Looking people IN THE EYES!

[Lord_Hamster]

Oh god I hate it. I'm a salesperson so you could imagine how hard it is when I can't stand to look at my customers. I always figured it was a symptom of a mild form of autism. Even on dates I'll sit and stare out the window during the conversation. Not many women find that very endearing though

 

[blackstar]

I feel distracted when someone stares at me. I had a hard time staring at people for too long, perhaps symptoms of Aspergers?
The best way to put up a conversation while facing each other is to look at his/her nose, it lessens the the thought of being "seen through inside".

 

[a detached retina]

It's like everyone is medusa.

 

[descendant]

yeah I have a hard time looking at people in the eyes
took me years to look at them in the eyes but that's only for a few seconds
sometimes my friends think that I'm not seriously listening to them when they're talking to me
while some distant people would think I'm arrogant

 

[myexplodingcat]

It helps to have staring contests with a cat sometimes. Besides, that's kind of fun.

 

[Zionoxis]

I have actually learned to avoid eye contact because I am told that my gaze is demeaning. I am not sure why though. I am told I come across as haughty though I am one of the most shy and insecure people of all time. If I look a professor in the eye, he gets irritated at me like I am challenging him.

It gets irritating, so I generally have to try to avoid it.

 

[theory_of_everything]

It is something I've been working at for a while.

In the animal kingdom, to look at another animal (your own or another species) means "I'm going to fight you" or "I'm going to f*ck you". Two very intense outcomes. This can also come from culture. I'm Asian and there is a certain rudeness about it. My parents never told me that it was rude to look someone in the eye, but I'm sure I picked it up subconsciously.

I've been taking a theatrical clown class lately. Its sort of like really intense improv that messes with your head a little. Anyway, I tend to look at the floor, not look at the audience. The instructor said that I wasn't giving or connecting to the audience.

I think, at least in my case, there is both a degree of vulnerability and power when I look into someone's eye. Its a sort of vulnerability that is powerful. I'm, in some way opening myself up to them, and that is very hard to do since I tend to distance myself from others.

I think I'll make it more like a game.

...more like a game