I have commented before that I think that NTs in society are like native English-speakers - they follow all the rules of English without necessarily knowing what they are. In this analogy, I'm not a native English speaker, so I either need someone to tell me the rules or I need to figure them out myself.
So I have always worked hard to understand the rules of society - rules for home life, marriage, socializing with friends, small talk, humor and seriousness, workplace interactions, etc. Once I am sure I have a rule figured out, I follow it to the best of my ability.
I even try to make sense of people's actions and reactions in terms of game theory, thinking that if I can understand what reward they are seeking then I can understand why they do what they do.
But it recently occurred to me that maybe I only try to understand everything in terms of rules because that's what I'm best at - I do very well in systems that are very rules-based, such as math and programming. Maybe there aren't hard-and-fast rules for everything, but I look for rules because that's the best way I have found to understand society.
What other framework is there? Is there a different model, framework, explanation, or worldview that you use to understand the world around you? What works for you?
So I have always worked hard to understand the rules of society - rules for home life, marriage, socializing with friends, small talk, humor and seriousness, workplace interactions, etc. Once I am sure I have a rule figured out, I follow it to the best of my ability.
I even try to make sense of people's actions and reactions in terms of game theory, thinking that if I can understand what reward they are seeking then I can understand why they do what they do.
But it recently occurred to me that maybe I only try to understand everything in terms of rules because that's what I'm best at - I do very well in systems that are very rules-based, such as math and programming. Maybe there aren't hard-and-fast rules for everything, but I look for rules because that's the best way I have found to understand society.
What other framework is there? Is there a different model, framework, explanation, or worldview that you use to understand the world around you? What works for you?