Is it normal to start reading a book but then suddenly realize that you have no idea what's going on in the plot because you have been reading the words but ignoring their meaning?
Happens way too often to me.
edit: I had no idea this was such a common issue!
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Oh that's a really great method! I used to know a guy with ASD who did kind-of the inverse, he was super familiar with reading (specifically the bible), but he had a hard time with conversations. So he learned how to use the bible as a medium to conduct conversation.
Really, really cool discussions were born from that, and by the time I met him, he was almost independently conducting conversation, only going back to certain bible references when he got stuck or he needed to borrow a story or metaphor.
The brain is at its coolest when it's just a bit different.
Your bible memorising friend makes me think of the Star Trek episode "Darmok"
Indeed, indeed! Diversity is one of the strongest traits of human life (and life in-general).
I don't recall that episode, I'll have to go watch it!
It's a TNG episode, the commonly memed "Darmok and Jilad, at Tenagra" quote comes from that one. the crew try to talk to aliens that speak almost entirely in historical metaphors so their universal translator gets the words right but cant translate the meaning.
Honestly a great episode on communication and understanding and I actually see it referenced a lot in neurodivergent communities, people (nerds) have written dissertations on that one.
Thanks for the recommendation, I just finished watching it--and yeah that speaks volumes (quite literally, haha!). I love how they started off the episode with a very fluent mixture of non-English and a few English phrases.
I should really go back and revisit TNG! I remember watching it as a kid, but now that I have a few decades under my belt, I've gone back and watched a few episodes: and it really is packed with amazing philosophy and social commentary.