How can we compare inner state ?

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How i feel, how i perceive the world thru my senses.... How one could compare with someone else's ? Example: When i eat an orange, it taste orange. I know that because i ate numerous orange in my life and they all taste the same (almost) so when i feel that taste on my tongue, i recognize the fruit. But what if i could taste it with someone else's tongue ? Would it still taste the same ? The whole bunch of sensation that the orange will trigger on the tongue may be interpreted by me as "strawberry". How can we know ?

Where am i going with that ? When talking about Asperger we often talk about sensory issue. How can i know if i feel the world the same way as other ? How can one determined that he as a sensory issue ? I think a lot of poeple simply don't know that they perceive the world differently than others.

Another example: When i look at a tree, for about 2 or 3 seconds there is a rush of multiple idea poping in my mind (what brand is it ? how many branches it has, how old is it, how many birds lives in it, it was already there when i was 5, it comes from a seed that was transported there probably by the wind, etc...............). After that initial rush, i concluded : it's a tree. This happens to me all the time with everything that enters my consciousness, it's the way i perceive the world. Until i have noticed that, and be able to put it in words, and talk about that with someone else, i didn't know that this was not "normal". How many other things are going on in my mind that has always been like that and that i don't even notice cause it's the way I AM, that are not "normal" ?

Following this and pushing it further, how many Aspie are just ignoring themselves ?

One doesn't know.

I'm serious. What I see as blue might be your green. How would I know.

I think some things stand out because its clearly outside the "norm." For example, my child has to cover his ears when in the school lunch room because he precieves it as too loud and it hurt. He might think everyone precieves it the same but the question came up because he's the only one covering his ears.

BeeBee

We can never be certain if our sense agree... ie "How do I know what you call "red" looks the same to you as it does for me?" But that's just an interesting philisophical fluff piece. Practically speaking, we can be certain that most of our sensory perceptions agree with each other.

But it sounds like you're refering to our consious experience, our "stream of thought". There's no such thing as a "normal" consiousness (in my opinion) ...Yes, you are a unique special snowflake, but then again, so is everyone.

A series of very good questions, and at least one excellent comment.
What you say is true, most people don't know.
Not because most people don't, but because most people don't think that deeply.

The world and the things in the world are neutral, so are the things in the subconcious, and things that are otherworldly. Definitions of value are individual and social constructs. We all make them, but a thoughtful person should be concerned about how they make them, and how they project them on to others. Most of Eastern psychology deals with this in ways that are beginning to fully emerge in the West.

When I was a child this was a major preoccupation of mine, things like floaters in the eye, the panic I felt at loud noise, hatred of crowds, etc. The good side you mention (taste of oranges, etc) has come to the fore as time has passed, but it's nice to know that others feel the same sort of wonder.

Wow!! I used to think the same things. Wondering if what I percieved as blue would be the same through somebody elses eyes. And how I would never know, but it could be quite possible that it looked completley different through others eyes. Also I would try to picture how different the world would look through someone else's eye's (colorwise) Very weird.

And i was very young thinking about this, maybe 7 or 8

I can also remember another time i was probably 3 or 4, (most likely three, because I remember the house) And in my head I must have been figuring out how covering someones eyes meant they couldnt see not everyone else. I remember picturing my living room full of people all watching TV. If I were to stand in front of the T.V. No one would see, but if I were to cover someones eyes, only they wouldn't see.

Its sounds pretty simple now, but for a 3 year old it was so revealing!!

Ive always been told I think too much, so I've been there when it comes to Looking at a tree and seeing and thinking much more that what others do.

It feels great to know that Im not the only one.