Tactile Person?

So this weekend, I ended up near the railroad tracks in the city. I found a nice looking railroad spike on the grass, picked it up, and carried it with me back to my room. It now joins the multiple legos, kinex, Transformers, and other odd assorted bits and pieces I keep to fondle. Hell I played with a combination lock for a few weeks.

I seem to collect these little doodads and they physically occupy me. The railroad spike is the latest but won't be the last contraption or paperweight that works its way into my drawers. I just seem to be attracted to touching things all the time; my hands are usually occupied with something. Hell, my friend confiscated his knife the other night because I was playing with it. I think the pedestals with rock samples for touching in the Smithsonian are the best things thats happened to those museums.

I'm not gonna ask if thats normal or not; I really don't care. Has anyone else experienced this sort of tactile addiction though before?

I used to be. When I was younger I associated physical objects with memories a lot more than I do now.

Now I prefer having as few things as possible. I would rather take a picture of a funny piece of paper/sign/railroad spike than actually have it. Maybe it's a function of living on my own in a small place, not sure.

Yes, masturbating is normal Coin..:up:

Railroad spike..hehe, that's a new one.

I'm the same. If I see something interesting on the ground, I'll take it with me. For example, I found an alternator a short while ago near a small creek in my suburb. I like taking apart stuff like that.

Sort of the plot of Everything is Illuminated.

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Originally Posted by coinich

I'm not gonna ask if thats normal or not; I really don't care. Has anyone else experienced this sort of tactile addiction though before?

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Not quite, but I can feel shapes/surfaces/textures in my hands (just not temperature), in the same way people can visualize things in their head, so long as my hand is open, my palm/fingers aren't contacting anything, and I don't directly focus on whats not in my hand (I have to instead picture the object in my head as if its resting in my hand). I also can't do it as easily as I can visualize things, and its next to damn impossible if I'm sick, have a headache, etc. I'm uncertain if everyone can do this, or if anyone else can, as I've never read, heard, or spoken with anyone who mentions ever doing this.

Y'all have brain cancer

Buncha fuckin' freaks :mad:

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Originally Posted by Illusions

Not quite, but I can feel shapes/surfaces/textures in my hands (just not temperature), in the same way people can visualize things in their head, so long as my hand is open, my palm/fingers aren't contacting anything, and I don't directly focus on whats not in my hand (I have to instead picture the object in my head as if its resting in my hand). I also can't do it as easily as I can visualize things, and its next to damn impossible if I'm sick, have a headache, etc. I'm uncertain if everyone can do this, or if anyone else can, as I've never read, heard, or spoken with anyone who mentions ever doing this.

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I can sorta do that, but only with temperature, weight, and shape. Not texture though, at least not when I'm awake. It's weird that you can't do temperature, since that's the easiest for me.

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Originally Posted by Wraith

I can sorta do that, but only with temperature, weight, and shape. Not texture though, at least not when I'm awake. It's weird that you can't do temperature, since that's the easiest for me.

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I can only do it when my hand isn't receiving any sensation (hence why my hand has to be open, or at least open enough that my fingers aren't touching), so temperature isn't too surprising, since its always sensing the temperature, and I can't visualize "hot" or "cold" nor would visualizing something like a red hot piece of iron equate to temperature visually since a glowing red LED is cool while the iron would be flesh meltingly hot. Thats the main thing, its directly linked to what I can picture being in/touched by my hand, and sensations that I can draw from memory.

I can also stop feeling my arms, but thats not voluntary. By feeling, I mean that I no longer have a sensation that I have an arm/arms, across the sensation spectrum, from temperature, to pressure, position in space, position relative to my body, etc., although I am logically/mentally aware that I still possess them. The best way to describe it would be the opposite of Phantom Limb Syndrome. Happens occasionally when relaxing for extended periods of time. If I move the non-sensing limb, something happens to it (like it gets poked), or I consciously fixate on a sensation it should have, I immediately get sensation back.

Bowerbirds...

I don't go for doodads and clutter. Stuff just laying around without reason bugs the fuck out of me.

