In life the main problem I have seen is communication. In most job/business settings the managers are not interested in solutions. They would rather chug along doing the least work possible and have little interest in any kind of open communication. Beyond that most times when they say something it is a lie or they can't be relied upon. Most problems have solutions and the first step to reaching a solution is to openly communicate grievances and suggestions. As civilized people (i.e. not the typical business/peers that can't cook a hot dog successfully) we should work on effective communication skills as a means to facilitate cooperation and reduce unnecessary conflict.
One of my problems is I always feel disgusted with people and I don't like to talk to them because they are so irrational and dishonest to begin with. Yet people who argue constantly tend to get what they want among the barbarians (what I call outgard). This is one thing I would like to develop myself is more of a tendency to speak up. Of course the main reaction one will get is hostility- another person yelling at you etc. One must learn that behavior among other civilized human beings is different from behavior among the majority of people. Yet if we read books like "Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't" we realize that most people will cave to hostility and it is best to simply start screaming ourselves.
That is the paradox. Among chimps (and mainstream society that I have dealt with are little more than chimps) it pays to act corrupt and be an uncivilized monkey yourself, even though it is totally inferior behavior under normal circumstances. But also I realize that the biggest key to my success is forming a group of humans among the chimp society I live in. So we sort of need a dual nature: one nature when dealing with outside barbarian society whose average I.Q. often parallels that of a zoo animal, and one nature among people worthy of our respect. In both cases effective communication (albeit of a different kind) is necessary. Speak up or you won't be heard.
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