Since Asperger syndrome and the Asperger spectrum of personality disorders have become more and more understood, I find myself in that spectrum. One of the ways I know that is that I tend to hear what people say. Exactly what they say. Most people do NOT hear much of anything, they simply make up some ideas that they want to believe and if a few of the words they hear can be fit into those ideas, "great!"
If you have trouble understanding that, get ready to discover you are one of those who do NOT listen, but rather make up something else that you think better explains what I am saying.
First imagine we are sitting in a restaurant after a nice meal, maybe having a drink in the bar after eating. I say to you: "I have never raped a woman in the front seat of my car after tying her to the car seat."
OK, take a moment then tell me if you thought: "That is good. Most guys do not tie up women in the front seat of his car and rape her, and I am glad he is just one more of this group."
OR would you assume that I had done that... had tied a woman to the front seat and raped her. Would you be wondering, "How does one do that? There isn't enough room there, is there?"
Would you be trying to decide if I had only done this once, or if maybe that was my S.O.P. (standard operating procedure).
If someone had told ME that, I would have started with the idea that he (she) wanted me to know that s/he had never tied someone to the front seat and raped them. Then I would parse each part of the statement to consider what each word might also mean. And what was NOT said. Easy example: maybe he always killed the people he tied to the front seat... whatever happened after that would not be rape. Which brings the word "rape" into focus. What one person considers rape may not be to someone else? Easy to imagine some authority that considers what he does (using his position of authority) is NOT rape, but if some worker-bee did it, that guy would be a rapist.
At this point, you are probably thinking that I do not understand the "context" aspect of a conversation. But actually I probably understand it a lot better than you realize. I consider dozens of possible meanings-- most people stop at ONE... namely, the one they thought of first.
Under all this is HOW we evaluate problems (including the problem of understanding each other and what we are trying to communicate).
Why limit any statement more than is needed? In this case, why mention only TIE and FRONT SEAT and MY CAR ... why WOMAN... why RAPE? All those make the statement VERY VERY limited because as made, the statement leaves LOT of nasty stuff that was not mentioned.
Should I have claimed "I have never restrained anyone." "I have never intentionally harmed anyone." Two statements that cover a lot of ground and seem even more unlikely than the first statement.
Humans may be very different from other animals because the left hemisphere of the brain (usually the left) has become specialized to do logic, rules, math, and language. The right brain has been exposed to all the same stuff that the left brain learned from... but like the dumb kid in class, they really don't think any of this is relevant to THEM. They are busy thinking what they would like to do with the pretty teacher, or with that pretty girl who has her knees slightly apart so that if she would just move them apart a little more, he could see her crotch. That is not the way to think if you are interested in learning algebra, it is the way to think if you are interested in removing a bra.
With the above FACTS in mind, I can finally begin my story. You will be happy to know that it starts with my telling a pretty girl at brunch: "I have never tied anyone to my car seat and raped them." Do you note that I did not specify age or sex... "never tied anyone".
Her reply was simple enough: "Why tell me THAT?"
A very good question. And if you think about that for a while, it will be ALL YOUR THOUGHTS, not my thoughts and probably not related to anything I ever have done.
Your first guess might wonder if maybe someone was accusing me of some similar, the statement might be a denial... but try denying some outrageous accusation and you will discover that denial does NOT work.
I'm sure Richard Nixon learned something about that by stating with clarity: "I AM NOT A CROOK." And as usual, the right brain hears CROOK! and the left brain hears "crook, am, .... not". Which may be why some languages have word order that matches that way of thinking. First the IMAGE, then negate it if you can. But when the statement does not really allow for a negative image, the positive one remains.
Thus the old joke line: "Do NOT think about a polar bear!"
And if you were told to not think about a polar bear...then asked:
"OK, are you thinking about a polar bear?".. even if you were not, you would be now.
Sorry to take so long with the story... let me "recap" in case you skipped everything up to here: "I am with a young girl and I have told her that I have never tied anyone to my car and raped them."
How should I truthfully answer her question about "why I told her that?" I need to explain that Asperger folk tend to tell way too much truth. Everyone else simply says things that are thought to be in the best interest of the speaker, or which will result in good things for the speaker.
Most males just "make a move" and expect to persist until stopped, if the female can figure out how to do that. Guns and knives might work, or might not. Words might work, but often do not. "STOP THAT." would seem to be a clear statement, but it often heard as a suggestion to move on to something better, NOT to stop everything. How many couples have a "safe word" that means "stop everything until we can discuss the situation"?
Do YOU? I had given my lovely friend a "safe word" but I doubt she realized she would ever need one... maybe she won't if she decided at that moment she would always do exactly what I wanted to do (with her, to her, on her, in her).
Examples shout when words give out.
A woman who wants to NOT HAVE SEX has a lot of ways to communicate that, but what can she say that will be understood? First, anything with a "Not" or negative that needs to be performed by the listener is a danger.