Maybe this is more a male thing or maybe it’s just the way my brain works but when I meet or interact with new people I often size them up based on how they physically look and try to figure out if I would be able to defeat them in a confrontation if for some random reason that happened to occur. Obviously you can’t know for a fact the guy could be some amateur mma fighter or something I also look for if they have any obvious weak points. It might be a little bit of instinct or just a fun mental game, I’m not sure, does anybody else do this?
No. Fuck no. I may size them up intellectually though.
No, of course not.
meh, I do, but it’s on a level so low that it can barely even be called conscious, for the most part.
Only in extreme cases, as when I meet someone vastly more physically prepossessing than I am (or vastly less.)
I do confess to keeping a mild awareness of the tactical situation at most times. I don’t like to have people close behind me, because that puts me at a disadvantage if fighting breaks out. I like to size up the escape routes from any room I’m in.
(Wargamer!)
I can’t remember If I ever have done that in the moment. Maybe once or twice when a mugging was afoot, but I think on those occasions I mostly reacted rather than made a rational assessment of whether I could/how I would win in a fight. But then I haven’t been in a real fist fight since the fourth grade and am not particularly planning on getting into another before I die.
Never. The notion of fighting with a guy never crosses my mind. Finding a muscular fellow attractive, on the other hand… 
At some level in less familiar settings - anywhere that you are in contact with people you don’t really know. I guess it goes back to my early drinking days, spending lots of time in pubs, bars and parties with lots of often mystery drinkers. That and my years of working in a psychiatric hospital made me aware of how quickly things can go to shit and how much better it is to have some idea what’s happening. So passively observant I guess.
I have a mate who is a retired cop. He, with very little apparent effort seems to, like Jason Bourne, know things about everyone within 60 feet where ever you are with him.
+1
Yeah. Whenever I’m at a restaurant or something and I see someone new walk in, I give them an ocular patdown and assess whether they’re a threat and whether I could take them.
I size people up physically and intellectually. It’s just common sense. It’s not like people know I’m doing it.
Yup.
I usually carry a tape measure for this very purpose, although, I admit, it can sometimes be a little awkward when it comes to the inside leg measurements.
This is nice to read. When I was a teenager I read Michael Crichton’s autobiography. It confused me on many levels (e.g., his matter-of-fact description of experiencing paranormal events–how is that possible? I only realized later that it was possible because he was full of shit). One confusing thing about it was his offhand explanation of how every man, on meeting another man, sizes him up for a potential fight. I never do that, and as a teenager I wondered if I was lying to myself, or if there was something wrong with me as a man.
Later, of course, I realized it was because of the aforementioned full-of-shittedness of Crichton. But I’ve still wondered whether this is something that other guys do.
Male humans are deeply programmed to detect their place in the local pecking order. Depending on your surroundings that may be determined mostly by raw brains, workplace skill, fighting ability, GF’s hotness, or bank account. So most guys get real good at instantly, constantly, and mostly unconsciously assessing this stuff along two lines: A) the one most applicable to their immediate environment; and B) the one that most flatters their ego in their own mind. Lots of bad things happen when guys overplay their B assessment in a mostly-A situation.
As to me …
When I was younger I did the OP’s physical assessment a lot. I was always on the small side, so understanding just where my extra badassery (real or imagined) would run up against his superior size or badassery was important. I also spent a few years living and working in uncivilized surroundings where physical confrontations were part of life.
Nowadays I’m in more civilized surroundings. And with increasing age comes decreasing subconscious aggression. So now I assess mostly along other lines. But once in awhile some combo of environment and other-guy attitude brings out the old me planning my counterstrike.
Everybody? No. Just the ones who training and experience indicate are the most likely to be aggressive.
90% of adults I meet would be able to at least knock me unconscious pretty quickly, so it would probably just make me terrified of going outside.
Sure, at least when we’re the only ones on a dark street or parking area and they look crazy enough to not be intimidated by my dog and my leg is bothering me and temporarily blinding with pepper spray counts as defeat.
May I ask what you base that on? Lots of men seem to believe that, but I don’t know that I am convinced.
In general no. Though I do tend to size up other guys to see if I’m interested in them. I’m a lover not a fighter. I’ve been assaulted before but have never really been in a fight, so mayb that contributes to it.
Only through the window when someone comes to the door that I don’t know. Otherwise, there’s no point in it.