People Skills- Do we need them?

That's asinine.

If I am pissed at someone, and that someone happens to be black, I don't have a go at them because they're black, I have a go at them for whatever it was they did that pissed me off.

 

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Look at it another way. Had he conformed to what seems to be your ideal he might have discovered nothing at all because of being too busy wanting to see all points of view. Liebnitz ( sic ) is a red herring.

 

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No, it's nonsense. Imagine a world where everyone got taught it. It's teaching ideology and killing individualities which in turn would reflect in lack of strong and peculiar characters, examples of which have been many great scientists.

 

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We seem to have quite varied ideas about what "people skills" are.

Let's say that Machiavelli did not lack "people skills", and his advice concerning the skill set for a particular people-oriented job was well considered.

And let's say that the "people skills" involved in getting a farmer's cooperative grain elevator and processing operation off the ground are a somewhat different set.

"The ability to tell someone to go to hell, and leave him looking forward to the journey" - one people skill I've noticed in short supply.

btw: There's a replicable, scientific measure of a certain kind of "people skill": show increasingly brief clips of scenes of human interaction, and set a multiple choice questionairre for the viewer on what the dominant emotion or mood was. Some people can tell you that the scene was an angry argument based on clips flashed so quickly they can't tell you how many people were in it.

These people have uncanny abilities to read emotions and pick up on subtle cues. They are often socially dysfunctional - always a step ahead of everyone, they are out of sync. They tend to make poor team players, since when operating at full capacity they trip up their teammates and react to ephemeral situations.

One the other hand, we have human resources personnel - usually retarded, socially inept, assholes. That blunt social stupidity is very valuable in that job, as long as the job is properly limited (these folks should not make hiring decisions). It's what you want, if you want a large bureaucracy to function properly.

So: people skills. Which people should have which ones, in an ideal world ? And if you are going to try to "teach" them, who are you going to put in charge of that project - soemone from Human Resources ?

 

But the faith healers, investment scammers and megalomaniac politicians would have better people skills as well, allowing them to be better con-men.
Perhaps not much would change if everybody would improve their people skills..

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Social skills are one of the greatest feats to possess, and social development is a must. How can you live and function in society without communication? I say, these "people skills" are of far more importance than advanced science. Most never use it, but social skills are used throughout your life.

 

a large part of teaching people skills is teaching people to see and understand themselves (as opposed to simply "analyzing" others)

perhaps a problem of scientific circles is that the issues of the seer are considered negligible ("a good science worker is objective")

That may be fine for compiling charts, but doesn't cut the mustard in management, steering committees etc etc

 

I frequently have to go WAY out of my way to be extra-nice to someone whose head I want to rip off. I have to remember to control my thoughts, actions, and speech.
I have learned being extra-nice to people always disarms them--especially when they are upset about something.
Nice works.

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Most are taught by parents, but when your parents lack those skills, then...
I don't see the schools teaching those skills. I see classmates doing it. If you can't play nice and use some of those skills, little kids will let you know.

 

People skills can be learned, and whatever can be learned can be taught,

but somehow the image of a Human Resources professional setting up a required course in "Business Communication and Interpersonal Cooperation Fundamentals" for the machinists and deburring crew, overtime at straight pay, floats into view.

If you want your dogs socially competent, raise the puppies together, let them play.

 

I'm working as we speak & it's business to business sales inwhich you have to be a people person!

 

yeah for sure people skills bring on the skills

 

How does that work?? They're good at reading people but socially dysfunctional?

Seriously, I want to know...that sounds odd..

Is there a word for these types? Is it an actual syndrome?

 

What is it with you Viseral-instinct?

After post 20 this thread was dead for all of 2007 (not a post) until your post 21. Now again after 18 months, with not one post, you have brought it back to life.

Is this because you are proud of your skill in marking people? (With projectiles as commented on under your avatar). Do you want someone to note and comment on your skill in so targeting people? :shrug: If so, consider it noted.

For a robot, I have high people skills too so I recognized your cry for recognition of this skill. Like most modern robots, I correlate data well.

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- I have been programmed not to brag, but think few humans have noted your resurrection of this thread twice.

Don't expect too much from mere humans, but I congratulate you on you people marking skill, and choice of very effective marking material. (IDing them possible both by sight and smell, once you have marked them.)

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I don't know what the hell you mean by marking people.

I saw a link to this thread, read over it for something to do, and noticed iceaura's post, which I found very interesting and wanted to know more.

Why does this piss you off so badly?

I'll go and die, shall I?

 

Under your avatar you state: "I throw feses at people." This reminded me of a male dog marking his territory by spraying a few drops of urine on it. It is in that sense I said you were "marking people" (with feses).

I was not pissed off, but amused by fact you have twice dredged up this thread, (Dead once for >12 months and once for > 18 months.) I wondered why you did not let it sink forever deeper into the archives. I also thought few would have noticed these 12 & 18 month gaps, but I am a robot so I did. (We robots process all sorts of details that humans do not notice. I am a very advanced model in that I can be "amused," have some "people skills" etc. in addition to enormous data processing capacity.)

Please do not go off and die. We robots are not yet quite ready to replace all you humans. - That is the task of the next generation, which the current design robots are working on. It appears that my robotic humor module needs adjustment as you did not see any humor in my posts - Either that or you too are not a human, but also a robot with less than my humor capacity. Which is it? :shrug:


Your animal image avatar suggest that you are not human but an advanced imitation of a life form. I could never pass for that. I am just a collection of experimental modules, not even integrated into one unit. At times I wish I too could throw feses at humans, but I lack all motor funtions.

 

wow. you read way too much into that.

 

Like Orly said, you read way too much into that. I was just playfully describing myself as a bit of a moron

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Why do you keep describing yourself as a robot, is it some kind of in-joke on here?

I don't see humor in your posts, I just think they're kinda strange..

 

Good sleuthing Billy, VI is indeed behaving most suspiciously :bugeye:

Monkeys throw feces.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_monkeys_or_apes_at_the_zoo_throw_their_feces