Lots of people, even in their teens, but certainly by their early 20s, take almost a scientific interest in "clothes and carriage". These are the sorts of peop

Lots of people, even in their teens, but certainly by their early 20s, take almost a scientific interest in "clothes and carriage". These are the sorts of people who become business majors and read Maxim. Examples of the kinds of things they talk, think, and work on quite deliberately (I am not making any of this up): - How high should you hold your drink? (Correct answer: A little above waist high, somewhat at your side.) - Details about ties, suits, shoes, shirts, pants, accessories, etc. The exact social niche that each possible choice puts you in. - Should you ever apologize, even when you've done something wrong? (No consensus here, but a surprisingly large contingent say "no".) - Exactly how to position your feet when standing casually, in order to demonstrate high status. (Sort of an L shape.) - Which hole in your belt at which to place the buckle. (Correct answer: the third hole.) As Paul Graham pointed out, most people spend pretty much all their time thinking about and practicing these things. Women work on this stuff much more than men, and they tend to notice your skill level at those social games very acutely. It might look like that stuff happens unconsciously, but it doesn't. It's practiced, discussed, refined quite deliberately. It makes me think of programmers thinking about small things like how to name variable names (e.g. name arrays with a plural), when to use aggregation or inheritance, etc. You keep refining every little detail of a skill every day, and two things happen after a while: you get really good, and you can size up someone else's skill level very quickly and accurately.