Can You Follow Through Animal Cartoons?

[Vitamin Sea]

Thirty years ago, I failed in my kindergarten entrance exam despite me being a very witty kid and receiving comments that I was really brilliant. I can still recall the teacher-examiner showed me a carpet with pictures of a cat holding a spoon and fork in the dining area eating a plated meal, a cat holding a book, a cat playing with a ball just like human, a cat sleeping in a human bed, and a few other cats were doing activities that only humans can do. In my toddler mind I knew it was impossible and I stared at the picture for the longest time.

The examiner pointed at the cat eating, and she asked, “What is this cat doing?”
I couldn’t give the answer eating, because I know real cats can’t hold cutlery like people. I thought maybe this picture was just like a pretend play, so I answered, “playing.” She pointed at the cat holding a book and asked the same silly question, and I answered playing. The teacher wondered what was wrong with me because I gave the same answer all throughout. I failed in one of the best private schools in my city but my guardian pleaded telling the examiner that I was really a great and obedient kid. So, I was given a chance to study there. To my thinking my nursery school was so much better than my kindergarten school. It was really a strange school for me that I didn’t want to talk much to my classmates. Anyway, that school was where I studied until I graduated in high school and I still had that odd feeling.

I also notice that my mind doesn’t work well in animation to this day. My eyes are just fixated on the screen but I can hardly make sense of the storyline. Elephants walking on two legs, bunnies or squirrels that walk like humans and talk like humans (with extremely high pitched voices) just confuse me.
Shrek and Flushed Away are the worst, I can’t even make sense what kind of creatures they are. Ice Age is good at least they depict mammoths, tiger, etc without changing their appearance. Cartoons with human characters are great, I love to watch them.

I need a validation that somehow this is normal among some people and what happened thirty years ago was just fine.

Do aspies typically experience this kind of confusion? Does your mind follow through animal cartoons?

 

[Progster]

I find some animal cartoons silly or annoying, because they are not anatomically correct, or doing tings that animals just don't do, like wearing clothes or walking on two feet (paws) or something like that. The teaching books I use have some very silly characters, like a panda what wears a waistcoat but not under garments - what's the point of that? Or a female meerkat that carries a handbag around with her. They want to anthropomorphize the animals, but it doesn't work, it's just... silly!!

 

[Iamnotarabot]

Do you have a particular example of cartoons that you can find on youtube that making you feel like that?


About images processing, I find that I can't guess what the latest pannels of the The Rorschach Test should mean, when they have colors, I find hard to think about anything, its just colored ink with no sense. ( I should be considered having schcizophrenia lol ) , Maybe this is related?

Do you have any other moment when you just dont understand images? It happens for me sometimes that some complexe images that I am not used to I need like 1 or 2 sec to understand what it is. maybe sometimes more.

You understand the image and this is just the non realistic aspect of it that make you uncomfortable?

I dont know if this is related, but before when I was a kid and watch disney movies on VHS we had a muppet show scene before the movie and I hated it, I had a lot of nightmares because of that and even today watchting the muppet show on youtube make me feel very uncomfortable.

 

[WereBear]

I have no problems with it. It's substitutions. And I see my pets as little people, anyway

 

[tree]

I haven't had many instances of finding
anthropomorphism to be hard to follow.

The last time was.....Arthur the Anteater.
His face is nothing like an anteater. I found
that silly and annoying.

Otherwise, though, I think of animals as
creatures of varying degrees of sentience
and like to observe their behaviors. This
includes the human animal.

 

[Vitamin Sea]

Do you have a particular example of cartoons that you can find on youtube that making you feel like that?


About images processing, I find that I can't guess what the latest pannels of the The Rorschach Test should mean, when they have colors, I find hard to think about anything, its just colored ink with no sense. ( I should be considered having schcizophrenia lol ) , Maybe this is related?

Do you have any other moment when you just dont understand images? It happens for me sometimes that some complexe images that I am not used to I need like 1 or 2 sec to understand what it is. maybe sometimes more.

