a misunderstanding

It seems to me that I am possessed of an unique ability to misunderstand or misinterpret many things that are often taken for granted by the rest of the populace. For example: The joke about men leaving the toilet seat up all the time flew over my head until I was 17 and someone explained it to me. Until then I couldn't understand what women were so upset about, thinking that the "seat" in question was the top part, the one that covers the toilet. I really didn't think it was a big deal.

Case in point: The saying "United we stand, divided we fall" is meant to mean that a group is stronger than its individual members, and derision and disagreement will cause failure. Makes sense, right? Well, to be perfectly honest I was always offended by this saying, thinking that it meant something along the lines of "We'll be a great team and knock out the competition, but if you screw up, well, don't expect us to come back and save your sorry ass, ya loser." We'd all stand up as a group but fall one by one.

When I think about the ways in which politics, business, and society work, sometimes I wonder if my interpretation is the correct one.