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?"
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.
I think it depends how close you are with the people around you. I had a good time at a friend's holiday party recently (with no drugs or alcohol) just because I really love those folks and I'd enjoy spending time with them no matter what.
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
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.
There was a Vulcan diplomat in Enterprise that T'Pol looked up to, that surprised everyone when she came on board, by actually being diplomatic, and acting more human to get along with the humans. I bet she teaches the class on parties
Lesson #3456: When making a "joke", any joke, whether it is good or bad and requires the audience to look at something, tell them ...
Look at that! .. you see this .. look at that ... Look ... See this ... Look at that ... Look at that ... You seeing this ... Look at that ... Look ... See it ... Look ... Look at it ... Look
.... even after they have obviously looked at it, you continue pointing and directing their attention ... wrap your arm around their shoulder, get in closer to them and continue telling them ...
Look at that! .. you see this .. look at that ... Look ... See this ... Look at that ... Look at that ... You seeing this ... Look at that ... Look ... See it ... Look ... Look at it ... Look
Lesson #5357: If there is a large water feature anywhere near the party, find the nearest tall structure and attempt to jump from this high point into the water. Ensure that you announce your actions to as many people as possible before making your attempt. Feasibility, common sense, safety or basic mathematics is not required.
"I've dwelt among the humans. Their entire culture is built around their penises. It's funny to say they are small. It's funny to say they are big. I've been at parties where humans held bottles, pencils, thermoses in front of themselves and called out, 'Hey, look at me. I'm Mr. So-and-So Dick. I've got such-as-such for a penis.' I never saw it fail to get a laugh."
I always find it interesting that on the silver screen, AI with superior emotional intelligence is always few and far between. It's in tons of written sci-fi but for video it's rare, for some reason.
That's a good observation! I liked how in "Her" the AI had the appearence of emotional intelligence, but you come to realize it was just using outputs that humans would respond to. Very precient for how GPT et al works.