trouble understanding descriptions the way they're supposed to be understood?

[adh2d]

I've found that I've always had a problem with imagining a setting and characters? Sometimes it's impossible for me to formulate a picture of a visual description and most of the time it's, wrong.

In book fanbases I've noticed fanart seems to all have the same general idea of what the setting or wildlife/characters might look like and I'm always wayyyyy off.

For example; back when I was really into animorphs, before I saw the official art of an Andalite they looked a lot different in my head:

It could have been a poor description but it happens a lot with other books too. I could never picture the PJO characters properly until I saw fanart of them. And even still now, I have trouble imagining characters in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Zaphod looked WAYYYYYY different in my head vs the movie and fanart versions.

People keep going "oh you're just creative then" but, no? It feels like a frustrating issue more than being creative, this has affected my ability to complete school assignments the way I was expected to. Everyone in my classes seemed to just, know. While I always seemed to miss something they understood and I didn't.

 

[clg114]

When I hear someone's voice on the radio or somewhere that I can not see them, I automatically get a picture in my mind what they look like. What I imagined they looked like and what they really look like, are never the same.

 

[the_tortoise]

Happens to me all the time that my imaginings/understandings are totally different from what others mean.

Often there is more than one way to understand/translate/interpret what someone writes or says. People who think similarly will be more likely to interpret words in a similar manner, I think....Your understanding/translation/interpretation is not necessarily wrong in the sense of its validity/how much sense it makes, even if it is wrong in the sense of not being what the word-speaker/-writer meant.

This issue connects up to (or maybe underlies) being unable to read between the lines to make common-association-based inferences.....you are less likely to see it if it's not an association you would make. (You are guaranteed to not see it if it is not only an association you would not make, but also have never seen other people making the association nor been told about it).

 

[Shamar]

I've found that I've always had a problem with imagining a setting and characters? Sometimes it's impossible for me to formulate a picture of a visual description and most of the time it's, wrong.

Don't be upset about this. If everybody imagined things the same way, we would have a very dull world. Who is to say your version is any less "accurate" or worse than the official version. Most of the official and fan art is done by NTs. As an Aspie, you are going to look at the same description differently than the NTs. Read or learn about some of the philosophy of Temple Grandin. She believe that the world needs all sorts of different kinds of minds, and those different kinds of minds need to be encouraged, not forced into a common mold. So, embrace those differences and be proud of them.

In "The Little Prince" Saint-Expery tells about how, as a child, he drew a picture of a large snake that had swallowed an elephant. All the adults told him it was a wonderful drawing of a hat.

 

[sidd851]

I find that most human's "instructions" typically go some thing like this:
"Take those things put'm on that thing, but do it the way that we did it at that place, not like at the other place, but do it a little different, you know, cause this is here, not there, and make sure the other things are done quickly, but go slow and make sure you stack them carefully, and when you're done, I just mean throw 'em in there, get it done, don't take too long, but don't break any, 'cause we have exactly as many as we need, then take the left-over pieces and throw them over there carefully, but don't take all day, 'cause we don't have enough, and we still gotta go get more at that place, well, not that place, but the other place, you know, the one by the thing, but not out front, out back, 'cause after we get exactly the number of pieces we're short by, we're gonna hafta take all the extras and count them to see how many we're short by so we can get storage space for all the extras. Then, if we have room for 'em all, restack them all in the other space till we need them back over here..
Alright get it done."
And then: "I told you exactly what I wanted, didn't you hear me?" "What's wrong with you, can't follow simple directions..."

 

[LucyPurrs]

I find that most human's "instructions" typically go some thing like this:
"Take those things put'm on that thing, but do it the way that we did it at that place, not like at the other place, but do it a little different, you know, cause this is here, not there, and make sure the other things are done quickly, but go slow and make sure you stack them carefully, and when you're done, I just mean throw 'em in there, get it done, don't take too long, but don't break any, 'cause we have exactly as many as we need, then take the left-over pieces and throw them over there carefully, but don't take all day, 'cause we don't have enough, and we still gotta go get more at that place, well, not that place, but the other place, you know, the one by the thing, but not out front, out back, 'cause after we get exactly the number of pieces we're short by, we're gonna hafta take all the extras and count them to see how many we're short by so we can get storage space for all the extras. Then, if we have room for 'em all, restack them all in the other space till we need them back over here..
Alright get it done."
And then: "I told you exactly what I wanted, didn't you hear me?" "What's wrong with you, can't follow simple directions..."

LOL, reminds me of the put together instructions for cheap furniture manufactured in some foreign country that you have to put together yourself. Always was able to do it in the end but geez, only because I'm not so bad at figuring stuff like that out.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

Well your idea isnt wrong or what ever, words and pictures are so differents, its not realy easy to be 100% precise with a verbal description...

