Emotional intelligence helps with reading emotional climate but is terrible for emotional weather.
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I had an opportunity to socialize with some young people recently and the one thing that struck me the most was how far ahead the girls were in social skill and maturity.
I don't think this has anything to do with sex difference or nature. I think that girls are simply expected to pay attention to other people and boys aren't.
I don't exempt myself, I was a solipsistic goblin at that age.
Maybe. I've always heard that women mature more quickly than men. Certainly women hit puberty earlier. Its very hard to sus out the differences from nature and nurture.
The 2 often feed off each other too. E.g. men are slightly stronger than women, on average. Men are then expected to take on the strong protector role, while women are expected to act weak and subservient. This amplifies the original slight difference massively, reinforcing the social stereotype.
Women seem to have a preference for cooperation, with their ranking within the group mattering most. Men seem to err towards intergroup competition, where your teams ranking matters most. These necessitate different types of social skills, which feeds the stereotype, which feeds the original difference.
Men being slightly stronger on average than women has a LOT to do with culture.
When I was a kid, girls weren't even allowed to do the same calisthenics in school. There was severe social opprobrium for women doing strength training, learning martial arts, etc.
This is one of the things about the patriarchy, the things it enforces are seen as natural. Women are put in clothes that limit their mobility, beauty standards demand frailness, etc.
It's also an unfortunate fact that testosterone makes it a LOT easier to put on muscle mass. A good chunk of men don't take advantage of it, but the biology still holds. It's also worth noting that men are on average taller than women. Our volume of muscle is often bigger to start with.
My wife does quite a bit more strength based exercise than I do. The force multiplier on my exercise however means I can easily out power her, when it comes to brute strength.
It's worth noting however that a lot of the initial strength gain of exercise isn't muscle increase, but better control. Both men and women can increase this, fairly evenly. The difference tells most once that caps out.
The high end of height, upper body strength and mass, sprinting speed, etc definitely favors higher-test systems. .
But I remember reading an ethnography of a Chinese village in the early days of the PRC, when they were still basically living the Imperial-peasant lifestyle.
Women there at the time of writing were not generally esteemed as beautiful slender luxury possessions, but instead for virtues such as their ability to carry heavy loads on a yoke, and the male/female strength split was not nearly that big.
We don't need to live in a society where we assume that "generic man" is assumed to have an essential advantage in physical combat over "generic woman". That's a choice.
As a counter example, I remember listening to a radio interview with a woman who accidentally joined a boxing gym, and decided to roll with it. Even after 3 years training, it apparently took new men about 6 weeks to blast past her in strength.
And jumping back to my earlier comment. Societies tend to amplify differences. Men are stronger, so are expected to do jobs requiring strength. This, in turn leads to stronger men, reinforcing the stereotype.
In short, there's not much baseline difference between men and women. There are however differences. Societies and cultures often amplify them, particularly when it improves division of labour. In an agrarian society they might not be able to afford the split, so the situation you read about plays out. Men can't afford to powerhouse, while women need to pick up significant physical labour.
I trained shotokan for a bit having come from a gridiron/rugby background, and there were some exercises (like ring-out shoving exercises) where I was a laughable mismatch with anybody else in the room. One of the trainers was a woman that I had 35cm and 50kg on, if she tried to square up, it would have been hopeless.
But strength isn't all of it. There was another three-step positional sparring exercise, and that one trainer tied me into knots every time. I wouldn't have been able to touch her in a real fight, and she would have popped my kidney like a balloon every time.
I'm mostly pissed off about stuff like amateur rugby and field hockey not letting trans women compete. In sports like that, at the pro level, the top team would be all men no question.
But for a bunch of random people in their 20s playing amateur rugby? Piff, the safety/dominance issue is really overblown.
Imagine believing this in 2026. There’s a reason most sports are separated by gender and it certainly isn’t “culture”.
The fact that there are things called "sports" and "genders" is cultural my peer.
No, those are words for things that occur in nature, across many animal species.
If they were a law of nature, society wouldn't have to punish people who "do sports and/or gender wrong"
Then what about animals’ genders and sports? Are they not natural?
What sports and genders do animals do? Give examples.
That animals have genders I don’t think is something that can be denied.
Many animals (for example smarter birds, such as crows and magpies) perform “for-fun physical activities” such as sliding and flipping, often in group. According to most dictionaries, that counts as a sport.
yeah i have no idea what they are saying. my nephews are all plenty mature for their age. it could be that the parents of those kids just suck.
and not all of their friends, male, or female, are on the same level. mostly as a product of how overbearing/controlling their parents were.
Grew up in a world where girls were only expected to be more mature than boys.
Nah. Girls tend* (and this is doing the heavyweight championship of this sentence) to be naturally more empathetic from my PoV, which coupled with actually faster develepoment and higher expectation of maturity produces the "mature and empathetic" image of girls. Also noticed back then that girls were more social oriented than guys. Guys got together to do a thing, meanwhile girls were fine just sitting around and talking.
* Half or more girls I met growing up still escaped this in varying degree, but baseline tendency was still higher than in boys where this was exceptional.
