Noticing "Things" Instead of "People"

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I notice things and architecture so much that I made a career out of it - museum curator. Social is much more difficult to deal with than the stuff. In museum school my joke was, "Things don't hurt you, people do, unless, of course, it's some old taxidermy that is loaded with arsenic to kill a beetle infestation, and you end up with arsenic poisoning. In that case, things can hurt you."

Z

ok - now i really get you. i made a career out of painting....fulfills all my sensory needs and cravigns whilst allowing me a healthy distance from the material world - oh and of course, the detail is the foundation point for everything - from which i then take off.....

I notice that when I am watching a movie, I always check out the surroundings, and then zero in on the characters last. Once, I was watching "Soylent Green." There was a scene, with a shower in it. It was an unusual shape, to me, and I got frustrated because the camera wouldn't reveal the entire structure. I wanted to figure out how it was constructed. Later, I remembered that there was some sort of an emotional scene going on between a man and a woman, but I was more caught up in checking out the shower. Oh, well...

More thoughts on noticing things, or not noticing people- (sorry, this is a dense topic for me):

I realize that whenever I´ve had a crush on someone, that person was around, in my environment, for awhile- (like at work, or my apartment complex)- before I really noticed that person. Instant attraction and love at first sight are things that basically never happen to me; it almost seems to happen by "osmosis", I slowly begin to notice the person, and one day the feelings just "sneak up on me". It became clear to me how little I tend to notice people a few years back, when I had a gay roommate. Everywhere we went, he would point out men to me and say "oh, he´s cute". I was amazed that he noticed all these people, and it became clear to me that I wasn´t seeing people the way he was.

I also remember, on the AQ test, there was a question I had to answer about whether I was more drawn to things than I was to people. This question made me feel totally uncomfortable, almost like it was "politically incorrect". After years of living in our society, I knew that it was "wrong" not to put people in the center...I think I felt this gut reaction due to years of little comments people made implying that I wasn´t "people oriented" enough at times. It´s taken myself awhile- like, until now- to accept that I can have a different perception of things, it´s not bad or wrong.

Actually, I am drawn to both people and things, I think. I guess I just tend to notice things first.

I considered being a practicing artist, but my painting/drawing instructor said I was terrible at those things. I did much better in sculpture, assemblage, printmaking, and photography - but didn't have enough confidence to pursue art. Congratulations for your career!

If some people didn't pay attention to the details, there wouldn't be any art worth seeing.

Z

Questions like this one really remind me of just how autistic I still really am. I always notice people dead last. The first thing I notice is the building. What style of building is it. Does it have an elevator and if so who made it. Is the elevator original to the building. Is the building dated and old looking. When did the building have it's last remodel and was it a good one or did it suck. I look at the decor to determine if it works. Now IF there is food being served, that usually interrupts my looking at the building. If the smells of food are assaulting my senses I scan for the smells of the foods I like.

The only thing I look at regards the people are how many people are in the room and how close together are they. When clumps of people are in a room I look for the places in the room where the crowds are thinnest. I try to find the most uncomfortable place in the room where people hate to be and I make that my base camp. Example if there is a electric fan beating against its enclosure with a constant annoying tink, tink, tink, tink, tink and most people are avoiding that area, I make that my home base for the occassion. I don't usually like noise but, if the noise repeats at regular intervals and it is not too loud I've survive because; it is the lesser of two evils the other being trapped among many people.

I can't remember people by their faces. I remember their relative size and the way they fix their hair. I remember body language. How one styles their hair is more a thing. I notice the flooring, lighting and other elements. I like watching anything that is mechanical like those huge doors the use to build wall partitions at places where I speak. Being around unknown people still makes me very very nervious so I have trained myself to never look at them. I survive by never looking at people. When I am on the bus I never look at the people sitting beside me except to register them in my system in case they do something wrong to me. When I look at things it comforts me. Looking at people reminds me how much I don't understand in NT society. I don't look people in the eye because; for me that is a challenge that makes me feel so ill at ease, I want to fight or leave. Things comfort me because; they give my mind something to analyze. When I am analyzing the NT world I am at my most comfortable. People are random and unstructured, they present situations that defy order and peace. My Noticing Things Instead of People is the primary way I survive in the NT world. Seeing the question made me realize how much I am still like the autistic kid I used to be.

Yep, that's me. I cannot abide anyone moving my stuff.

I also think of it as a self defense mechansm. People hate messy rooms, so outside of loved ones, they won't stay too long.

I also get nervous if an environment is too tidy. Afraid to move or touch anything in-case I make a mess. Maybe it has something to do with my clumsiness, it is almost guaranteed I will knock something over etc..



I can be a bit like this. For example if my guitar is put away it won't get played for weeks. If I leave it out I will play much more often. Even storing it in its case but leaving the case out is enough to make me not play.

I have a couch in my bedroom that I basically use as a very long nightstand.



I do this. People are objects in the environment. Scanned, registered, catalogued, labeled etc.

When I saw this topic title in the list of threads, I said out loud "Oh that's me, that's me!" I've always done this; I've always both attached to and noticed objects before people. And also, animals over people. Objects and animals both are easier to deal with, study, observe, eyeball and interact with than people.

I notice people more. When I go to a social event, I may be feeling shy, but that does not mean I don't notice people. I like to know who's the life and soul people, who's more quieter, who's awkward, and who's just in between. When in social situations, I feel like a fly on the wall. I can pick up on everything that's going on, but I am a person of few words because I am shy.

I notice objects much more than people. If someone is talking and I see an interesting item in the vicinity, all my attention instantly focuses on that item. I don't even know what was being said.

I never pay attention to people and I very often ignore my surroundings as well. I'm always daydreaming.