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?

AvaddonLFC ☄️ 🤘@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 412 points –

Happens way too often to me.

edit: I had no idea this was such a common issue!

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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.