Social politics - how good are you at it?

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How good are you at detecting the pecking-order in a group and acting according to it?

How good are you at detecting what's acceptable/not acceptable/taboo/demanded in a certain group and talking/behaving accordingly?

How old were you when you discovered that there is such a thing as social politics? How much effort did it take to figure it out?

There's such a thing as social politics?

I usually don't worry about such things... probably why I am not very succesful in the social realm.

I can usually resemble a respectful normal member of society... just because I am slow to action. It's hard for people to be offended when you don't say much.

Of course this means I don't particularly endear myself to groups.

If there is an head of a group that I find particularly ill-suited... I am usually quick with the subtle jabs at their character... assuming I am comfortable.

I'd say I'm bad. It takes me a while to figure these things out.

I detect it right away and go straight to subtly putting down the ones on top... not a great way to make friends, but that's how I've always been... (antisocial?)


I always know whats acceptable and taboo kind of instinctively, but I'm too impulsive to talk and behave accordingly...


I never thought of things like this as "social politics" and just did stuff kind of instinctively. I tend not to overanalyze things though...

I hate authority, I hate any sort of social order, and tend to ignore rules where I can and tread on toes.

I continue to fail utterly at predicting how people will react to things I say and do.

Despite my keen interest in politics (although not the day-to-day bickering that constitutes political "news"), my awareness of actual social politics within my own social environment is not so great. I tend to be almost completely oblivious, as I am with most social occurrences.

By the way, the politics I am interested in is more along the lines of political and moral philosophy, history, political science, and psychology—in other words, from a more intellectual than pragmatic stance. This gives me a good intuitive grasp on broad political change, and so far I've had good accuracy in predicting elections. (My understanding of realpolitik is not lacking either, at least theoretically, but my ability to recognize it and apply it generally is although I have performed a few experiments to test the possibilities of deliberately affecting social situations to an end.)

I was not to good at "seeing" pecking orders when I was in grade school but learned who the "popular kids" were after that and understood what was "expected" of us "surfs".I just cant do it.I am 43 and still say what I think without rehaurd to how I may be punished for breaking these "social codes".Some times I worry about what I have said AFTER the fact but I dont seem to have the ability to edit myself without remaining totally mute(which I have tried but never lasts).I am very vocal about my lack of respect for many of my managers and I am pretty sure that they are doing things to "mess with me" because of it.