It's hard to interpret what people mean.

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It is so blasted hard for me to interpret what people say. I know this is common for people with Asperger's/autism, but it's annoying. When I was younger, if someone said something, I took them at face value. I'm someone who says what I think and tries to be clear, so I thought everybody was like that. As I got older I realized that people don't actually say what they mean, and you have to read between the lines a lot of times. I feel like i need one of those decoder rings to help me interpret what the heck people are saying, especially when they're trying to give you a hint. Come on people, just say it for the love of Pete.

Since I have discovered the hard way that people do this, which has resulted in a lot of people who I thought were friends leaving me or betraying me, I now have a lot of anxiety because when someone says something, I'm always afraid there is something between the lines. I probably cause myself a lot of heartache because I become like those guys in the 80s who played rock music backwards looking for hidden meanings. I have no idea how to tell whether what they are saying is straightforward and should be taken literally or whether there is a hidden message, and a lot of times I expect the worst.

I had an example the other day. This is kind of a long story, and I don't know how to explain it without going into some detail about my special interests, so I apologize if this turns into a novel. Two very strong interests I have are teddy bears/plushies and words, particularly the sounds of them. If the sound of a word is beautiful to me, I freak out and get really excited...and then you can bet that the next teddy bear I get will be named that word, a lot of which don't sound like names for teddy bears at all, such as Gaeltachta. (I kid you not, I have a bear named Gaeltachta.)

The last time I visited my friend, she and her husband, who has the most gorgious voice in the history of ever, were telling me about seeing the sequoias. I got very excited over that word sequoia. Every time he said it, my eyes glazed over and I just sat there with a dopey look on my face. It was that many levels of awesomeness. A few days later we went to a thrift store looking for bears, and I, of course, called one of them Sequoia. They thought it was really silly, especially the hubbie, who is the sweetest guy in the world, but is absolutely NT and also doesn't get into bears at all and only has them around to support his wife.

A few weeks ago, a friend told me that a plush company made a bear that came with the name Sequoia. I freaked out again, and it has sent me into an obsession with trying to find all plushies that are called Sequoia. My friend who loves bears told her hubbie after I told her, which he laughed about. Then one day, I was talking to her about my Sequoia quest, and all the Sequoias I had, and her hubbie, who apparently could hear every blasted word I was saying through the phone, said, "You need to go see the real sequoias."

I really wasn't sure how to take it, and it has gotten stuck in my obsessive mind that has a nasty habit of playing things over and over, like a stuck CD player. I have no clue how to take it. Im not sure if he means, "You need to go see the real sequoias because omgsh, they're awesome", or, "You need to see the real sequoias and quit insulting my beloved trees by calling your stupid little toys Sequoia." When I was younger, I would have just assumed the former, and gone on my merry way, but so many times of being hurt by people speaking in code has me fearing that it is the latter. I asked her, and she said that he meant what he said, and that he isn't the kind of person to speak in riddles, but I'm still paranoid about it *head explodes*.

I understand what you're experiencing here but I can't offer a solution because I have similar problems. I get so frustrated sometimes by how indirectly some people like to communicate. Most people communicate like this not because they want to confuse you. They have learned to avoid direct communication because such communication can lead to conflict. It's understandable that someone with difficulty interpreting body language would interpret this indirectness in a paranoid or negative way. It is a problem even with direct communication because you don't know if there might be a subtext so directness itself becomes suspicious.

I know it is, and you also have to be careful to not border paranoia. No one tells you what their real intention is, what they actually mean, and want, without twistings nor other meanings, nor things like that. No one says things as they are....
So, it is not surprising that there is anxiety about this as well...

It is the first time I ever read about someone liking teddy bears so much. This is new to me. Why do you like teddy bears so much?

I do the same thing, searching for hidden meaning in what people say. A lot of times I don't understand, and default to thinking that it must mean something negative about me. Sometimes, my mind can whir so fast it can trigger a meltdown, and sometimes I think I will lose my mind if I keep thinking about it. I do have to stop if it gets to that point!

It's really hard to explain why I like teddy bears so much. I love the way they feel. Plus they help a lot with my anxiety. Teddy bears are just awesome. There are actually a lot of adults who like teddy bears, both NT and otherwise.

To the second poster on this thread, sorry I don't know how to quote, I hope you don't think this is weird, but I see that you are from Ireland. Irish music has become a special interest of mine for the past almost two years since I saw Celtic Thunder on TV. I'd give my eyeballs to visit Ireland *hides under the piano*.

