Am I mental or does anyone else do this...

[clevername]

I seem to randomly assign personalities to things that shouldn't have them. Like TV channels. BBC channels are old and sensible, channel 4 is like a young, cool hipster. Itv is a bit of a chav. Channel 5 is a distant cousin that I don't see very often.

Looking at it written down, I suppose those 'personalities' make sense, given the output of the channels, but it seems to run deeper than that. I guess I'll have to think of other examples to see if I can explain myself better.

It's not a conscious thing - I don't think 'ooh, I'm going to make this thing have this personality' it just happens by itself and I'm often not even aware of it much. It's like an inate part of my understanding of the thing.

I also have a strange sense of heirachies in things. Fifth gear is the best gear (and this has nothing to do with the fact you go fastest in it. It's just the best one. Superior to the others). Also big toe. And index finger. They're the best digits.

I am mental aren't I?

Batshit crazy....

Thought so

Not mental at all.
Have a look at anthropomorphism.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism

Extraxct from wiki below. Do a few engine searches and see what you think.

"Foundational research
In psychology, the first empirical study of anthropomorphism was conducted in 1944 by Fritz Heider and Marianne Simmel.[65] In the first part of this experiment, the researchers showed a 2-and-a-half minute long animation of several shapes moving around on the screen in varying directions at various speeds. When subjects were asked to describe what they saw, they gave detailed accounts of the intentions and personalities of the shapes. For instance, the large triangle was characterized as a bully, chasing the other two shapes until they could trick the large triangle and escape. The researchers concluded that when people see objects making motions for which there is no obvious cause, they view these objects as intentional agents. "

Mental

Certifiably insane!

I get this totally. I kind of thought everyone did this to some degree

Yes LEM

That was my reaction too.

In a similar vein (because I'm a huge Potterhead) I sort people into Hogwarts houses, although some people end up as Squibs or Muggles because I don't like them.

I was thinking this earlier. There are defaults in things but I don't know if this is just me. Default boys name:John
Default fruit: apple
Defaukr berry: strawberry
Default chocolate biscuit: kit kat

Etc

Surely it's down to good marketing?

I. E. BBC = reliable?

I used to see faces in everyday objects.
Then my psychiatrist increased my dose of anti psychotics & happily I'm normal again.

Just saying...

Totally get this. I wonder if it’s just a natural extension of personal favourites/preferences towards things? Like how you’d always get your favourite mug out of the cupboard, and then it seems to acquire a sort of friendlier personality, whereas the other mugs are just part of the general mug crowd.

I also have synaesthesia, where my senses are a wired a bit oddly. For me, it means I see (in my mind’s eye) letters, numbers, months, days of the week etc in specific colours. Some people with the condition ‘taste’ shapes or ‘hear’ texture for example. Perhaps there’s a link?

I do this too (and also have synaesthesia). When I was younger I had to learn a piano piece for music class. As I played the keys became characters and a story developed in my head based on the order I played them. It was completely unconscious, I didn't deliberately make up any of it, but it did help me remember the song :). I've done it with other things too like maths equations. I guess the human brain likes to find patterns and associations between things.

Yay! I've woken up to find out in not completely mental (apart from those of you who say I am, who I'm now choosing to ignore...)

The synesthesia thing is interesting. I've always wondered if I had that as I see days of the week, months and years in a very definite shape in my head. I've tried to explain it (even draw it!) for people but it doesn't make sense out of my own brain .

I get what you mean about marketing, halfwit, but it's somehow more than and different from that.

And YES to the default thing, stealth. That's totally in the same stable as what I'm talking about.

I'm definitely taking this as a win. Although I'm surprised more people haven't agreed with me about fifth gear and big toe being best . I mean, they really are infinitely superior. It can't just be me. Can it?

Seeing days of the week, months of the year, numbers etc in definite patterns is a classic example of synaesthesia. Sounds to me like you have it.

For those who have this it’s totally normal (and what you expect everyone else to do!)

But trying to explain to people who don’t is so hard; the concept is completely unimaginable

And a default way to spell 'default' which I managed to miss each time :)

It’s not mental at all. Marketing actively tries to associate personality traits with brands to help us identify positively with them.

I work in online retail and day and day out we told about and asked to bear in mind at all times our brand’s personality.

Lost that's really interesting can you tell us more?

Huge brands like C4, BBC, Coca Cola, etc. have huge branding teams doing ongoing work or exercises on a periodical basis to make sure every communication is on brand. Some are more formal (to inspire trust) while others are more friendly to seem open and drive new business. Personality is all pervasive: choice of language, web layout, store layout, colour choice, sponsorships, how you’re greeted at the checkout (online and bricks and mortar).

My organisation recently had a switch from more friendly to more formal because to seem more authoritative and exclusive. The message is not come and buy our lovely clothes, it’s youre lucky to be able to buy our lovely clothes.

I don't think it's batshit, just a way of looking at things. I know if you are trying to do those kind of memory tricks, you try to teach those kind of associations to remember lots of information. Interesting about synaesthesia, when I was younger, I definitely remembered numbers in particular colours and people's names had a particular picture associated with them. I'm not sure it happens as much now, but months of the year, I see in a very specific way, kind of in a circle. Maybe, I'm mental too .

I have this. I’m autistic and feel the need to categorise everything, probably because adding structure makes me make sense of it!

I was going to say synaesthesia too. I have it and certain numbers have personalities for me.

4th gear is better than 5th because its for fun A-roads, whereas 5th is only for motorways which are really boring. Big toe, yes, but middle finger (I severed the nerve in my first finger when I was 20 so do lots of things with my middle finger instead, even though the forefinger has recovered after some years).

I do have strong associations of numbers and letters with colours etc but it's not synaesthesia because the associations are real-world things, like toys I had as a child. When ds was small we found I could remember all the pictures and their locations in a Matching Pairs game from 30 years earlier, where my number/colour associations mainly come from. Shame I can't remember more useful recent stuff!