process like me, it might as well all be Japanese. You can tell me to find it on the “foo server”, but if I don’t know what the “foo server” even is, that doesn’t help! Where can I find the beginner’s guide to doing this stuff for someone who has zero experience with it?” I’ve had numerous people ping me privately afterwards to thank me for asking the “dumb” questions because they all had the same questions and were afraid to ask and look stupid.
... and yet 8 months ago there was a discussion[1] that revealed that many such meetings were actually built on foundations of sand, and infected with false domain beliefs and double-illusions of transparency[2]. Where someone had to come in and say, "wait, stop, explain all this like I'm an idiot" before anyone could actually get on the same page.
One example[3]:
>>I get pulled into a meeting about something that I have no context on because it touches my area of expertise, and the discussions have apparently been stalling out.
>>I brace myself to be the idiot. I'm going to waste everyone's time asking questions that everyone knows the answer to, and I just got looped in, so everyone's going to feel like they need to walk through all the super-obvious stuff to satisfy the one guy who didn't do his homework.
>>So I start asking questions, and slowly begin to realize that nobody in the room has any idea what they are talking about.
Another[4]:
>>This is me all the time haha sometimes I really am just "stupid" and the only one in the room without a clue, but many many times my stupidity has revealed no one really has any idea what they or the others are talking about.
So yes, I don't doubt that sometimes what you're describing is what's going on. But also, the OP may be deeply aware of something others don't realize.
[1] Main link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28942189
[2] https://learning.subwiki.org/wiki/Double_illusion_of_transpa...
[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28945382
[4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28952838