On Eye Contact, Aggression, and the Many Races of Man

I'd be interested to hear from representatives of the various phenotypes on their attitudes and intuitions concerning eye contact, given that willingness to meet and hold a gaze is such a big differentiator when it comes to social affect.

The typical human seems to find willingness to hold eye contact to be an overwhelmingly positive trait. A person with this facility will be percieved as open, agreeable and trustworthy (this can be translated to: I want to follow and please this dominant individual). However, holding a gaze can also stimulate aggression as a potential challenge. Therefore most people are most comfortable sharing a lot of eye contact with friends, and are somewhat less likely to initiate with strangers.

Until a couple of years ago, I was unwilling to initiate eye contact with almost anyone. Before then, the most intense gaze I had ever met was that of a tiger considering me for a sundown snack. Subsequently, I've learnt not to be so bothered by eye contact, and now find my intuitions to be the reverse of those described for normies; I am quite happy to look strangers in the eye, not so much close friends and family.

To me, it is quite obvious that eye contact is intrinsically aggressive, its popularity directly related to the mind-boggling human capacity for violence against other humans. Its proximal role is the efficient establishment of strength hierarchies, such that the 'craziest' and most dangerous reach dominance without quite as much actual fighting. Its apparently friendly role in neurotypical social relations can be attributed to the race to ape the crazies, generating a 'purity spiral of violence', whose asymptote was crystallised into an abstract currency which proved useful for large scale organisation of mass carnage. Effectively, the comforting message that eye contact signals to a neurotypical social group is "we are the biggest, baddest motherest fuckerest 'boons on the shitheap and we can TAKE OUT any ENEMY, even if we never had a problem with them before five minutes ago and as long as the local melonhead tells us to"

Therefore eye contact habits in sapiens are thanks to their being hierarchical mass violence savants. This is consistent with Tex's conception of most moderns as bipedal fleshy 'daleks' genetically engineered to exterminate.

Any thoughts, all ye phenotypically diverse Internet oddlings?

 

Tingles are born in the defensive crouch, so that could explain why women both claim to feel intimidated... and also smile and flirt with you when you do eye contact. Careful with the eye contact thing. One young thug almost assaulted me when I tried it on him. He made some comment to the effect that his sexuality felt threatened. There is nuance; make some eye contact, but not too much. Sort of like handshake; be firm, but don't crush the other person's hand.

 

for me,
me-on-male eye contact = #dehumanize-yourself-and-face-to-bloodshed
me-on-female eye contact = #baby-dont-cuck-me-dont-cuck-me-no-more

 

Agreed about potential hazards; having the inverse innate response to an aggressive gesture to the great majority of your species can be likened to driving the wrong way up a motorway. Be prepared to swerve.

 

You mean that most people mean 'I wanna entrust him with all my stuff' when they say 'trustworthy?'

 

Yes; the failure to distinguish between integrity and social position may be the primary sapiens psychological failing

 

Well, my goofy uncle and I are starting a bespoke fishook business: The Mousterian Muskie-snare Company. We expect to be on Oprah by next spring.

So you could say I try to keep on point...

 

You've gotta gimmick when you're a human mimic, my ice-age homie!

 

Reasons I reduce eye contact:
1. despise the person
2. trying not to despise the person
3. reducing emotional intensity
4. thinking or remembering
5. status-based aloofness
6. attention elsewhere

Reasons to make eye contact:
1. emotional intimacy
2. romantic partner
3. tactical signaling
4. reading microexpressions

The main reason I avoid eye contact with USians is they're already blasting their stupid nigger music at full volume, and I don't want to put my head in the subwoofer.

And by stupid nigger music, I mean their Weimerican overt and subcommunication.

I think the natural outcome of sustaining normal eye contact with these people would be murder, which is arguably optimal.

I made plenty of eye contact until I hit puberty and started retreating into thought about my appropriate place in the world as a man, in response to Weimerican cogdis. I'm not puzzled anymore, but still avoid it because there's no internet access in prison.

Hey, my daughter was just double-fisting watermelon slices. She's cute as a button.