differences
Apr. 16th, 2014 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1I've been reading a rather interesting discussion on thinking that everyone experiences the world the same way that you do – until one day you realise that they don't.
Examples include: not realising you're colourblind, that you have synesthesia, that you don't have a sense of smell, etc; not realising that some people actually are extroverted, actually do like music, or actually can have a favourite colour; not reading body language and/or thinking everyone can.
Most of these I find interesting, but can't really relate to. The only one that's so far made me go "Huh. Me too." was someone asking "Do people really feel emotionally moved by pieces of artwork the way they are by music?" because I've always liked art, but never really been moved by art – whereas music can get me into intense emotions very quickly.
I've experienced various instances of the "doesn't everyone...?" thing throughout my life. Such as:
1) Putting on glasses for the first time, and suddenly discovering that leaves on trees weren't supposed to look blurry.
2) Having ritalin for the first time, and discovering what it's like to have a single train of thought continue without interruption for ten minutes.
3) Slowly realising that texture is the important part of food for me (hence I like pineapple juice, pineapple lollies, and cooked pineapple, but can't eat it raw), and that other people really do think that flavour is this huge component.
4) Having someone ask me how to tell if they were singing "off key", and realising they really didn't know.
5) Realsing that, not only can most people stand flickering lights without leaving the room, but most people don't even register that they're flickering.
6) Discovering my total inability to explain how to make a fake American accent sound good, other than... doing the accent like it sounds.
7) Recently, having my sense of smell go into overdrive, and trying to explain to my mum what this was like – to which she nodded and said "that's normal for me" to every example I gave of intense oversmelling. (We're both freaks, in this case. My sense of smell is normally terrible, whereas hers is superhuman.)
I'm rather fascinated by this concept.
Examples include: not realising you're colourblind, that you have synesthesia, that you don't have a sense of smell, etc; not realising that some people actually are extroverted, actually do like music, or actually can have a favourite colour; not reading body language and/or thinking everyone can.
Most of these I find interesting, but can't really relate to. The only one that's so far made me go "Huh. Me too." was someone asking "Do people really feel emotionally moved by pieces of artwork the way they are by music?" because I've always liked art, but never really been moved by art – whereas music can get me into intense emotions very quickly.
I've experienced various instances of the "doesn't everyone...?" thing throughout my life. Such as:
1) Putting on glasses for the first time, and suddenly discovering that leaves on trees weren't supposed to look blurry.
2) Having ritalin for the first time, and discovering what it's like to have a single train of thought continue without interruption for ten minutes.
3) Slowly realising that texture is the important part of food for me (hence I like pineapple juice, pineapple lollies, and cooked pineapple, but can't eat it raw), and that other people really do think that flavour is this huge component.
4) Having someone ask me how to tell if they were singing "off key", and realising they really didn't know.
5) Realsing that, not only can most people stand flickering lights without leaving the room, but most people don't even register that they're flickering.
6) Discovering my total inability to explain how to make a fake American accent sound good, other than... doing the accent like it sounds.
7) Recently, having my sense of smell go into overdrive, and trying to explain to my mum what this was like – to which she nodded and said "that's normal for me" to every example I gave of intense oversmelling. (We're both freaks, in this case. My sense of smell is normally terrible, whereas hers is superhuman.)
I'm rather fascinated by this concept.
no subject
Date: 2014-04-16 04:23 pm (UTC)BUT! There I was, traveling around Italy (recommended, Euro-girl), looking at tons of amazing art and connecting on the usual intellectual level. Then I thought, "Hey, I'm in the town where they keep the actual David by Michelangelo. I should check it out. That would be funny." I've always had a jokey appreciation for the work, since it's ubiquitous and, you know, a naked man. Pleasant, right? I've even gone to see the giant-sized version in Vegas at Cesar's Palace. (No really. They made it bigger for Vegas.)
I was not prepared. Once I was standing in front of it, I just started crying. How can the original be so much different from all the copies, in terms of emotional connection? No idea, but I felt awe at the amazingness of humans when I was in the room with it, both intellectually and emotionally.
I was pregnant at the time, for what it's worth. Still, I saw a lot of other art on that trip and nothing else connected in that way. I was also oddly repelled by garlic and chocolate when pregnant, but that's another, though related, issue.
no subject
Date: 2014-04-16 06:42 pm (UTC)Pictures and reproductions do not do that sculpture justice. It is mesmerising in person (as is Michelangelo's Pieta, which is amazing.
There's a reason that he's remembered as a master.