I guess you can get from the description that they have an human face with the "cunning and intelligent" and the fact that they have 6 members and not 4 because it's written that its a deer with human arms so 4 + 2 and it is not stated that one replace the other. It's also said that they have good speed ( so more animal like.)

But you know this is not bad or wrong , it is just your interpretation of some words , nothing is wrong in what you drawn, its not like you gave it wings or things like that.

 

[sidd851]

Well your idea isnt wrong or what ever, words and pictures are so differents, its not realy easy to be 100% precise with a verbal description...

I guess you can get from the description that they have an human face with the "cunning and intelligent" and the fact that they have 6 members and not 4 because it's written that its a deer with human arms so 4 + 2 and it is not stated that one replace the other. It's also said that they have good speed ( so more animal like.)

But you know this is not bad or wrong , it is just your interpretation of some words , nothing is wrong in what you drawn, its not like you gave it wings or things like that.

I've spent my life refining my ability for succinctness, accuracy, and exactness, as I detest confrontation. Different for me, however, is the discussion that takes place in a forum like this one (this one specifically), as descriptiveness facilitates understanding of rather subtle nuances of experience, and I attempt to draw a picture rich in texture.
Edit: The english(or any other) language is exceedingly descriptive, it is only a person's unwieldiness and unfamiliarity with it that creates confusion, misunderstanding, and mayhem.

 

[Progster]

I have trouble understanding what some descriptions mean, for example, medical symptoms: tightening of the chest. what does this mean? I might have had this, but 'tightening' might not be how I would describe it, so I might think that I don't have this symptom when I really do. Or heartburn - never really knew what that was until I read what caused the symptom and realised that this had happened to me, but that's not how I would describe it. And why do nurses say 'a sharp scratch' when they are inserting a needle - there's no way that the sensation is 'a sharp scratch', it is a pinprick!

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Edit: The english(or any other) language is exceedingly descriptive, it is only a person's unwieldiness and unfamiliarity with it that creates confusion, misunderstanding, and mayhem.

There's a cultural language habit .

You know what I mean,yes?

Denmark,Ireland. - put no at the end of the sentence.

So when two simulacrum @sidd851 's meet from their descriptively rich knowledge there are still misunderstandings.

Language is often ambigous, and the meaning of words change culturally over time.

I often thought -when they make laws - why do they use language that is so often open to interpretation?

Make the lawyers rich is one answer.

But it allows for cultural change within the context of the law.

In a way,allowing the law to breathe and be subject to current social mores.

So,ambigous for a reason.

 

[sidd851]

There's a cultural language habit .

You know what I mean,yes?

Denmark,Ireland. - put no at the end of the sentence.

So when two simulacrum @sidd851 's meet from their descriptively rich knowledge there are still misunderstandings.

Language is often ambigous, and the meaning of words change culturally over time.

I often thought -when they make laws - why do they use language that is so often open to interpretation?

Make the lawyers rich is one answer.

But it allows for cultural change within the context of the law.

In a way,allowing the law to breathe and be subject to current social mores.

So,ambigous for a reason.

I can agree with this, in part.
However, much(most, all) of what I have self-taught of the english language was by taking surrounding context, prefixes, suffixes, root words, and making an educated guess as to a particular meaning or usage.
Very, very rarely has this steered me wrong.
I also(although I am not considered multi-lingual) have little or no difficulty in understanding even colloquialism in other languages. I find, also, that if I am descriptive enough, regarding physicality, abstract, or emotional tone, (if one has the patience for it) that I almost always make known very near to my exact meaning(s). Indeed, patience seems to be at the very heart of the exchange of complex experience/observation.
I find that there is a certain satisfaction in speaking with the specific purpose of reducing/removing ambiguity.
(Yes, I am mostly well hated.)

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I can agree with this, in part.
However, much(most, all) of what I have self-taught of the english language was by taking surrounding context, prefixes, suffixes, root words, and making an educated guess as to a particular meaning or usage.
Very, very rarely has this steered me wrong.
I also(although I am not considered multi-lingual) have little or no difficulty in understanding even colloquialism in other languages. I find, also, that if I am descriptive enough, regarding physicality, abstract, or emotional tone, (if one has the patience for it) that I almost always make known very near to my exact meaning(s). Indeed, patience seems to be at the very heart of the exchange of complex experience/observation.
I find that there is a certain satisfaction in speaking with the specific purpose of reducing/removing ambiguity.
(Yes, I am mostly well hated.)

I think you may be a specific exception.

Most don't have the time or the inclination to traverse cultural differences in usage.
There is also the NT overlay - by that I mean the way meanings are derived socially.
Yet, by 'emotional tone' I guess you are referring to that .

