You just have a strong association of the smell with seeing it. Your brain is constantly hallucinating your reality to match what it's expectations are.
That is an interesting concept to consider. I knew words were just symbolic, taken to have meaning that isn't inherently there. With enough training the associations are made. It makes sense that the words themselves would have different meanings for each person.
Thanks for pointing that out. So how would you suggest someone who has autism might try to infer meaning behind the words?
Isn't it bad communication to not be straightforward and expect people to guess your meaning? Or to assume things of others that they didn't say?
Not criticizing or anything just interesting to see a different perspective. I have been constantly tripped up by this throughout my life, and nobody ever told me what you told that child before.
I always say what I mean, and it can be frustrating to have people react in seemingly random ways because they inferred a hidden meaning that wasn't there.