“The Social Animal”

“The Social Animal”

     This article touched on what it called “the composure class”.  (The one percent?)  It talked about how they got their good jobs and lifestyles through good old fashioned hard work, rather than by some “quick financial fix.”  Of course, the game is still rigged in their favor, as they generally grow up with the advantages of going to the best schools, and receiving all the other care which the more fortunate members of our society receive.

The article then made some good point about how we are taught specific career skills, but not other important things like emotional intelligence and general social skills.  There is no doubt that a person who can read people well, and is adept at social interaction will probably do better in the work world than someone else who has as much technical skill as him, but isn’t as skilled in how to get along with others.  It also never ceases to amaze me how specialized many people’s talent and skills seem to be.  Over and over I see examples of how a person can be brilliant at certain tasks, and hopeless at others.  Skill and ability seem so specialized much of the time.

The article then went on to describe a composure class member’s courtship and relationship with the woman who became his wife.  It described many of the unconscious actions which go on between people when interacting, and how they approve or disapprove of each other.  At the end of the article, the member attended a festival where one of the speaker talked about the importance of doing things you love, and how the unconscious largely determines what we like and don’t like.  At the end of the article, this person decided he would try to become more aware of what was contained in his unconscious mind, and to try to use that knowledge to make more informed decisions.