Nat's post got me thinking about something that happened this morning. I guess it's a little off topic but if you tilt your head and think figuratively rather than literally it might fit okay.
People have often told me that I’m literal. They say things like you take things too literally or you need to stop being so literal and so forth. I have steadfastly refused to accept their observations. Instead I have always maintained that I am simply taking people at their exact word in an attempt to get them to be accountable for the actual words they say rather than me trying to interpret what they could mean by what they say. I have always believed this is a fair and clear way to communicate. And I have always had a need for clarity. I don’t believe I’m incapable of figurative thought. I have always been able to understand the possible meanings and interpretations behind a statement or an action. I just prefer to take people at their word.
Besides that I have always believed being literal means lacking the ability for abstract thought or lacking imagination. I conflate it with seeing the world in black and white. I looked up the meaning of literal today and this is what I found:
Literal
1. in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical: the literal meaning of a word.
2. following the words of the original very closely and exactly: a literal translation of Goethe.
3. true to fact; not exaggerated; actual or factual: a literal description of conditions.
4. being actually such, without exaggeration or inaccuracy: the literal extermination of a city.
5. (of persons) tending to construe words in the strict sense or in an unimaginative way; matter-of-fact; prosaic.
I still want to refute the claim that I am too literal. But something happened this morning that is making me rethink my position.
Me: “You want some yogurt for breakfast.”
A: “Sure bring me a small bowl.”
Me: “You mean those tiny ramekins.”
A: “No, in a regular cereal bowl.”
Me: “Well, they only come in one size.”
A: (with a sigh, cause life with me is quite exhausting between my need for clarity and my literal interpretation of things.) “Just put a small amount of yogurt IN the bowl.”
Me: {with wonder as light dawns on Marblehead) “Oh I get it, you used ‘a small bowl’ to refer to the quantity in the bowl. Like a small portion or a small piece.”
A: Yes dear, that’s right. That’s EXACTLY right.”
I don’t know I guess maybe I should reconsider my position on whether I am literal or not.
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The reason facts don’t change most people’s opinions is because most people don’t use facts to form their opinions. They use their opinions to form their “facts.”
Neil Strauss
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