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little irrational things
Aug. 3rd, 2005 01:10 aminspired by Cecilia:
I've had a little bit of these 3 in my life:
* symmetry: if you scratch one arm, you have to scratch the other at the same spot, etc
* unknot: compulsion to come back the same way you came, to avoid creating knots in spacetime (the earlier you undo them, the easier it will be!)
* fairness: when you start reading a list, you need to continue reading it until the end, so as not to give an unfair advantage to the ones at the top.
...or the Jack Nicholson character in "As Good As It Gets", who avoided the cracks in the sidewalk... I've had that too! But it was like a game for me.
I'm reminded that I used to feel very strongly about some really silly things as a child, like exactly dividing the space between me and my sister in the backseat of the car, what colour my bedsheets were, and what spoon I used. Children can have all kinds of superstitions. I think I had my share too.
This reminds me of something I read about why people develop strict rituals in making their coffee: why do they feel so strongly about how they prepare their morning coffee? (statistics students may know about the t-testing lady, who claimed to notice when the sugar was poured before the tea)
I've had a little bit of these 3 in my life:
* symmetry: if you scratch one arm, you have to scratch the other at the same spot, etc
* unknot: compulsion to come back the same way you came, to avoid creating knots in spacetime (the earlier you undo them, the easier it will be!)
* fairness: when you start reading a list, you need to continue reading it until the end, so as not to give an unfair advantage to the ones at the top.
...or the Jack Nicholson character in "As Good As It Gets", who avoided the cracks in the sidewalk... I've had that too! But it was like a game for me.
I'm reminded that I used to feel very strongly about some really silly things as a child, like exactly dividing the space between me and my sister in the backseat of the car, what colour my bedsheets were, and what spoon I used. Children can have all kinds of superstitions. I think I had my share too.
This reminds me of something I read about why people develop strict rituals in making their coffee: why do they feel so strongly about how they prepare their morning coffee? (statistics students may know about the t-testing lady, who claimed to notice when the sugar was poured before the tea)