Difficulty with simple explanations.

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I tend to have a difficult time accepting simplified explanations because I need to be able to follow the logic of something or I feel I don't have enough insight as to what is going on.

For example if a doctor gives me a simplified explanation of something that doesn't tell me the whole story, like "Her vision problems are from the high blood pressure," I have a hard time accepting that. I need them to explain to me how hypertension causes vision problems. If they give me answers that are too simplified it just confuses me and I really have to prompt doctors to explain things to me in depth as if they would if they were talking to a medical student.

I prefer car mechanics do the same thing.

Does anyone else have this problem.

Yes! The average professional thinks that everyone else is an idiot, bike mechanics, computer techs and so on treat me like a complete moron. I actually told a guy at best buy that "yes i do know what an ethernet cable is"

It does seem like most people are ok with vague explanations. I can never remember something if I don't actually understand it (and it bugs me, too) -- I need the details. Or, more accurately, the mechanism. I can't do fuzzy, up-in-the-air, vague thinking.

yes.

no "because i said so" sort of thing will suffice for me. it makes me crazy not to have something explained.

Yes, all the time.

I know what you mean. Its the same thing with getting instructions. I need to know what to do in specific situations.


On the reverse side though, if I ever explain somethingor tell someone how to do something they always tell me to skip the specifics, or the explanations on how something happened, or why I had a specific thought. I guess I always start outexplaining something the way I would like someone to explain things to me.

I always need to know why certain things happen. Without it, I have a hard time remembering such loosey goosey details. It probably has to do with the extra neural connections my brain requires for it to be stored/cataloged in my brain. Without the nitty gritty details, my brain does not know how to store the information and it just gets discarded.

I have a hard time with school for this reason because I am almost always researching topics in text book that have been glossed over briefly and I run out of time to study what I am supposed to.

I also prefer a very detailed explanation. This can be very difficult to get from doctors because they are under intense time pressure and when you ask for more details they are frequently thinking about the person in the waiting room whose appointment is already supposed to be starting and they really don't want to get into it. But if you catch one who isn't stressed at that moment by an overbooked schedule, they will tell you in detail. It does happen. I always ask. 99% of the time I only get one additional sentence but now and then they don't have another appointment starting 5 minutes ago and they can tell you.

Other professionals who are under less intense time pressure can often be more forthcoming with the explanations. Car mechanics, plumbers, carpenters etc. always put things in the simplest possible terms to me at first. When I show the slightest iota of wanting a deeper explanation, some of them practically give a short course on their profession. It is their special interest, after all. Twenty years ago it may have been "young girl wants to hear me talk...babble on". But now I'm 43 so it isn't that. They honestly want to explain it.

It's hard to get the details out of doctors, but let other professionals know you want more details and you will unleash a barrage of explanation.

Oh, for sure! My favorite question as a kid was "Why?"

I often get stuck if the reason offered doesn't logically explain why.......my brain just keeps saying "but that's inadequate/irrational" and it refuses to process it any further. Somebody could say one thing like that to me followed by 9 crystal-clear things, and I'd only notice the first thing.

I've got better over time. Sometimes with friends I can kind of scan what they say and tell myself not to worry too much about not getting this or that little bit exactly straight. It's much more of a problem at work or during lectures where I really feel the need to understand everything properly. Social encounters are more fuzzy than that, and it's not necessary to hang onto every word. With friends I can either pretend I understood (it's amazing how often the matter doesn't come back to bite me!), or I can ask them to elaborate on what they said if I really want to know.

Not only do I need to GET the full explanation, and I will not accept an answer such as "it just is that way". If you can't explain WHY it just happens that way, I'll have to go look into it myself.

I need to give overly-detailed explanations as well. My wife complains that I over-explain things... She asks if I think the color is off on the TV, and in stead of just saying "maybe; do you want me to adjust it?", I'll say "Well, that's a commercial on there right now, and they sometimes don't set the white balance the same on the commercials as the TV show, and also the lamp is on in the diningroom, which is reflecting the tan carpet onto the TV. Also, Sony used a different kind of phosphor screen on the Trinitron tube, which makes the reds look more orange-ish than other makes of TVs"... Or she'll ask if I want a piece of cake, and in stead of "no thanks", I'll answer "Well, I did have pizza on Thursday, and I did a good workout on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. But then I also had too much honey on my oat meal this morning, and I think I have a filling that's getting worn, and sugar might sting".

Charles

Seconded.

Thrice(d)

ugh i once had an optician who over simplified everything for me, even though i already knew the things he was saying. then he was asking about what i studied and when i told him he said 'oh wow, you dont usually get many intelligent people around here' in a shocked excited voice. bloody cheek. he then went on to explain things more in depth and we talked about some medical articles he'd read on certain issues. turned out to be interesting but still- not happy with that chappy.

on the other hand i can see why doctors etc do it- they need to make sure the patient understands and trying to work out each individual patient's intellect and level of understanding could cause all sorts of problems and errors

I never stopped asking...and I'm glad I didn't!

As a kid I was always under the impression "well I guess they know something I don't."

As an adult I realize "no...they pretty much knew everything I did; they just thought they knew more. Yeah...they didn't..."

Oh my, where to start... "what" means nothing to me without the why and how. and like someone else said if someone is explaing something and a point fails a logic check or otherwise isnt clear the rest of the explanation and conclusion just doesn't matter because my mind is stuck on that one thing and if the conclusion is based on that point, then its not valid or even important until that point is understood. i think some of the cause is that we see the world different and thus need different types of evidence and have different assumptions that are not consistant with NTs. But more of it comes from not being willing to "remember" an idea until it makes sense. I know that cognitive dissonance has a worse effect on me than on most NTs I know. so I have to protect myself from an idea that is in conflict with other things that I hold as true, I do this by verifying neew ideas before taking them in. once i know why something holds true, its easy to remember it. I just "work it out" from the understanding. There is also the issue that Aspies build the picture from the details, whereas NTs observe and determine the details from the picture/whole. this issue has caused a great deal of the probblems in my life.(sorry about format, on cellphone and cant edit and have no enter key)