You understand the image and this is just the non realistic aspect of it that make you uncomfortable?

I dont know if this is related, but before when I was a kid and watch disney movies on VHS we had a muppet show scene before the movie and I hated it, I had a lot of nightmares because of that and even today watchting the muppet show on youtube make me feel very uncomfortable.

Assigning human attributes to animals which is unrealistic like a mouse walking on two feet wearing a suit ( i.e., flushed away) makes me very uncomfortable in which it is like my mind spaces out. And yes, puppets (muppets as you mentioned) rocking their heads so often also distracts me until now (as I viewed them on youtube right after reading your post.) I guess this is an aspie thing.

I’m familiar with Rorshach Inkblot Test, my major is psychology and I’ve got no problems associating those images.

In your case, taking 1 to 2 or a few more seconds to examine a complex image is normal. It takes some time for me to process novel stimuli. Taking IQ test with abstract reasoning may take a few minutes for me to understand some challenging instructions, I might be snail-paced but my scores are really high. I notice even my NT colleagues and friends also take some time to understand complexities.. Even Einstein preferred discussions that are slow-paced. He once revealed to someone that he isnt a quick thinker.

 

[Vitamin Sea]

Google Image Result for https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/11362138?wid=488&hei=488&fmt=pjpeg

 

[Vitamin Sea]

I find some animal cartoons silly or annoying, because they are not anatomically correct, or doing tings that animals just don't do, like wearing clothes or walking on two feet (paws) or something like that. The teaching books I use have some very silly characters, like a panda what wears a waistcoat but not under garments - what's the point of that? Or a female meerkat that carries a handbag around with her. They want to anthropomorphize the animals, but it doesn't work, it's just... silly!!

Thanks for the vocabulary I learned from your post!
Anthropomorphize

 

[WereBear]

Otherwise, though, I think of animals as
creatures of varying degrees of sentience
and like to observe their behaviors. This
includes the human animal.

Excellent way of explaining my own experience.

Highly imaginative experiences depend on how flexible we are about certain parameters, I think. Like mammals who have lots of social signals; dogs and cats, birds, horses, monkeys and apes -- easy for me to interact with them. In fact, it's easier than humans

My cats, for instance, have their own (body) language, that I have learned. Communication and cooperation with them is soooooooo much easier than people who have some weird agenda or are simply performing some kind of ritual I don't know.

Perhaps that is why I am so comfortable with cats eating off plates and driving cars. If they could... they would.

 

[Thinx]

I can empathise with how you responded in the kindergarten test, I wonder if the issue is more one of logical thinking? I would have done same as you, and it's interesting that the teacher wouldn't think to ask us why we think that, to get our context for our perspective, because they are not aware of how that unrealistic cat picture may appear to a logical thinking child. The teacher should have failed not you!

 

[Vitamin Sea]

I can empathise with how you responded in the kindergarten test, I wonder if the issue is more one of logical thinking? I would have done same as you, and it's interesting that the teacher wouldn't think to ask us why we think that, to get our context for our perspective, because they are not aware of how that unrealistic cat picture may appear to a logical thinking child. The teacher should have failed not you!

The rest of my school years was fine though,
I didn't have serious problems in academics and my logical reasoning was just fine. But my aspie traits began to show, i was really timid and reserved.

My brother also failed in the same test, and i guess he is an aspie too. The result of the test still bothers me sometimes, after 30 years like I want to barge into my alma mater and seek my vengeance.

 

[Thinx]

It's not a great test. Your answer made sense. Interesting that your brother did the same. They could have had a control example that showed a person instead of a fictionalised cat. For children who don't appreciate whimsy.

 

[Bolletje]

I don’t have trouble with anthropomorphism and following a narrative.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

When I was a kid I watch an infinite amount of time a movie with a mouse version of sherlock holmes ( it seems that it might have been some restricted interest ? I was very very little ) , maybe that help me get used to thoe things?

I mean if you never experienced it before your logical thinking kicks in, maybe it seems out of place for you.