<p>Lolol too much pulp fiction.</p>
<p>Any evolutionary perspectives?..</p>
<p>haha, Pulp Fiction is great. I honestly prefer to say nothing unless there is something worth talking/laughing about.</p>
<p>I don’t.</p>
<p>ten
char</p>
<p>Maybe it has something to do with what’s available to concentrate on. People can concentrate on a discussion, an object, another person or group of people (a one-sided observation/judgment, as opposed to discussing a person’s history or interests, for example), or their own inner thoughts. If you’re in a group of people that doesn’t consist of a study group or anything like that (so we assume that concentrating only on your own inner thoughts would be considered socially strange), and the topic of discussion ends and there’s no immediate object or outside person/group interesting enough to concentrate on, that leaves only being able to concentrate on other people in the group. Which is usually awkward for people not dating or on that best friend status.</p>
<p>Also, people are always critiquing themselves, and sociability is considered a skill of sorts by most people, so they might see it as a temporary failure on their part, which they become embarrassed about.</p>
<p>Also, standing around doing nothing is weird.</p>
<p>I don’t find silences uncomfortable…
At least, not with friends/family.</p>
<p>.</p>
<p>thats why</p>
<p>Most of the time when it is, I feel that I’m making the other person feel uneasy which is why I don’t particularly like the silences.
With some of the people close to me, I don’t find the silence uncomfortable, I find it reassuring or amusing.</p>
<p>I think it’s most awkward either with friends you don’t really meet up with a lot, or people whom you are meeting for the first time. We’ve been living with our family our whole lives, so it’s not really awkward. When you meet people for the first time, the entire conversation revolves around asking questions about the other people to get to know them better, and when you run out of things to say, it’s really awkward, because you can’t drop back to any other topic that you talk about with closer friends or family members.</p>
<p>Because you’re afraid the person you’re talking to
- realizes you’re mentally undressing him/her during said time<br>
- is mentally undressing you during said time</p>
<p>Something is only awkward if you make it awkward. Seriously think about it. If you don’t think something is awkward, then it’s not awkward is it? Most people feel the need to fill the silence. If this doesn’t work for you, and you still find a situation awkward or uncomfortable, then ask whoever you’re talking to the color of their toothbrush. It’s completely random, which makes it all the more fun. It is also a great way to break the ice when meeting someone. Both of these things have worked greatly for me, and help to become less awkward in social situations.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s even more awkward.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good point</p>
<p>awkwardness inculcates us with a fear of the silence, ensuring we keep the interaction going even if we don’t have anything meaningful to contribute. This is advantageous to certain animals with relatively developed (but still inferior to us) communicative abilities that live in environments (societies) much less safe than ours.</p>
<p>If two animals come upon each other (say, a pair of elephants on the savanna) it is vital that they avoid pauses, which could translate to perceived hostility. Because they lack the clear language and intelligence we do, it is important they continually affirm their acceptance of one another.</p>
<p>Of course, with more closely related animals (say, two sister elephants, and lets have them in the woods this time) feelings of awkwardness aren’t as necessary. Silences between family members won’t trigger the red flags that they would between strangers. The sister elephants in the solitude of the forest have no reason to fear each other, and so no reason to be impelled to investigate (by communicating) if they should be afraid of each other or not.</p>
<p>Culture. In other cultures, participants actually try to preserve the silence for as long as possible, because it feels peaceful to them.</p>
<p>I say the word awkward a lot in a conversation, I think it makes people who don’t know me feel uneasy, but it’s more of a joke with my friends.</p>
<p>Also anyone I’ve just met who does the <em>awkward turtle</em> during silence wins points, because I’ll probably be laughing.</p>