If I had to give a definition I would say it involves doing something ridiculously out of order or switching the steps in a task. I think I would be clearer if I gave some examples.
These two things have actually happened to me, usually in the morning or at night when I am very, very tired. The kind of tired that comes from having less than 2 or 3 hours of sleep, but they have occurred at school, work, etc. very rarely, and I’ve seen other people do things like this too. Anyway…
I’ll be making some cereal. I’ll pour the cereal into the bowel and then I will pour in the milk. I will return the cereal to its appropriate cupboard. I will then attempt to return the milk to the cupboard…
The reverse can also happen (i.e. taking the cereal to the refrigerator).
While taking a shower I will usually brush my teeth and then shampoo my hair. Not always in that order, but usually I like to rid myself of morning breath, but sometimes it’s not very bad so I might shampoo first. The point being, sometimes I will attempt to squeeze the shampoo onto the tooth brush…
I never actually carry out the above steps to their full conclusion. Usually I will freeze right before – i.e. while pointing the bottle of shampoo at the brush, or standing before the refrigerator with the box of cereal. Then my brain reboots and I smack myself!
Aside from either being tired, stupid, or foolish, etc., is there a term for that?
It’s not really what you’re looking for, but I’d use “inattentive”.
This happens to me when I’m distracted by other thoughts and going through some routine on auto-pilot. I’m not “in the moment”. If you are in the moment and paying attention to your actions, this doesn’t happen.
The Sniglets books might be another possible source. It’s kind of like a Spoonerism, but with objects instead of words.
1920’s Style “Death Ray”: There was a time I reversed the polarity on the Bohr-Tesla device and turned the hadron accelerator up to 80% power before inserting the magnetic monopole source on the Model RX-1500. Fortunately, I realized what I was doing before the anti-Clausius dielectric reached full charge, or … well, we would have had a Level Six Global Event on our hands.
Heh, I remember when I was a kid sitting at the kitchen table coloring with crayons. Mom brought me some hot chocolate to drink with a spoon in it to stir it to cool it off.
Not paying attention I used a crayon to stir it. The crayon melted right into the cup. (Doh!)
I know exactly what you mean Mstay! It also happens to me when I’m tired, once I was washing my face and squeezed shampoo out instead of facial wash. I only noticed because the smell was different.
a few hours ago after my mom thawed some chicken in the microwave and after I was done with eating my salsa, I put the salsa in the microwave. Fortunately I didn’t turn the thing on
There is, actually. Cognitive scientists and technology usability experts call this sort of thing a “description error”: performing the right action on the wrong object. It’s closely related to “capture error” (where something you do habitually takes over when you’re trying to do some less familiar task, such as driving to your office on a Saturday morning when you’re trying to go to the coffee shop down the street), and to “mode errors”, where you’re performing a sequence of actions appropriate to one situation when you’re actually in a different situation.
When I’ve been commuting by rail every day, I get so used to producing my ticket to inspectors and inserting it into turnstiles that I have often arrived home tired and pulled out my ticket instead of my keys to open the front door of my house.
