Trying to understand and explain this (details before whole)

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Cogs
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25 Jun 2012, 12:59 am

Trying to make sense of something and be able to explain it. Needing help in putting words with it and understanding it if anyone else experiences similar:

It is sort of like when first seeing something or first going into a new shop or unfamiliar room etc. my attention is on details, I dont want it to be but it is, I see things as a mass of details. Then as I get more familiar with the place or object I start seeing it as more of a whole, then when I am very familiar with the object/place I see it as a whole, and choose to focus on certain aspects if I want more detail. Things tend to be quite uncomfortable to see when they are completely new, and comfortable to see when they are familiar.

Does this make sense to anyone? Anyone know what is going on here, how to explain it, improve it etc.?

Thanks

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Last edited by Cogs on 25 Jun 2012, 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Chronos
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25 Jun 2012, 5:00 am

Cogs wrote:

I believe this is rather normal.

Cogs
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25 Jun 2012, 5:16 am

Other people I'm around don't seem to find newness hard like this, and I don't understand the discomfort I find with newness?

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oxjox
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25 Jun 2012, 6:08 am

How about this?

You need to learn things in a certain order (other people either aren't as rigid or at least have a different order).
The order is dictated by scale. You must start with the micro (details), before you can view things macroscopically (the gist/as a whole).

Perhaps your discomfort is a sign that you are uncomfortable with the rigidity.
Is this because you wish you didn't have to do things this way, or is it maybe because you feel awkward about being different - whether that's because the world isn't set up in a way that is easy to process, or because you feel pressure from others when you can't explain it?

Verdandi
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25 Jun 2012, 6:21 am

Cogs wrote:

Other people I'm around don't seem to find newness hard like this, and I don't understand the discomfort I find with newness?

I think this kind of thing came up in a thread I posted awhile ago:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt152564.html

kfisherx posted a description that may seem relevant:

kfisherx wrote:

it is well documented that autistic people see details to big picture. I see things exactly like that all the time. Even familiar things if they get hit by a different light will have to process from the tiniest piece up to the actual item. It took me four full sessions (during my shrink time) to process his office as it was so filled with stuff and I had to map everything in.

DonkeyBuster
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25 Jun 2012, 8:35 am

Do you think the discomfort you feel is anxiety? Perhaps due to the need to quickly orient yourself to new surroundings & your brain is receiving a huge amount of new data to process. You need to quickly process all this new information so that you know who/how to be in relation to things?

I think it's part of the scripting that we live by... your brain is creating a new script for that room, it goes from micro to macro data.

The therapist's office: mine liked to rearrange her furniture from time to time. One time when she did that, it was so radically different that I walked in, noted things had moved, brain-freaked & walked out. Sat in my car for a few minutes to mentally process the new arrangement & then was able to go back in OK.

Verdandi
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25 Jun 2012, 8:48 am

DonkeyBuster wrote:

The therapist's office: mine liked to rearrange her furniture from time to time. One time when she did that, it was so radically different that I walked in, noted things had moved, brain-freaked & walked out. Sat in my car for a few minutes to mentally process the new arrangement & then was able to go back in OK.

When the living room here gets rearranged without warning, I freeze upon entering. Sometimes someone makes a point to say "We've rearranged the furniture." This usually happens near Christmas, and I was ready for it last year, after having a better understanding as to why I have to stop when things are different.

TheSunAlsoRises
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25 Jun 2012, 10:03 am

Cogs wrote:

Quote:

Other people I'm around don't seem to find newness hard like this, and I don't understand the discomfort I find with newness?

You focus on bits and pieces of a landscape intuitively gravitating toward and cataloging details that naturally attracts you.

Over a period of time, the picture becomes broader. more inclusive. richer. to the point that when it all comes together (there are times) you could be looking at a very familiar place as IF you were seeing it for the very first time.

TheSunAlsoRises

Cogs
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25 Jun 2012, 3:35 pm

Thanks heaps for the responses, I definitely learn from details to whole, but not just in what interests me. Not being able to communicate my need for details has caused problems, particularly with me requesting details from people and they trying to tell me I do not need to know those details. I do feel uncomfortable with this rigidity, maybe this is anxiety. I feel I need to be able to orient myself in relation to things/people etc., however this is very difficult, the huge amounts of raw data are draining and potentially overwhelming, I feel pressure from not being able to process things quick enough for me to feel ok in the new environment. How do I reduce this discomfort and anxiety?

DonkeyBuster wrote:

“I think it's part of the scripting that we live by... your brain is creating a new script for that room, it goes from micro to macro data.”

Any chance of some more information on this?

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Cogs
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25 Jun 2012, 3:40 pm

Verdandi wrote:

Cogs wrote:

Other people I'm around don't seem to find newness hard like this, and I don't understand the discomfort I find with newness?

I think this kind of thing came up in a thread I posted awhile ago:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt152564.html

kfisherx posted a description that may seem relevant:

kfisherx wrote:

Thanks for the link and quote. Very useful.

I can totally relate to the freezing you mention in your thread, what is that about- overwhelmed?

Regarding your comments about visual snow in your thread, I have that too, and read into it a bit a while back, one of the possible explanations I found was that everyone has it, a form of noise, but some filter it out better than others. Mine improved in response to getting higher strength glasses, and when I switch from normal glasses to sunglasses, so I do wonder if mine is at least in part to eye strain or sensisitivity to light. I also wonder if not filtering sensory information well comes into this too.

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