“ how normal people tend to react to such hostile interactions” — I assume there are only a small percentage of people looking for a hostile fight. Most people will avoid it. They deal with it when they need to. They don’t enjoy it.

Haven’t you observed that for yourself? Do you agree with me, based on your environment? You may be in a world where lots of people around you like a good, nasty fight.

I suppose in my environment, people do fight for power, and often like to act like they are the smartest in the room. But it’s subtle. I’ve rarely seen outright hostile and nasty.

I’ve had some hostile altercations. I sure didn’t want it to go that way, but when it did I held my ground. I try to soften the hostility and find something to agree upon, but sometimes the other person wants to battle and there’s no making peace.