There seem to be some things that I am out of sync with our culture on...
The first...
Something I don't get... never have, probably never will...
Why is it so many people feel they were "forced", "pressured", "oppressed" whatever... into doing things they didn't want to do, or being things they didn't want to be...
When no-one every ACTUALLY forced them...
Others just expected they would be or do something, and didn't like it if they didn't.
That's not oppression... that's just life.
If being what you want to be, or doing what you want to do is important to you, then maybe it should be more important to you than the approval of others.
If it isn't... maybe it isn't really what you want to do or be...
The second...
I've come to believe that in our overly emotionalized, self esteem oriented, naval gazing, culture as it is now...
The combination of intelligence, knowledge, competence, valuing results over efforts and intentions; valuing what is real, or true, or what works, over what is theoretical, philosophical, emotional, or desirable; and possessing a drive to excellence, and intolerance for mediocrity, incompetence, and apathy...
... makes up a particular form of sociopathy...
Those that possess (or aspire to) these traits, simply do not have the same responses to the world, the same emotional patterns, the same communication... as those who do not. So much so, that it's as if they were living in two different worlds, or they were two different species.
They certainly seem to speak two different languages, and derive two entirely different sets of meaning from everything they see.
The language of the former seems to mightily offend the latter... even when it is meant to be complimentary. The basic facts and realities of life that are acknowledged by the former also seem to offend the latter.
In order to deal with those who do not possess these traits; those who do, need to learn how to deal with, and often mask themselves with, the "normal" reactions. It becomes an extra layer of abstraction for them... a translation from their basic natures, by which they are slightly (or greatly) handicapped in their interaction with the "normal".