Yet in that ''other world' ambiguity may be part of good communication. As it reveals the expertise of communication through other social means. Body language ,social heirarchy etc.
To us,it may be ambigous, not reading signals but to no-one else.

 

[sidd851]

I think you may be a specific exception.

Most don't have the time or the inclination to traverse cultural differences in usage.
There is also the NT overlay - by that I mean the way meanings are derived socially.
Yet, by 'emotional tone' I guess you are referring to that .

Yet in that ''other world' ambiguity may be part of good communication. As it reveals the expertise of communication through other social means. Body language ,social heirarchy etc.
To us,it may be ambigous, not reading signals but to no-one else.

I am hoping that I did not come off as arrogant, or smug(which happens, sometimes, when one comments upon one's own [perceived] talents or skills, regardless of actual intent).
Can I prove your previous point any more definitively?
I've finally found my family!

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I am hoping that I did not come off as arrogant, or smug(which happens, sometimes, when one comments upon one's own [perceived] talents or skills, regardless of actual intent).
Can I prove your previous point any more definitively?
I've finally found my family!

Lol, didn't even cross my mind as arrogant.

Not wired like that!

Looks like you have found us.

Always wondered why there was that empty chair!

Take a seat

 

[Streetwise]

I've found that I've always had a problem with imagining a setting and characters? Sometimes it's impossible for me to formulate a picture of a visual description and most of the time it's, wrong.

In book fanbases I've noticed fanart seems to all have the same general idea of what the setting or wildlife/characters might look like and I'm always wayyyyy off.

For example; back when I was really into animorphs, before I saw the official art of an Andalite they looked a lot different in my head:

It could have been a poor description but it happens a lot with other books too. I could never picture the PJO characters properly until I saw fanart of them. And even still now, I have trouble imagining characters in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Zaphod looked WAYYYYYY different in my head vs the movie and fanart versions.

People keep going "oh you're just creative then" but, no? It feels like a frustrating issue more than being creative, this has affected my ability to complete school assignments the way I was expected to. Everyone in my classes seemed to just, know. While I always seemed to miss something they understood and I didn't.

The worst incident I've ever come across is a lady that lived on my street who recounted to me situations that happened to her as though I was actually there and knew exactly who she was talking about,I used to feel like screaming.

 

[Streetwise]

There's a cultural language habit .

You know what I mean,yes?

Denmark,Ireland. - put no at the end of the sentence.

So when two simulacrum @sidd851 's meet from their descriptively rich knowledge there are still misunderstandings.

Language is often ambigous, and the meaning of words change culturally over time.

I often thought -when they make laws - why do they use language that is so often open to interpretation?

Make the lawyers rich is one answer.

But it allows for cultural change within the context of the law.

In a way,allowing the law to breathe and be subject to current social mores.

So,ambigous for a reason.

from what I've learned of law you have to be educated in a certain way and use English words in a certain way ,for instance gay would've meant happy 100 years ago not the day.
or honourable for some people it just means somebody rich for some people it means part of their faith .

 

[sidd851]

from what I've learned of law you have to be educated in a certain way and use English words in a certain way ,for instance gay would've meant happy 100 years ago not the day.
or honourable for some people it just means somebody rich for some people it means part of their faith .

One need only study a few "definitions" attachments from legal documents/instruments to fully appreciate how different "legalese" is from common speech.

 

[sidd851]

I think you may be a specific exception.

Most don't have the time or the inclination to traverse cultural differences in usage.
There is also the NT overlay - by that I mean the way meanings are derived socially.
Yet, by 'emotional tone' I guess you are referring to that .

Yet in that ''other world' ambiguity may be part of good communication. As it reveals the expertise of communication through other social means. Body language ,social heirarchy etc.
To us,it may be ambigous, not reading signals but to no-one else.

Thought of an interesting exception:
Can't make heads nor tails of the(any) translation(s) of the "Popol Vuh". No matter what context I assign...
It's like those people are speaking a different language...

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Thought of an interesting exception:
Can't make heads nor tails of the(any) translation(s) of the "Popol Vuh". No matter what context I assign...
It's like those people are speaking a different language...

• Humans are successfully created from Maize.[39]
• The gods give them morality in order to keep them loyal.[40]
• Later, they give them wives to make them content.[41]
• This book also describes the movement of the K'iche' and includes the introduction of Gucumatz.[42]

Nor me. Having never heard of it before didn't help.

Reminded me of the Welsh phrase.

Note that pobol y cym
In Welsh from ancient British,
Is people of the valley .

Pobol to popol....

It could mean people of and not book of...

Vuh or wuj...

 

[adh2d]

@sidd851 @Fridgemagnetman not gonna lie I have no idea what's going on in this thread anymore omg. I do get really bad brain fog that makes it hard to read tho so that might be why.