I do however talk with my hands, and thats extremely annoying; and when I'm somewhere that has me touching items, I will usually catch myself spinning or twirling them in my right hand if I'm not concentrating. Over the years I've gotten pretty good and handle the books like that while shelving (picture a crazy pizza guy preparing dough). I used to be damn good at shit like devil sticks too. Lately though I do catch myself touching random surfaces more often. I still have that problem with my fingers in my right hand feeling numb at times, and one of the treatments I was going through was to rub them across different textures, and that seems to have stuck in my head ever since. I've caught myself quite a few times reaching around for rough textures without realizing it.

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Originally Posted by coinich

Has anyone else experienced this sort of tactile addiction though before?

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Does it count if the touching is of women's fun parts? :D

But on a serious note, I do that too. And not just with fun bits on fun females. Got all kinds of crap like that around too - mostly pieces of computers and the like, but I'll bend paperclips and twisty ties and, well most anything into "interesting" shapes and run my fingers over them while I work and think and whatnot. Oh, and hard drive magnets. Love those things, because they're great for building weird shapes with. Still like touching the female bits the most, but they've asked me to stop randomly doing that around the office, so I have to rely on magnets and bendable metal things and the like. :(

I don't usually pick up random shit for tactile purposes, because I'm OCD and slightly germophobic. But I do have a collection of smooth river rocks that are fun to fondle. Also some keys and coins. But after fondling them, I have to wash my hands because they smell like....metal. :)

My tactile addiction is mostly hedonistic---I fiddle with my hair, or anything around my face. Lips, teeth, earlobes, nostrils, eyebrows, eyelashes.

As a toddler I used to suck one thumb and hold the opposing earlobe, just until it was "warmed up", and then I'd switch sides (thumb and ear). If it was hot weather or a hot room, or both of my earlobes were already warm, I couldn't suck my thumb properly. :( Half of the pleasure was warming up the earlobe, and feeling it get warm in my fingers, with a cold thumb being warmed in my mouth. Sounds weird to describe it now. :noob:

When I was a little older, this turned into obsessively twisting my long hair into tiny knots and pulling it out with my fingers. I liked that I could feel hair moving through my fingers as well as tingling on my scalp. (Yes, growing pubic hair was also a fun experience. :D ) I still do this today (in my old-as-dirt years) by fiddling and twirling my bangs, or the hair around my ears, over-under the glasses. Twisting and twirling hair.

And petting soft, furry cats. :)

I am very tactile too, and love touching things.

I've never thought about "visualizing" shapesvand textures like illusions and wraiths. That's kind interesting.

Two products that I loved touching and always had/have around were a Moto Razr phone and the iPhone.
It is everything about them, the texture, weight, shape. I loved he iPhone 3 Better than the 4 because I had to put a cover on it. Choosing a cover was difficult because it had to feel good. I love touching glass!

Working with clay was great for touch. Blowing glass was difficult for me because I couldn't actualy touch it while working it. I had the learn to enjoy touching the tools, and feeling how they worked.

I'll admit to like playing with my beard :)

Interesting thread.

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Originally Posted by Bitter Jeweler

Working with clay was great for touch. Blowing glass was difficult for me because I couldn't actualy touch it while working it. I had the learn to enjoy touching the tools, and feeling how they worked.

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That's interesting, almost like learning a robotic skill that's more visual than tactile.

I've wondered how surgeons (or dentists, for that matter) have adjusted to these things, using scopes and screens instead of "feeling" their work. It's so commonplace now---things like shooting staples instead of suturing stitches, or using tiny robotic fingers they can see with magnifying glasses, but can't actually feel.

Surprised at all the replies...

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Originally Posted by Crowheart

Yes, masturbating is normal Coin..:up:

Railroad spike..hehe, that's a new one.

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Its a bit rusty, so I should oil it up a bit more often, I think. :p

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

Sort of the plot of Everything is Illuminated.

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Never read it. Synopsis?

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Originally Posted by Illusions

Not quite, but I can feel shapes/surfaces/textures in my hands (just not temperature), in the same way people can visualize things in their head, so long as my hand is open, my palm/fingers aren't contacting anything, and I don't directly focus on whats not in my hand (I have to instead picture the object in my head as if its resting in my hand). I also can't do it as easily as I can visualize things, and its next to damn impossible if I'm sick, have a headache, etc. I'm uncertain if everyone can do this, or if anyone else can, as I've never read, heard, or spoken with anyone who mentions ever doing this.

