The other day, someone did something I didn't expect. It was something many people have done before; something that I thought of as very normal, but that I in no way understood and had not predicted.
As I said, this had happened many time before, so I wrote it off as "me not understanding people" or "people are weird" for a second, like I usually do, before realizing that "bad at" really means "lacking basic knowledge", which I had never realized before.
And then I thought "I should ask someone who is different from me why people do that, and eventually someone will have an answer."
But many people will have many more questions like this. So, what have you observed people doing time and time again, but never understood? Or something that you only understood after a long time or asking someone about it?
And can Less Wrong tell us, not necessarily why (I for one can make up evolutionary psychology fairy tales all day if I want) but what conscious thought process occurs behind these events?
If someone has a negative effect on a social interaction through frivolous status games, I'll: A) leave, if I can't stand it, and don't want to embarrass my friend who has a connection with the someone, or realize challenging them will have more negative an impact; B) tough it out, if challenging them will discomfort my friend(s) or have more of a negative impact; C) challenge them on their behavior by inquiring after why they are engaging in the frivolous behavior. Often I'll decide challenging them won't be worth it for me, as I'll find it unlikely the someone's response to my challenge will sufficiently entertain me.
I think some might have a latent association of either high-status or extremely low-status with such people, and are either intimidated or don't find them worth wasting time on. I base this thought on experience and answers to questions that I can't remember in detail.