Although, all in all, it's all based on personal experience so I may be way off the mark.
A good therapist can feel like they're reading your mind.
Emotional intelligence isn't the only skill involved in that, still a big part of it.
I read this graph also as in "you need to change" and "i can't change you", understanding you can't control anyone else can give you great amounts of inner peace.
they aren't though, they are just asking you leading questions and giving you a ton of runway
and they have a shitload of experience dealing with people who are just like you, so your story to them is probably not unique or weird, but rather cliche and boring.
That's not how I teach therapists to work.
We don't use leading questions, we do really and genuinely want to understand and I've never worked with someone who wasn't totally unique even if their story was superficially similar to another
cool, you realize there are a lot of therapists that have completely different methods right?
and many of them suck at their job, regardless of method.
also the fact you think everyone is totally unique, makes me entirely question your validity of a therapist. most people are not especially unique in their problems or circumstances. though often they are convinced they are, especially if they aren't in a support group or social isolated.
You know how many cards there are in a deck?
People can shuffle them into a random order and then memorise the order, so it's really not that many cards.
Each time you shuffle the deck it's the same familiar cards, we can easily recognise and differentiate every card in the deck.
But how many different ways are there to arrange that deck of cards? How many possible combinations?
More than there are stars in the sky. Every shuffle is unique.
I love my job because I get to use familiar ideas to help people make sense of their own unique shuffle 😊
cool, my card metaphor would be, how many good hands are there in poker? there are 10.
and most everyone disregarded the last two, and only plays if they have two pair or higher, so only 8 are considered worthwhile to have.
everyone is chasing the same thing, to have one of the higher ranked hands so that they can win.
i'm glad you look at a dirty diaper and think it's a beautiful rainbow, but most of us just think it's shit and we toss it in the trash. and we only see a real rainbow maybe once or twice a year or less.
i have lived my life entirely shocked at how similar and robotic most folks live their lives. very few people are unique or interesting, most are just a series of cliches and can only express themselves in cliches because they have never had a critical or original thought in their entire life.
most are just a series of cliches and can only express themselves in cliches because they have never had a critical or original thought in their entire life.
My nibling in Matshishkapeu's stank, the call is coming from inside the house.
this is why i block .ml users. you guys never have anything to say in replies other than
'no, but u'
it's like you're all 5 year olds. all you do on fedi is go around throwing temper tantrums and calling people names. and if you get any push back, you just call the people who reply to you names, or think you are doing uno reverse.
Cool, you realize that therapists aren't a monolith and blithely telling people it’s a waste is potentially holding people back from solutions and feeling better, right?
My ex was a big fan of that phrase, "I can't read minds." I did all the managing of her emotions for her. There definitely can be a lack of communication, but I think the meme rings of "I refuse to empathize with you without you needing to do all the work bridging that gap," but that also might just be my own experience. If I wanted to be heard and understood, I had to explain it like a toddler.
As an example, "hey love, leaving dirty cookware out to get crusty means it's not available when I want to cook" did not elicit a change in behavior. Neither did the next two times, "hey, you left the pan out again, if you do that it makes it difficult for me when I need to cook." She made excuses each time. When I finally hit my breaking point and spell it out, "it really upsets me when you don't clean up after yourself. please stop doing that! clean your dishes after you use them. I have made it very clear that this behavior upsets me, it hurts me that you keep doing it," I get the classic "I can't read minds," because I didn't explicitly tell her to clean up after herself.
The same went for eating snacks I purchased for myself, or leaving wet clothes in the washer, or leaving trash out, or not taking the full trash out and instead piling on top of it, etc. If I didn't explicitly say "I need you to do this. Please do this. Do this now," it wouldn't get done, even if I have made it very clear how that behavior makes me feel. When commiserating with friends, it is clear that this isn't just me that has experienced this. "I can't read minds" seems to more often be used by those that cannot empathize or listen to their partners, regardless of gender.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are plenty of examples of those that do not communicate well and expect as it was put, mind reading, but far more often it seems like that phrase is really just a crutch for the emotionally unintelligent. No one should require explicit instructions to empathize with your partner. If my partner is clearly upset by something and I'm not sure what, I ask them, and a good partner will never expect you to know already (unless they've already told you multiple times and you cannot take a hint). Pay attention to what your partners say and make your expectations and desires clear.
It sounds like they may have had ADHD. My partner and I struggled with that for a bit what ended up helping was a small daily task list, stuff like do the dishes, do the laundry, clean the bathroom. Just 3 or 4 things to have a physical reminder to do those tasks. Eventually they become routine and the list is less necessary. If you ever find yourself in a relationship like that again it isn't your responsibility to be your partners executive function, but it could be helpful to ask "what do you need from me to help you remember to do these things" and maybe make some suggestions.
Oh, she did. As do I. But she refused any and all suggestions or offers of help, and simply chose to make it my responsibility for her. Needless to say, the relationship couldn't go on like that.
That's super fair. I didn't mean to imply you didn't try hard enough or anything, I suppose my main intent is to put examples of good communication on the Internet for others to see. I hope both of you are in a better place.
