You sound like a socially-uncalibrated egotistical person who blames his short-comings on other people.
I don't really see what the problem is with "switching modes" depending on who you're talking to. Everybody does it. It's natural. You don't want to be the guy that yaps about the research project he's doing during the department social hour, and which is coincidentally the only thing he talks about before and after social hour as well.
Even though I can follow a conversation about graph theory and computational biology, I still avoid the guys at social hour that won't talk about anything else.
> You sound like a socially-uncalibrated egotistical person who blames his short-comings on other people.
Why do you say that? I ask because I'm genuinely curious about how to talk about these things without sounding like that, and without having to qualify everything I say.
The fact is that I am aware that it's my shortcoming. That's why I'm not asking for advice on how to change other people. I'd rather find a way to improve the situation for myself. I don't consider myself supremely intelligent, and I don't consider my peers stupid either. For all I know, they might have the same complaints about me when it comes to topics like sports or women. I don't base relationships with people on the basis of my perception of their intelligence either. As I mentioned to someone else, this is just one aspect of the entire spectrum of interpersonal relationships. In the future, I might have a problem with learning to accept people's opinions. But right now, as far as relationships go, this is what has been on my mind.
Even though I can follow a conversation about graph theory and computational biology, I still avoid the guys at social hour that won't talk about anything else
I read his question as more like: "How do I reconcile knowing spouting X and Y are egregious idiocy with socializing with people who do that?"
I hear this question as more like "Doctor, it hurts when I do that, what do I do?" Answer: Don't do that!
> "How do I reconcile knowing spouting X and Y are egregious idiocy with socializing with people who do that?"
You're right, but after reading this to myself I realized that my problem could be more like "how do I deal with the frustrations that go along with managing relationships with people like this?"
I'm glad you posted that. Sometimes the difficulty in finding an answer stems from not fully understanding the problem one's self.
I don't really see what the problem is with "switching modes" depending on who you're talking to. Everybody does it. It's natural. You don't want to be the guy that yaps about the research project he's doing during the department social hour, and which is coincidentally the only thing he talks about before and after social hour as well.
Even though I can follow a conversation about graph theory and computational biology, I still avoid the guys at social hour that won't talk about anything else.