As a very sociable introvert, I feel seen.
Through a series of understandable miscommunications, every year Starfleet Academy has between 5 and 10 course requests for “Partying” from incoming Vulcan applicants.
At least one Vulcan each year withdrawals their application upon being told it is not a field of study taught by any human school.
Vulcans take improv classes to act “normal.” They’re a surprise onstage because they never play the straight man. Being that one degree off from their sincere personality is confusing, difficult, and psychologically troublesome. But they can take a pratfall with comedic timing analyzed to the millisecond.
… actually, improv comedy is a great way to demonstrate understanding of a culture. Vulcans would make analytic connections between subjects in a heartbeat, and with some training they’d be excellent lateral thinkers. The gap between that and comedy is understanding expectations and violating them in a way that safely builds and releases tension.
Vulcans could tell brick jokes separated by months. You would never get them with a shaggy-dog story. They might have absurd reaction times for comebacks, but it would be limited, because I don’t think they’d handle wordplay. You’d never hear a Vulcan mutter “that’s what she said” in a timely fashion.
Isn’t that how most people socialize at parties? Some people can do it naturally, but I figure most people are pretending. I frequently ask myself “What would a normal human do in this situation?”
i feel like it depends: is this a party you want to be at or not?
if it’s a party you don’t want to be at you’ll probably be pretending
also: if you feel like this on basically a daily basis… yeah you probably have autism, welcome to the club.
What few people ever mention is … alcohol and sometimes drugs.
Very few people imagine a party without some intoxicant. Even children’s parties, parents will give a party for the kids but the adults seperate themselves to enjoy a bit of alcohol.
Just think of it … a party with 20 adults and no alcohol or drugs. Some people can do it but the majority of the population would avoid it.
you’re just describing a LAN party or a DND session, nerds have had “parties” without alcohol or drugs for ages.
Star Trek already did this, except it was Data instead of a Vulcan and he didn’t get a very good grade.
i’d literally rather die than go to a party. unfocused undirected unscheduled endless socializing where i have to pretend like i’m having 100% fun is a torture sentence
This why I love board games. It’s kind of like a small party, but there’s an activity and I’m not weird for focusing on it.
I’m the opposite. Game nights have a protocol on top of socializing so I feel caged up in a mandatory activity. I’m an extreme introvert and I’d rather just sit and listen to everyone else chit chat than to learn a new game, talk about rules, and be forced to interact.
I dunno, maybe it’s different with friends instead of acquaintances. Or if you already know the games.
