Unexplained Red Flags

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razorrabbit

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Ever rp with someone and you just get a weird feeling from them like little red flags raise while you're talking to them and your not entirely sure why yet? I mean like you talk to them discuss a few things before the rp and everything seems fine but then the rp starts and after a few replies something feels off and you don't get why quite yet but you got that feeling that you're not going to enjoy it like you first thought you would?

Maybe I'm just a weird person but this tends to happen to me quite a bit, not as often as it used to but it still happens once in a while. Was just thinking about some old rps when I thought this up.
 
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I can't point at any specific incidents myself where I remember this happening.

However I would suggest some of this may come from the Uncanny valley.

Essentially, if the RP or the fellow roleplayer seems like something you'd enjoy but is just outside your comfort zone, or state or normalcy (RP has an odd twist, Player has a odd habit or two) but it's not far enough to make you go "Oh shit! Problem Player/RP!" then it would explain why there's no obvious red flags, but still some level of uneasiness and feeling like the RP won't be a good one.
 
Hmm I suppose that makes sense, I have noticed this with things that seem rather small. It being just outside my comfort zone does explain that. Though hasn't happened to me in a while though that might be due to the small amount of partners I have at the moment.
 
Psychology teaches us that there are parts of the brain that give us different feelings. For instance, that feeling you get when you "just know something, but don't know how to explain it". That is often equated to a part of the brain that humans used before language. Its not that you "don't know how to explain it", but that there are literally no words in the human language that explain it. What we have instead, are these feelings. "Red Flags" that you feel but cannot explain are often apart of this. You are feeling something about your partner that you have no words to describe, but may be making you feel uncomfortable or uneasy.
 
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I can't point at any specific incidents myself where I remember this happening.

However I would suggest some of this may come from the Uncanny valley.

Essentially, if the RP or the fellow roleplayer seems like something you'd enjoy but is just outside your comfort zone, or state or normalcy (RP has an odd twist, Player has a odd habit or two) but it's not far enough to make you go "Oh shit! Problem Player/RP!" then it would explain why there's no obvious red flags, but still some level of uneasiness and feeling like the RP won't be a good one.
I don't think you understand the uncanny valley.

Like kakumei described, the brain has different layers. What it does is recognise patterns. However, the first association to any pattern is emotional. That's just biological architecture. As such you'll often feel something is wrong before you can rationalise what or why. Results vary. Some people have it harder to do this than others as well depending on how in tune they are with what way of thinking, as we have different experiences and pre-dispositions. However in general, the less reference you have, the sooner you fall back to this instinct.
 
I don't think you understand the uncanny valley.

Like kakumei described, the brain has different layers. What it does is recognise patterns. However, the first association to any pattern is emotional. That's just biological architecture. As such you'll often feel something is wrong before you can rationalise what or why. Results vary. Some people have it harder to do this than others as well depending on how in tune they are with what way of thinking, as we have different experiences and pre-dispositions. However in general, the less reference you have, the sooner you fall back to this instinct.
I get basic concept of the Uncanny Valley.

I just don't get into this hard specifics/details on that matter.
Like you said though, you feel something is wrong before you can rationalise, like where I said you can feel off without having any specific reason.

And Uncanny Valley is where it's similliar and just off.
Look at R2-D2? Everyone thinks it cute.
Look at a Primitative Human like robot, lacking some human characteristics? More people find it disturbing because it's almost human but not quite.

 
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And Uncanny Valley is where it's similliar and just off.
Look at R2-D2? Everyone thinks it cute.
Look at a Pr imitative Human like robot, lacking some human characteristics? More people find it disturbing because it's almost human but not quite.
The thing is that this is pretty much exactly why your previous analogy is off.

R2D2 is cute because it displays distinct human characteristics while being obviously non-human. The more human characteristics, the more relatable a robot then becomes. However, when that crosses a certain treshold, the line between human and robot blurs; in which case it's distinctly neither. It's almost human but there's something off. This is where the curve of relatability goes down, until the robotic aspects take a clear sideline role and relatability goes up again. The drop in the chart is the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley is the inconsistency in an otherwise positive development.

Now put that next to your post's metaphor.
 
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I get basic concept of the Uncanny Valley.

I just don't get into this hard specifics/details on that matter.
Like you said though, you feel something is wrong before you can rationalise, like where I said you can feel off without having any specific reason.

And Uncanny Valley is where it's similliar and just off.
Look at R2-D2? Everyone thinks it cute.
Look at a Pr imitative Human like robot, lacking some human characteristics? More people find it disturbing because it's almost human but not quite.

The thing is that this is pretty much exactly why your previous analogy is off.

R2D2 is cute because it displays distinct human characteristics while being obviously non-human. The more human characteristics, the more relatable a robot then becomes. However, when that crosses a certain treshold, the line between human and robot blurs; in which case it's distinctly neither. It's almost human but there's something off. This is where the curve of relatability goes down, until the robotic aspects take a clear sideline role and relatability goes up again. The drop in the chart is the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley is the inconsistency in an otherwise positive development.

Now put that next to your post's metaphor.
This thread is not about the concept of uncanny valley. Take it to a PM if you must continue this conversation.

On topic, yep, I've had it happen. A few of them turned out to be real creepers, the stalking and harassing girls online type, and the rest ended up just being horribly socially awkward.
 
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This thread is not about the concept of uncanny valley. Take it to a PM if you must continue this conversation.

On topic, yep, I've had it happen. A few of them turned out to be real creepers, the stalking and harassing girls online type, and the rest ended up just being horribly socially awkward.
Can't say I've ever noticed the first one happen to me before creeper part yeah but thankfully not the stalker one. Giving it more thought social awkwardness or maybe just using a style that's very similar to what I'm use to just slightly off could be a good explanation for those red flags I've had before.

Though I wonder if getting an odd feeling from the style variation is weird or not, it's probably weird to get werided out by someone using their wording in a style you just happen not to see to often since I would think it would be a minor thing. Yet still have gotten a red flag over it. Odd.
 
This happens to me every single time I try doing a 1x1.

I keep thinking it could work, but there's always something that just doesn't feel right, and I can't bring myself to keep it going for very long. :/

Group RP's are the way for me, it seems~
 
Oh yeah like Jorick said for me it's usually a precursor to someone being a creepo. Like when they start to make comments that aren't really like unsavory but just a little bit off.

It doesn't happen often thank god but I've learned to take stock. If it's like super late at night and I'm hallucinating issues then I let it go for a few days. But if the little siren in the back of my head keeps going off I just leave. Usually while inventing some BS about oops I just got busy.

Cuz it's kind of hard to call people out on things they haven't actually DONE but you get the feeling they will do in the future.
 
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