Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!hao!nbires!nose
From: nose@nbires.UUCP (Steve Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Interesting article
Message-ID: <632@nbires.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 27-Feb-86 17:07:56 EST
Article-I.D.: nbires.632
Posted: Thu Feb 27 17:07:56 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Mar-86 22:29:44 EST
References: <489@ssc-bee.UUCP> <162@gsg.UUCP>
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 31

> 
> 	In the above mentioned article the author observes that men seem to
> be "dense" about noticing when a woman is interested in them.  This seems to
> me to be part of a more general phenomenon -- men just don't seem to notice
> what is going on emotionally in the people around them anywhere near as quickly
> as women.  An example:
> 
> 	I play role-playing/polictical/wargames with a group of people ( four 
> men and six women ), all of whom fall into the 25 - 35 age group, and are 
> single.  For some time now two of them have been seeing eachother fairly 
> seriously (they are discussing marriage), but haven't explicitly said so to 
> the rest of the group.  Every woman in the group, with the possible exception
> of one who has only been around for about a month and a half, have become aware
> of the relationship to some degree without being explicitly told.  On the other
> hand, I don't think any of the men (except for the one involved, of course) 
> have a clue.
> 
> 					Kathryn Smith

    I'm probably a particularly severe example of this syndrome. I do have
a speculation as to what may be going on in my own case. I am exceedingly
literal minded. When I hear people talk, to a large degree I only hear
what they say, not how they say it. Also to a large degree I assume
that what a person says is exactly what they mean. I also pay very little
attention to subtle behaviors, I pay attention to what they say and
also to thier "goal directed behavior."  I consider these traits to
be defects since they hinder communication.
   In general I can't presume to speculate on whether men are more literal
minded that women, so I don't know if this is a general cause.

                 -Steve "tone blind" Dunn