Yes, I know that. What I meant is, that I have never read someone liking them as much as yourself, because you wrote that it is one of your special interests. So, I was just curious if there was any reason for you to like them that much.

I have always loved bears, but they became a special interest after my sister passed away in 2010. I didn't like for people to see me upset, so I would cry on my bears. I felt that the only way I could express that grief was with my teddies. They've been a part of me ever since.

That is good. Another good thing is that, was the first time I had the chance to ask someone about their special interest. Do you like the word ataraxia?

I do, not as much as some other words, and I don't think I'd name a bear that. The x sound isn't doing it for me. What does it mean? Is it part of your special interest? BTW, if you get me talking teddies I get very excited and could write a novel on it. I love the bears, lol.

It means lack of disturbances, tranquility. It is also found in different branches of philosophy:

-Epicureanism: It was synonymous with the only true happiness possible for a person. It signifies the state of robust tranquility that derives from eschewing faith in an afterlife, not fearing the gods because they are distant and unconcerned with us, avoiding politics and vexatious people, surrounding oneself with trustworthy and affectionate friends and, most importantly, being an affectionate, virtuous person, worthy of trust.

-Pyrrhonism: Given that neither the sense impressions nor the intellect, nor both combined, is a sufficient means of knowing and conveying truth, one suspends judgement on dogmatic beliefs or anything non-evident. It is from this suspension of belief ataraxia arises as one realizes one thing is 'no more' than that. No more up than down, no more wet than dry, no more hot than cold, no more night than day, "the number of stars one can see in the night sky is no more even than odd", no more left than right, no more black than white as when Anaxagoras countered the notion that snow is white with the argument "Snow is frozen water, and water is black; therefore snow is also black", etc. Most important of all, in enunciation of 'no more' or 'I determine nothing', in uttering these expressions, one is merely stating how things appear to them, at the time and in an undogmatic way, without making any assertion of truth regarding external reality.

-Stoicism: It also sought mental tranquility and saw ataraxia as something to be highly desired, often making use of the term. For them, the analogous state, attained by the Stoic sage, was the absence of passion or apatheia. The way to reach ataraxia, is through freedom and tranquility. Only being indifferent to material goods, and dedicating yourself to a life guided by the principes of reason and virtue. Assuming a materalistic conception of nature, following Heraclius´belief, that the first substance is found in the fire, and in the veneration of the logos, which both of them identify with the energy, the law, the reason, and the providence found in nature.

For this, it consists mainly in finding a proportion of your own desires to rationality of the nature, learning to differentiate from the things which depend on the own individual, from the ones independent to this one. For this, it is also necessary, before finding ataraxia, to eliminate the fear of gods and death itself, as well as not complaining of the inclemencies of destiny.

-Skepticism: In this case, it is part of the philosophy which is based in the doubt, not believing in an objective truth, because everything is subjective, it depends on the object oneself studies, and not of the studied object.

It promulgates the suspension of judgement (a priori, universal and necessary), because of not believing in anything at all, you do not enter in conflicts with anybody, to reach the ataraxia as the serenity and the imperturbability of the animus.

I think that it would be a very good state of mind, to reach the ataraxia. Do you like the word logos better? Or sophos ?

Do you buy small sized teddy bears, medium sized, or large szied teddy bears? Which colors do you prefer for them? Do you like them with some sort of decoration attached to them?

Hi Sherry:

I would interpret what you stated as: You really like philosophy!

What gets me in trouble is following orders as they are stated, instead of the way that the person giving the orders intended.

For instance, an order to "Shut off all of the lights" from the Chief Petty Officer means to shut off all of the lights, right?

Not if the person giving the order left off saying "... in the back room only". Getting yelled at for shutting off all of the lights - in the back room, the operations area, and the warehouse - was not at all fun. The only thing that saved me from a full reprimand was having several witnesses back me up when I said, "But you told me to shut off ALL of the lights!"

Then getting yelled at for questioning every subsequent order was no fun either.

Sherry, I absolutely love the word logos. That is gorgious.

As for teddy bears, I don't care about color as I'm blind. I prefer them from about 14" to 30", although I have some smaller, even a few, such as my Sequoia Beanie Baby, that are about 6". I prefer them to have really soft fur, particularly the fur used in the late 80s into the early 2000s. I'm also into Snowflake Teddies, which are Christmas bears with clothes attached to them. They did not make any part of the bears furry except their head and paws. The rest is the clothes. I didn't like those until I got my beloved Kalira, who is a 1996 Snowflake Teddy. Also, my first Sequoia, who is a bunny, not a bear, is in the same style, but she is for Easter I think. I also have several wolves, huskies, horses, unicorns, bunnies, and any other plushie that speaks to me, metaphorically. Right now I'm on a quest to find all the bears called Sequoia. I want a whole forest of Sequoias.

