How to understand people

This article sums up, in 4 rules, how to understand people. They range from the obvious (”Conformity is the norm.”) to the counterintuitive (”Some primates will give help as a way of asserting dominance in the group. It is as if they are saying, ‘Look at how powerful I am that I can give some of my resources to help you.’”).

But even the more obvious rules have some less obvious applications. And they may sound cynical, but I vaguely remember something about each one from my undergrad social psych course, so the rules are well-founded (and not just the ramblings of a bitter old man).

(Via Lifehacker)