7 Behaviors That Seem Rude But Are Actually Signs Of A Person With Unusually Strong Pattern Recognition
Krakenimages.com / Shutterstock People with unusually strong pattern recognition skills often seem odd to others. They're extremely attuned to the world around them, constantly aware of little changes in people's expressions and changes in their environment, so they often seem distracted or rude.
In reality, they're subconsciously gathering all of that information and intuiting what's about to happen. Often, they make accurate predictions that eventually endear them to trusted friends. At first, though, some might find a few of these behaviors a little rude.
7 seemingly rude behaviors that are actually signs someone has strong pattern recognition skills
1. Telling someone that they're making a mistake
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It's extremely difficult for people with strong pattern recognition skills to ignore signs that something bad is coming. After all, they can often see future problems from a mile away, and it just feels wrong not to let a friend know that they're making a mistake.
People generally don't like being told that they're doing something wrong, much less if it's something that they're excited about like a new job or prospective partner. Yet people with this ability hardly ever keep quiet about their prediction, even if others think it's rude.
In reality, they're really only trying to protect the ones they love based on their intuitive gifts. Once their friends and family understand this, they can start giving their intuitive loved ones some grace.
2. Explaining a solution to a problem without elaborating
People with strong pattern recognition process things so rapidly that they often have a hard time explaining how they arrived to a solution to a problem. They just blurt it out.
This can be extremely frustrating for people, as humans tend to crave storytelling rather than recitation. Yes, getting a solution is great, but it's in our nature to want to know how something came about.
This is just one of those instances where you sort of have to take a leap of faith and trust that people with strong pattern recognition are right about solving a problem, even if they can't fully elaborate on how they got there.
3. Making a sour face without realizing it
Remember that old term "RBF"? If not, you can google it because it doesn't belong in a polite article. In essence, it means you make a sour or nasty face without realizing it and other people think you're rude. This happens a lot with people who are unusually great at pattern recognition, especially when they know something bad will happen and nobody is listening to them.
While this might appear as rather rude, having strong pattern recognition often means that the person's predictions can be maddeningly accurate. They're likely also already aware that they're going to be dismissed and their face can't help but show their feelings.
4. Claiming that a person in the room is toxic
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This behavior can seem toxic in itself on the surface, or at the very least, kind of judgmental. However, people with strong pattern recognition are often extremely attuned to the more hidden parts of other people. Because of this, they're often the first ones to know when something is off, like when they deem a person in the room to be toxic.
They're also often the first to catch someone rolling their eyes at someone, latch on to someone's condescending tone of voice, or even notice when someone's body language doesn't align with what they're saying. In turn, these highly intuitive people often struggle to hide their distaste for the toxic or problematic person.
When you're so tuned into other people, it can be extremely difficult to not listen to your intuition telling you that someone is bad news. It is in everyone's best interest to listen to someone with this ability because it can save you a lot of unnecessary drama.
5. Looking bored during normal conversations
Being heavily tuned in to other people can feel like a gift and a curse. People with strong pattern recognition often feel like they know people so well they can literally predict what another person is about to say, and usually they're right. Because of this, they actually get bored.
While it's never really intentional, it can be super difficult to hide one's boredom especially around other people. This might seem rude, but they can genuinely predict what people are about to say almost uncannily.
It's not some sort of psychic ability (though it sure feels that way sometimes). It's more being so tuned in to human behavior that they know the essence of where the conversation is likely to go. Perhaps it'd be fun to be random with them in conversation to liven things up, though that might be startling for them!
6. Withdrawing from social events, especially busy ones
Because they're processing things so much at a consistent speed, people with strong pattern recognition feel absolutely drained around others at bustling social events. This can also happen if the social events involve people who love conflict or are unpredictable.
They might suddenly leave or just let everyone know that they won't be staying long. While this may come off as rude, they're just trying to protect their peace. After all, being around people in a busy environment gives the person with strong pattern recognition an extreme amount of input to work with which can be a lot for any one person to handle.
7. Being strong-minded or stubborn
Finally, people with strong pattern recognition often grapple with letting things go when others disagree. See, they've had many experiences with a feedback loop where they get a strong gut feeling about something, and then it inevitably comes true. This can make them hold steadfast or be overly strident when they feel strongly.
However, their experience with this skill is just so front-and-center in their brains (and gut) that it's hard to ignore. I mean, if our instincts almost never proved us wrong, why wouldn't we feel confident in knowing that we're right?
The good news is that people who know and love these expert pattern detectors grow to appreciate their stronger attributes and stop trying to change them. Compromise with them? Sure. Everyone can learn to be a little softer and kinder at times. But, overall, they appreciate their super intuitive friend's special talent.
Luke Aliga is a writer with a degree in Technical Writing and Communication who covers relationships, culture, and human-interest topics.