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I can visualize things pretty easily; I could "see" calculus problems graphically in my head, though I managed to fail the class twice. That being said, the only tactile "memory" I really have is if part of my arm falls asleep and my body loses track of where it is. I can visualize objects and remember how they feel, but the feeling comes from my brain, not my fingers. Pretty interesting though.

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Originally Posted by Nessus

Y'all have brain cancer

Buncha fuckin' freaks :mad:

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We can't all be wrong!

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Originally Posted by CitizenCain

Does it count if the touching is of women's fun parts? :D

But on a serious note, I do that too. And not just with fun bits on fun females. Got all kinds of crap like that around too - mostly pieces of computers and the like, but I'll bend paperclips and twisty ties and, well most anything into "interesting" shapes and run my fingers over them while I work and think and whatnot. Oh, and hard drive magnets. Love those things, because they're great for building weird shapes with. Still like touching the female bits the most, but they've asked me to stop randomly doing that around the office, so I have to rely on magnets and bendable metal things and the like. :(

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That actually sounds closer to what I'm describing; I've always bent paperclips and staples whenever I found them. Hell, I cut out tin can lids and played with them in elementary school because I liked the sharp edges. Plus I always end up playing with my friend's HDD magnets. No, thats not another euphemism.

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Originally Posted by Bitter Jeweler

I am very tactile too, and love touching things.

I've never thought about "visualizing" shapesvand textures like illusions and wraiths. That's kind interesting.

Two products that I loved touching and always had/have around were a Moto Razr phone and the iPhone.
It is everything about them, the texture, weight, shape. I loved he iPhone 3 Better than the 4 because I had to put a cover on it. Choosing a cover was difficult because it had to feel good. I love touching glass!

Working with clay was great for touch. Blowing glass was difficult for me because I couldn't actualy touch it while working it. I had the learn to enjoy touching the tools, and feeling how they worked.

I'll admit to like playing with my beard :)

Interesting thread.

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Its kind of interesting that you're an artist, and while we seem to both like touch, I never was very creative. In a sense, you've based your creativity around what you can feel?

So, Illusions, on the matter of pornography...

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Originally Posted by GGT

or using tiny robotic fingers they can see with magnifying glasses, but can't actually feel.

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Haptic feedback is or will be included in versions of these systems.

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Originally Posted by coinich

hat being said, the only tactile "memory" I really have is if part of my arm falls asleep and my body loses track of where it is. I can visualize objects and remember how they feel, but the feeling comes from my brain, not my fingers. Pretty interesting though.

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This is the part where I think English isn't a descriptive enough language when it comes to the senses, simply because there do not seem to be equivalent words to "visualize" for the other senses, and there isn't a clear distinction when it comes to sense memory of whether or not you're recalling the condensed, verbal description of a sensory perception, or recalling the actual stimuli itself. For instance, when you say that you remember how they feel, are they words or senses? As an example, if you remember a rock, is it rough as in a descriptive word, or rough as in the feeling of touching something with an unsmooth, hard, granular surface?

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Originally Posted by Aimless

So, Illusions, on the matter of pornography...

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I hope you can put some thought into why this wouldn't work given my prior responses.

Did you know that people born paraplegic can have dreams of running into the sea? People born deaf can dream of having conversations. A man with one arm will dream of carrying a child in his two arms.
Amputees experience ghost limbs when awake.

There's some sort of template idea of what we are, physically, that's present in our brains which, being a template, may not reflect what our body actually consists of currently.

I guess that we interact with that non-physical sense of ourselves when we imagine our 'hands' feeling things.

I also think that childhood dreams of fireballs and pushing clouds around is a similar thing?

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Originally Posted by Momo

Amputees experience ghost limbs when awake.

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You can trick your own mind into the same state. Requires a hammer, fake limb (doesn't even have to be a good one), and a table.

A friend of mine sent me a book on ghost limbs, and limbs that feel like they're not yours, by some bigshot neurologist, should be an interesting read!