Well, I think the "robot" way allows one a better control of their emotions especially when things get insulting, abusive, or hot and heavy.
Of course, those you say it to may not understand it all.
I had a particularly bad Friday the 13th which included getting into fisticuffs with an enlisted, something that had been taught to me as something an officer is NEVER suppose to do (after wards, I realized that the exception was being in military police). The psychiatrist had taken our prisoner aside for review to see fitness for the brig and I was in a separate room with my two patrolmen and the base XO. He made a comment of "I marvel at your control despite that abuse. If it was myself, I don't know if I could have restrained myself from throwing a swing or two."
I responded in a very Spock like tone, "You would find your time as a plebe very useful for this, Sir."............................it may have been correct and accurate, but it was probably presented wrong from an O-2 to an O-5.
What had happened? In the course of events, I had entered into a very controlled state, even to the point of perhaps being able to take hits without flying into a rage, and I hadn't realized how far I was into that state. What was the result? After the prisoner was away and on route to the brig, the XO "ordered me off the alert line". I told him on the phone that I thought I should remain on the base till the transport returned and his reply was, "No. I want you to go home."
Thing can go either way. The pleasant, conversational approach will probably go over well with reasonable people....but on the other hand, it may tell unreasonable people that there is room there to negotiate, to argue.
There are good and bad points to either version.
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("Now, we can do this the hard way or the,........actually, there's just the hard way."––Buffy to her first Sunnyvale vampires, (w,stte), "BtVs")