Do you think I really have to go out of my way to engage with someone that I have found attractive? I think it would be way too clear that I’m forcing a conversation in order to make them my “acquaintances”. Doesn’t that weird people out?
That's one of the things you learn through practice. How to do it in a non-weird way.
Some of this is culture-dependent. Where I live now, anyone can just say "good morning!" or "have a good day!" to anyone else and they might say something back or they might just smile or nod. In other places this might not be acceptable to someone of a certain "status" or in certain contexts or until you are "introduced". Just observe what other people do, and do that.
Is approaching them awkwardly a better thing to do?
That's why it's good to practice ahead of time. Yeah, it can be awkward to walk up to someone, plant yourself in front of them, and try to start a conversation. It's a lot easier if you're both arriving at work at the same time and you say "good morning!" as you each go your separate ways.
I'm mixed-race but it wasn't just seeing a mixed-race person sent to the death chamber. What really got to me was the way the character just wanted to get their work done but they were dragged away in a cold and bureaucratic way. They whimpered like a child being dragged from their parents. The kid was terrified but they still wanted to be obedient. It wasn't that they were hoping to be saved by obedience, it's that they were just an obedient kid, even when scared. The way when they begged to go on living, everyone else just stared and didn't even move or react. They never really cared for that person anyway, the character's kinda funny-looking anyways. If they made a fuss there might have been trouble. It's not like any of them is some kind of hero. The only one to object was that holographic doctor, who was always treated as a joke. Because only a crazy person or a clown would go against the group. I looked it up online and the situation is never referenced again in any series. It was not an issue to anyone. All those people, the whole organization, the whole perspective of the show, to me is repulsive.
But I was kind of a nervous kid, so I recognize it's just my point of view.
You ever wonder why people do small talk? It's for situations like this.
Learn to do small talk. Practice in... I dunno, the grocery store checkout, your elderly neighbor, someone in the diner. Just 5-10 second conversations. "hi there / warm out, isn't it? / yeah, how about them (sports team)? / yeah, all right!" Bland stuff. If you don't know what to say, watch other people and write things down.
You may think this is hard as an introvert, but in fact it's easy bc you don't have to think about what to say. It's easy to develop simple "scripts" that you play out. Like there's this person at the gym, and every time I go we're like "hey what's up? / not much what's up with you? / just another day in paradise! / all right!" Every freakin time.
It may sound crazy to do these things, but it lets people know you're not stuck-up or dangerous. Anyway, after you're better at small talk, it's easier to get to know someone you really want to know more about. Like, after you establish an acquaintanceship you can be like "oh, that (object they're holding) reminds me of (relative of yours), they got one in (mildly interesting location)." Just practice this kind of thing in general, and you'll be better prepared when you meet someone you're really interested in.
I used to be terrible at this, luckily my BFF was amazing at it and I learned by observation.
....uh ... that's really all I need... I guess if you forced me to pick another artist I'd pick Underworld just so I could play Born Slippy if I ever got rescued...
ikr, iirc cats are hard to study bc they dgaf. Also it's not likely that you hang out with your cat while saying your own name. But if you have a couple people in the house and they call each other by name, it's possible the cat knows those sounds to be associated with the respective person.
Also, the cat "names" you according to your smell and the sound that you make while approaching, besides your visual appearance. They likely have some kind of cognitive representation that ties those percepts with their memories of your shared history. But it's true that they don't have a constructed symbol system that they use to share that representation with other creatures.
That's one of the things you learn through practice. How to do it in a non-weird way.
Some of this is culture-dependent. Where I live now, anyone can just say "good morning!" or "have a good day!" to anyone else and they might say something back or they might just smile or nod. In other places this might not be acceptable to someone of a certain "status" or in certain contexts or until you are "introduced". Just observe what other people do, and do that.
That's why it's good to practice ahead of time. Yeah, it can be awkward to walk up to someone, plant yourself in front of them, and try to start a conversation. It's a lot easier if you're both arriving at work at the same time and you say "good morning!" as you each go your separate ways.