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I sometimes wonder why people make these egregious reading comprehension mistakes. It sometimes seem to come from reading stuff too literally. Are the people wh

by tormeh 12y ago

I sometimes wonder why people make these egregious reading comprehension mistakes. It sometimes seem to come from reading stuff too literally. Are the people who do this really smart but simply too analytically inclined to comprehend normal prose?

TeMPOraL 12y ago
I don't know. My natural reaction when reading something that clearly makes no sense is to assume that maybe I misread something, go back a bit and read more carefully. Maybe it's because some people have the default assumption of "they must be wrong", and others "I might be wrong", and this determines how their knee-jerk reactions look like?
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  I work from the principle that I know that I am wrong and so is everybody else. From that I then try and get a grip on how wrong everybody is and then react according to what seems to make the most sense at the time. Then later I reflect on my actions and curse myself for being wrong.
davorak 12y ago
> really smart but simply too analytically inclined to comprehend normal prose? I can not connect this type of comprehension problem to the analytical trait/skill/etc. I have definitely see similar comprehension mistakes in non-analytical people. I think it is unlikely that If you saw some one you thought was not smart make the same mistake would you claim it was because they were too analytical. Coming to conclusions quickly and acting on them is viable useful strategy on many occasions. It makes sense that it would be used at most levels of intelligence. Taken to far it can be jumping to conclusions and can have heavy consequences.
thrownagway 12y ago
Yes, it's associated with Asperger's syndrome. Some people do not automatically recognize non-literal communication forms like metaphor, hyperbole, analogy, satire, irony, and so on. Those who are clever and aware of their deficit can often compensate by recognizing the patterns analytically. Those who are clever but prideful assume everyone else is wrong, and become indistinguishable from trolls or cranks.

by tormeh 12y ago

TeMPOraL 12y ago

I don't know. My natural reaction when reading something that clearly makes no sense is to assume that maybe I misread something, go back a bit and read more carefully. Maybe it's because some people have the default assumption of "they must be wrong", and others "I might be wrong", and this determines how their knee-jerk reactions look like?

lotsofmangos 12y ago
I work from the principle that I know that I am wrong and so is everybody else. From that I then try and get a grip on how wrong everybody is and then react according to what seems to make the most sense at the time. Then later I reflect on my actions and curse myself for being wrong.

davorak 12y ago

> really smart but simply too analytically inclined to comprehend normal prose? I can not connect this type of comprehension problem to the analytical trait/skill/etc. I have definitely see similar comprehension mistakes in non-analytical people. I think it is unlikely that If you saw some one you thought was not smart make the same mistake would you claim it was because they were too analytical. Coming to conclusions quickly and acting on them is viable useful strategy on many occasions. It makes sense that it would be used at most levels of intelligence. Taken to far it can be jumping to conclusions and can have heavy consequences.

thrownagway 12y ago

Yes, it's associated with Asperger's syndrome. Some people do not automatically recognize non-literal communication forms like metaphor, hyperbole, analogy, satire, irony, and so on. Those who are clever and aware of their deficit can often compensate by recognizing the patterns analytically. Those who are clever but prideful assume everyone else is wrong, and become indistinguishable from trolls or cranks.