A Certain Modicum of Tact

I was reading an article about communication and filters. There was a study that reviewed communication between normal people and nerds. They focused on the ability to filter what we say (or hear) with tact - a prism of what's socially acceptable. Normal people (although what is 'normal' really?) when they speak generally use a tact filter on everything they say so that it isn't taken in offense. This seams pretty normal, and why we sometimes veil what we mean.
Nerds, however, (those that are much smarter than the average bear - think about that brilliant physicist, absent minded professor, etc) don't use a speaking tact filter. Instead they will filter everything they hear with tact - taking no offense to what their peers say, knowing they are trying to directly communicate. So this leads to the classic problem. When a nerd talks to normal person they get frustrated that the normal person can't get to the point and beats around the bush, because they expect they will filter it with tact (the message is filtered twice!) Yet when a nerd talks, the normal person will be offended because the nerd expects that everything that is directly said is taken with a grain of salt (through a filter of tact). It isn't, so it obviously hits hard.
I think that I can switch between the two if needed - but only in a business and education. A product of going to school as a chemical engineer. When it comes to personal relationships I tend to be more tactful. Perhaps to a communication fault.
HRP