I'm the same way. Not to over-generalize, but in my experience that feeling is a big 1) guy thing 2) engineering-type thing 3) type-A-personality thing and

I'm the same way. Not to over-generalize, but in my experience that feeling is a big 1) guy thing 2) engineering-type thing 3) type-A-personality thing and god help you if you're all three! All three of those groups are overrepresented on HN, too, so at least you're probably in good company :D I just learned that I need to stifle my automatic "problem-solving mode" when it comes to personal interactions, and all of my conversations got way better. Glad I was at least able to learn pretty early in my life!