non sequiturs while having a conversation

Post Reply New Topic

I've only just started to notice I do this.

Yesterday while having coffee with friends, they were talking about TV shows. Then they were talking about one of the actors in the TV show. I broke in with the sentence "Mandy Patinkin was in Evita." They had just mentioned Mandy Patinkin so I guess it wasn't a true non sequitur, but I wasn't really conversing more than I was just throwing in facts that sort of related to the conversation. And I was really excited to be able to contribute, because musical theatre is my special interest.

The girl I said this to had some expression on her face after I said this but god knows I don't know what it meant. I'm pretty sure she was smiling. I don't think my random sentence was unappreciated, but it probably sounded odd.

It makes me wonder how much of my conversing is just me throwing in facts that are loosely connected to the real conversation, and how long have I been doing it without noticing.

Does anyone else do this?

Do you mean changing the subject abruptly? I do that, when it's not really supposed to be changed.

Yup lol

My brain is good at making unusual connections (something that faired well for me academically as it allowed me to think beyond the obvious) but sometimes the connection I have made is not always obvious to the person I am conversing with so I appear to have gone off topic completely lol. Mind you if they ask for the logical link I have made I can give it to them. I usually just get that stare though...the blank one lol.

SuperTrouper, I do that too, but I guess non sequitur is the wrong term for it. I don't mean change the subject completely, but inserting facts that kind of fit with the subject of the conversation. Like someone is talking about how the day is sunny and the other person would respond with something like "this is the 63rd sunny day of the year." I apparently do this, maybe not about the weather, but about my interests.

Hm. I don't think I do that. You'd have to ask someone who talks to me!

I think I just have a limited attention span and therefore get bored and change the subject... like sixty times a minute

I do it all the time-It seems I can shift a topic to an unrelated area and people do not like it.

Mikeseagle - Yes.

I used to do this a lot and probably still do it but what I do know is criticise most people say. My current pet peeve is people confusing hypo with hyper.

Yes, I do that.
It seems like it's because my mind makes odd connections that other people's minds don't make, so I'll come out with something and to them it seems completely out of the blue, even though it isn't to me. (Basically, what bumble said.)

I do this a lot!! ! I switch it to something I've learned in college and totally confuse my family. Mom is like what does X have to do with what we're talking about. I'd be like well you said X so I thought of Y experience.

Many an aborigine's mistaken for a tree, till you near him on the motorway.

I do this so often, it's unreal.

I also tend to, when spurred by a subject or experience, go into 'encyclopedia mode', where I just rattle off trivia, facts, and history about whatever it is that's happened to trigger it.

The closest example I can think of would be your average TV robot sthat goes off into tangents of Information, only to be interrupted or stared into quietude (IE: ST: TNG's Data, or Doctor Who's K9).

I've lately been trying to control myself and not go "Encyclopedia mode" during conversations and only just realised how often I actually do this. No wonder I get strange looks...

Yep, I do this all the time. It tends to annoy everybody, unfortunately.

I've learned to (sometimes) anticipate this and use segues when doing so like, "speaking of which..." or "that reminds me..."

At least then it sounds like I actually meant to change the subject.

I do that a lot. Someone will say something and it will trigger a chain of associations, but instead of talking about each association, I will only say the last one that comes to mind. This causes other people to think that a lot of what I say doesn't have anything to do with the subject at hand.

Example:

Other person: The Fighter was an excellent film.

What I think: Mark Wahlberg starred in The Fighter. He also starred in the remake of Planet of the Apes. Helena Bonham Carter costarred in that film.

What I say: Helena Bonham Carter was in Planet of the Apes.