Some of the smartest people among us have trouble interacting with others. Psychologist Ty Tashiro joins us to talk about why we act awkwardly around even people we know well – and about how we can better control these tendencies. His new book is called “Awkward: The Science of Why We’re Socially Awkward and Why That’s Awesome” (William Morrow).

Ty Tashiro on … 

… why socially awkward people shouldn’t be dismissed: 

“There’s definitely a unique advantage to seeing the world a little bit differently. And a lot of awkward people have this unique perspective or certain creative inclinations that can be really refreshing. Whether it’s a work context or a social context for that matter that spotlighted focus has a way of giving them an ability to engage in what psychologists call deliberate practice, which is often thought of as the 10,000 hours that you need to master a certain area. And akward people really like to nerd out about things. They really love what they love. But sometimes that produces some pretty great work.”