Continuing the discussion from Forums for discussing social and political issues:
In making some interesting points about communications styles, @nemomeno cast a flashlight directly at what has been a chronic blind spot for me.
I don’t really have/do/understand interpersonal relationships or concepts. They are probably such a basic area of life which many take for granted, that most people find it difficult to even explain what they are, or how they are supposed to work. Much of my daily concern is about society and interactions, because this is a human faculty, and because it enables groups of humans to undertake efforts which they could not do alone.
In my personal life, this makes interaction surprisingly difficult. Being rather selfless, I am happy enough to do most anything to help people. But my efforts annoy because most people instead worry about whether or not I like them, or whether or not they like me. So, instead, nothing gets done. With some aspects of life, such as sexuality, people get quite hot about it not being social, yet tend to not have any pressing reasons why. Sex is a great example because people seem to intuitively and immediately see the difference between the interpersonal and the social. But, the differences and preferences between them seem to factor heavily in many areas for people.
Is having a social life or societal constructs without interpersonal relationships lame? How do you find that they help? Do they make more formal/methodological interactions difficult for you? How do you make these distinctions?