I was just reading a pdf of the autobiography of Nikola Tesla.
In it, he mentions a need to do repeated actions a number of times divisible by three.
What is this about? What on earth is this compulsion?
A form of OCD no doubt, but… weird.
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Weird
weird
weird
It’s a pretty common form of OCD, in fact.
And it was implied that Electra suffers (or perhaps benefits) from it in the movie.
I had not heard of it until Damon and Kendra or Mary.
Though I had an OCD roommate in college (who was a friend of Kendra’s in high school… hmmm), and I’ve read of David Sedaris’ obsessions, but I hadn’t heard of the divisible by x thing.
My roommate had a compulsion to poke meat in the grocery store (though he wouldn’t eat it), a need to have class notes that were devoid of any errors (no cross-outs, no spelling errors) and a profound fear of bugs, among other things.
:::::::::coff:::::::::
Oh? And what’s your number?
Um, all of them. I’m a counter.
Sometimes I realize I’m counting my steps and I actively stop it at say, 189. I’ll walk on a little bit and pick up at 314, right where I would have been had I continued counting. It’s like a tape running in the back of my head.
When playing in a match, during warmups, I always like to get three good serves from each side, not two, not four, not eighteen. I have, however, stopped counting how many time I bounce the ball before serving it. If I don’t get my three good serves in, I feel all out-of-whack.
I also, on long car trips, have a tendency to calculate how many minutes it will take me to get there.
And I know I’ve finished grocery shopping because I know how many items were on the list and how many are in the cart.
On the other hand, it can be handy to know someone who can add up items in her head and put the sales tax on before even getting to the cash register.
I cannot believe I just told you (and everyone reading) this. You’re going to unfriend me, aren’t you?
I cannot believe I just told you (and everyone reading) this. You’re going to unfriend me, aren’t you?
Well, of course not. I voluntarily lived with my college roommate for 3 years, no problem. (see above comment)
Quick! How many words in your comment?!
Interestingly, I don’t count words. Never have, even when assigned to write a certain amount. I write until it’s enough and then I quit. This either succeeds or fails brilliantly, but at least I know where I stand when it’s over.
Sometimes I realize I’m counting my steps and I actively stop it at say, 189.
I do this too.
Somehow this makes me feel both better and worse. More better than worse, though.