Literal imagination
Nov. 10th, 2007 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valis2I was reading the flist just now, and saw that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
innerslytherin had posted an entry called Spring Mill State Park: Memories and Some Photos, only I read "robots" instead of "photos" and I got all excited to read an entry about robots. My brain immediately went off on a tangent, wondering what a modern person would have to say about robots; it isn't like they're common occurrences.
Then when I realized my mistake, I was rather sad, but it reminded me of my brain's bizarre method of putting information together. You see, I have a really hyperactive imagination, but I'm also very literal-minded and, to some degree, gullible. My imagination is such that I regularly see absolutely bizarre things in everyday situations and, for a split second, think they're really occurring. And I mean bizarre. Just this week I thought there was some sort of serpent-headed being walking down my hallway, which turned out to be a coat on the steamer trunk. I've also seen aliens, monsters, anything you can imagine, and for a split second been terrified before it coalesced into something rational. My brain just leaps to these demented ideas naturally.
As far as interpersonal relations and gullibility...if you start to tell me an outlandish story that turns out to be a joke that never happened, for example, I might actually believe you. My brain works like a court of law; it has to have precedent for these things. While you're telling me the story, I'm trying to understand the context. If this particular trick has been tried on me before, I might recognize it, but if it hasn't, I'll spin my wheels the entire time, trying to understand what is going on. If I'm in the least bit suspicious, I will try to analyze each new detail to see if it makes sense to me or not, but if I'm not suspicious--particularly if this is a stranger, or someone whose attitude does not strike me as a jokester--I will be completely taken in.
Years of paranoia, doom, and suspicion from my father have made me less gullible, I'll admit. But still, I have moments where I'll misread the subject line for an entry and I'll think, "Oh, cool, robots!"
ETA: HAHAH I saw her entry on IJ and misread it in the exact same way again.
innerslytherin had posted an entry called Spring Mill State Park: Memories and Some Photos, only I read "robots" instead of "photos" and I got all excited to read an entry about robots. My brain immediately went off on a tangent, wondering what a modern person would have to say about robots; it isn't like they're common occurrences.Then when I realized my mistake, I was rather sad, but it reminded me of my brain's bizarre method of putting information together. You see, I have a really hyperactive imagination, but I'm also very literal-minded and, to some degree, gullible. My imagination is such that I regularly see absolutely bizarre things in everyday situations and, for a split second, think they're really occurring. And I mean bizarre. Just this week I thought there was some sort of serpent-headed being walking down my hallway, which turned out to be a coat on the steamer trunk. I've also seen aliens, monsters, anything you can imagine, and for a split second been terrified before it coalesced into something rational. My brain just leaps to these demented ideas naturally.
As far as interpersonal relations and gullibility...if you start to tell me an outlandish story that turns out to be a joke that never happened, for example, I might actually believe you. My brain works like a court of law; it has to have precedent for these things. While you're telling me the story, I'm trying to understand the context. If this particular trick has been tried on me before, I might recognize it, but if it hasn't, I'll spin my wheels the entire time, trying to understand what is going on. If I'm in the least bit suspicious, I will try to analyze each new detail to see if it makes sense to me or not, but if I'm not suspicious--particularly if this is a stranger, or someone whose attitude does not strike me as a jokester--I will be completely taken in.
Years of paranoia, doom, and suspicion from my father have made me less gullible, I'll admit. But still, I have moments where I'll misread the subject line for an entry and I'll think, "Oh, cool, robots!"
ETA: HAHAH I saw her entry on IJ and misread it in the exact same way again.