Is it so hard to just say what you mean the first time though?
"Hey, please do the dishes. It makes me upset to see them not done and I'm always the one doing them."
Problem solved.
Instead the way you said you did it leaves so much open to interpretation "I don't understand why he is all pissed off today I made sure the pan he was upset about not having last time was clean this time!!"
The you go on to say "make your expectations and desires clear" lol what the fuck.
God I hate people that do shit like this. Say what you mean. I kind of feel this "use your big words" meme to be completely honest. You would have had to say what you wanted one time instead of being cryptic about this pan or that glass or whatever while you slowly get more and more pissed each time and she's slowly wondering what the fuck she is doing wrong each time.
The always having to tell her to do ANY chores is ridiculous but that would also have been another full sentence to put together and maybe make a list with check marks on it or something idk man but coming home and being like "I can't use this pan when its crusty like this" isn't communicating very well. Say what you mean to people the first time.
We all work full time jobs we shouldn't have to come home and figure out interpretive dance or whatever. Just say what you mean.
I've had managers and significant others like this and I truly don't understand it at all. We have perfected the use if words for communication for over 5000 years now. Use the words.
But I did. If I have clearly explained "this is your action. this is the consequence of that action," and they have acknowledged that, then there shouldn't be a need to go on at length. I communicated exactly what the issue was and how it affects me. She acknowledged that. Behavior didn't change. Why should I need to do all the work for them? She is an adult. She does not need me to be her mom. She shouldn't need me to treat her like a child, and should be able to pick up after herself, especially when she's acknowledged the consequences of not doing so.
I did say what I mean. I'm not her mother. I don't know why you're jumping in to defend someone who is incapable of basic housekeeping unless specifically instructed each time. That is an unreasonable expectation to have. No one should need to be given instruction to take care of a shared space, especially when the consequences of not doing so aren't just expressed by the other party, but acknowledged.
"Say what you mean" is so insulting, when there is no clearer boundary than "x behavior hurts me." No other partner I have had has needed me to tell them to do the dishes or pick up after themselves after I've made it clear how it makes me feel.
Again, I shouldn't need to mother my partner. They're an adult. Expecting me to clearly tell them to do every basic chore is insulting. You're pushing the entire mental load onto me, which is both unfair and immature. Additionally, both people in this situation were women.
edit: The implications that I'm incapable of communicating when I've given every indication of communicating with clear "when x, I feel y" statements, the gold standard of communication, are insulting. I have had absolutely no issues communicating with my partners before or since. The issue wasn't a lack of communication, it was my partner's choice to weaponize her incompetence. She never "forgot" when it affected her, only when it affected me. She knew, very clearly, that she was hurting me. If I said "it hurts when you slap me. When you slap me, it makes me sad," and you slapped me right afterwards, "well you didn't tell me to stop" wouldn't fly as an excuse. I set a boundary. She crossed it. Repeatedly.
My feel: That person enjoyed how you struggled explaining paragraphs and setting verbal boundaries.
Im fed up just reading about the situation.
She never forgot when it was something for her own convenience. It was pure selfishness. If I asked her to not eat a dessert, as it was a birthday gift from my mom, sealed it in a tied bag, and wrote on it "for Erin," and verbally confirmed with her that it was mine and I did not want her to eat it, she would then decide later that day while I was at work that she was hungry and eat it anyways. "I'm sorry, I forgot, and I was so hungry." It was sealed and tied in a bag with my name on it. You told me that you wouldn't eat it, and that it was a birthday gift for me. She was like this for every aspect of our relationship. If it affects me, conveniently forget. If it is for her, perfect memory.
that's what happens when you date a 6 year old. you can't talk to them like they are an adult.
she was just immature dude. emotional intelligence is a nonsense phrase and has nothing to do with someone's inability or inattention to cooking and cleaning. my mother cooked and cleaned fastidiously, but was still a stupid person, emotionally and otherwise.
you just dated a spoiled little child who refused to grow up. don't turn it into their 'lack of emotional intelligence' nonsense.
further, it could be you were just incompatible in terms of lifestyle. people have different levels of cleanliness and other personal habits and yours are not necessary superior just because your standards are higher. personally i can't imagine getting upset at someone leaving out a cooking pan and there is a huge difference between that, and like 10 of them, but for some folks, 1 is the same as 10 in terms of emotional impact.
emotional intelligence
noun
: the ability to recognize, understand, and deal skillfully with one's own emotions and the emotions of others (as by regulating one's emotions or by showing empathy and good judgment in social interactions)
Lol deja vu
Wow, everybody in the comments of this post sucks.
Usually when she won't say it outright and hopes you.figure it out, she's afraid to address the issue. Can't blame someone for not wanting to fix a girl's anxiety, but society makes a fucking lot of them, so I think it's worth it to get good at fostering a relationship where she's comfortable bringing anything up.
so no matter what it is, it's still your fault for not making her comfortable, got it.
reminds of the time my ex broke up with me because I said I wasn't going to pay off her 150K in debt, and she said that meant I didn't lover and it upset her very much. Clearly my lack of emotional intelligence there, though it was a financially intelligent move.

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