My social skills problems affected my academic life. For example, once in Spanish class, I asked the girl sitting next to me if she would share her book. We both looked at the book. Suddenly, in the middle of class, she glared at me and said, “Do me a favor, Dale. Keep the book.” She practically threw it at me. Her actions startled and mystified me. Now looking back, it is clear that I leaned too close to her while looking at words on the page. I did not understand that people had a zone around their bodies that was not supposed to be violated.
In Mass Movements and Extremism, we studied political movements with fanatical leaders. Why were these leaders followed so blindly? This question fascinated me, but I had to strain to understand the lectures and books.