I've had my fair share of run-ins with awkward IT folk that miss a lot of social cues. It's easy to become overbearing when you're not used to picking up the signs. Here's an article over at HuffingtonPost.com on 5 Times You Should Just Keep Your Mouth Shut, including a great "3-for-3 test":

The next time you're at a cocktail party, wedding or office get-together and you arrive at that moment when you've met someone new and realize that she has not said three full sentences in the last three minutes, stop. Take a breath.

Welcome to The Enlightened Nerd!

This new blog, started by my lovely wife and I, aims to start educating nerds into being less awkward and more attuned to the folks around them. Nerds have a tough time with this; Julie and I see it every day. Enough with the intro...let's get started!

And what better way to start this blog off than pointing to a very insightful theory posed by Jeff Bigler, who attempted to explain to a nerd friend at MIT why normals and nerds have a tough time communicating -- their misconfigured tact filters:

...nerds need to understand that normal people have to apply tact to everything they say; they become really uncomfortable if they can't do this. Normal people need to understand that despite the fact that nerds are usually tactless, things they say are almost never meant personally and shouldn't be taken that way.

Couldn't have said it better myself. The full article can be found here.