I do not know if you know what logos means, but it is good that you find it of your liking. I thought there was not too much of a difference in the fur, in general. Have you considered of collecting Pokemon teddies as well? It is good that you enjoy them. I wish you luck in your quest of Sequoias, and that you keep having that much fun.

IIRC logos is Greek for word. Is that right? Och I want a bear named Logos now, lol.

I've never seen a Pokemon plushie. I'd have to see one before I could know for sure whether I like them. Now if you tell me there's either a wolf or one called Sequoia...now there would be a different story.

There is a lot of difference between the fur used today and that used in the 80s and 90s. Plushies' fur used to have thick backing, and they would be stitched really well so as not to fall apart when a kid played with them. Plushies made today are made as cheaply as possible for the most part. The backing on their fur is very thin, and sometimes they feel like they will fall apart the first time anyone plays with them. You can find well-made plushies today, but they're very expensive and can only be gotten online or from specialty shops. The average plushie you find in the store is going to be really cheaply made, even though he may cost a lot.

Logos is used in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric, and religion. Yes, it means word which has been meditated, used with reflexion, or with reason, in other words: reasoning, argumentation, or speech. It can also be understood as intelligence, thought or sense.
It is one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric (besides ethos and pathos), based on the philosophy of Aristotle. It became a techinical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BC), who used the term for a principle of order and knowledge. Heraclitus used this word in his theory of being.
Ancient philosophers used the term in different ways. The sophists used the term to mean discourse, and Aristotle applied the term to refer to "reasoned discourse" or "the argument" in the field of rhetoric. The Stoic philosophers identified the term with the divine animating principle pervading the Universe.

Under Hellenistic Judaism, Philo (c. 20 BC – AD 50) adopted the term into Jewish philosophy. The Gospel of John identifies the Logos, through which all things are made, as divine (theos), and further identifies Jesus as the incarnate Logos.

Although the term "Logos" is widely used in this Christian sense, in academic circles it often refers to the various ancient Greek uses, or to post-Christian uses within contemporary philosophy, Sufism, and the analytical psychology of Carl Jung.

Despite the conventional translation as "word", it is not used for a word in the grammatical sense; instead, the term lexis (λέξις) was used. However, both logos and lexis derive from the same verb legō (λέγω), meaning "to count, tell, say, speak"

Professor Jeanne Fahnestock describes logos as a "premise." She states that to find the reason behind a rhetor's backing of a certain position or stance you must acknowledge the different "premises" the rhetor applies via his/her chosen diction. She continues by stating that the rhetor's success will come down to "certain objects of agreement...between arguer and audience." "Logos is logical appeal, and the term logic is derived from it. It is normally used to describe facts and figures that support the speaker's topic." Furthermore, logos is credited with appealing to the audience's sense of logic. With the definition of “logic” being the following: as being concerned with the thing as-it-is-known. Furthermore, you can appeal to this sense of logic via two ways. One, through inductive logic and provide the audience with relevant examples and use them to point back to the overall statement. Or two, through deductive enthymeme and provide the audience with general scenarios and then pull out a certain truth.

Philo distinguished between logos prophorikos ("the uttered word") and the logos endiathetos ("the word remaining within"). The Stoics also spoke of the logos spermatikos (the generative principle of the Universe), which is not important in the Biblical tradition, but is relevant in Neoplatonism. Early translators from Greek, like Jerome in the 4th century, were frustrated by the inadequacy of any single Latin word to convey the Logos expressed in the Gospel of John. The Vulgate Bible usage of in principio erat verbum was thus constrained to use the perhaps inadequate noun verbum for word, but later romance language translations had the advantage of nouns such as le mot in French. Reformation translators took another approach. Martin Luther rejected Zeitwort (verb) in favor of Wort (word), for instance, although later commentators repeatedly turned to a more dynamic use involving the living word as felt by Jerome and Augustine.

In logotherapy, the third Viennese school (after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology), developed by Frankl, the search of logos (in this case sense of existence). It is the centre of existencial work and therapeutic to find the sense and meaning which guide the praxis of the human being.

There are Pokemon plushies, and many others as merchandise. I do not think that they are uncommon. I have learned something new from this exchange; I did not know that there was a significant difference in how they are made. They probably do that, so you buy more. Otherwise it would take to someone to take longer in buying them. Well, it can always be repaired, anyway. I have never seen one broken. This turned into a decent exchange of information. I know many many other words too...