Before getting to the concept of “neurodiversity” itself, I need to give an example of a situation that will hopefully illuminate this whole business with status and tribality.
As a neurodiversity advocate, this was a very interesting read. It makes sense, given the whole cultural landscape being formed by status considerations, that this would appear in the neurodiversity movement too. I'm less sure that the ND movement is necessarily advocating for an equal playing field, since this is technically impossible. At this stage I think it's more about raising awareness, therefore increasing tolerance and accommodations within the workplace and schooling, for example. Have you looked into the social disability model at all? I feel that it is a helpful framework but also doesn't account for all the difficulties of, say, ADHD and autism. I don't believe that if our society were different we'd all just magically function perfectly.
Thank you for putting those ideas out. I think I probably could have picked any of a range of modern social drifts for that piece. As opposed to it needing to be specifically about ND. But for me I wanted to pick one modern phenomena, to start to try to articulate the status-related aspects. I think it's a useful dialogue to have, because sometimes things which are actually status-related are presented as altruistic and I think this can lead to issues.
The concept of social disability I find interesting. You mean like not genetically "wrong" but rather socially challenged? Like there's still the idea that one might be subtypical? If so, that feels like an intelligent compromise. I think it's important to balance any desire to level the playing field with an appreciation of the right to strive for individual excellence. Because that quest does seem to be one of the main things that has got humans this far. So I guess it's about giving people the right to have "average" status, if they choose, but still get more if they strive beyond the norm, or maybe something like that.
I feel like I support ND but have, aside of the status aspects, certain concerns. What I see is that Western society (about 13% of global population) seems to be moving more on its own track these days. I have this sense, living outside the West, that the non-Western world is doing more its own thing. Yet I think a lot of Westerners still perceive themselves as being standard-bearers for some future global culture. This might happen and they might become that. Equally, the West might just collapse, in part because dismantling the status-landscape might create a period of weakness that other cultures can exploit. So it feels like there needs to balance and that this possibility needs to be recognised.
Social disability meaning, in brief, that if society were structured in a more inclusive way, many of the apparent 'disabilities' would no longer appear as such, therefore there is no inherent 'problem' - just a response to an ill fit of an environment. For a simplistic example, would we be having so many children diagnosed with ADHD if there were more exercise and creative, interest-based activities in the classroom (or even better, outdoors!)? Etc.
The western world is certainly in an illusory bubble as far as what you're saying goes ... and I hear your concerns on standards going down. Curious about the assumptions behind your statement that "Because that quest [for individual excellence] does seem to be one of the main things that has got humans this far." I guess it depends on what you value as being progress...
I guess I see progress as being for humanity to get to a place where we have the time, and there is incentive, for more inner journeying, more self-awareness. It seemed to me like we were heading at least vaguely in that direction for a while. But now, in the West at least, it's suddenly all about making things fair in a strictly semantic or numerical sense. That to me feels more like a symptom of impending cultural meltdown rather than anything good.
As I see it, the movement for the acceptance of neurodiversity is about people not getting negative status simply because of how their brain chemistry is. Which seems good. But what concerns me is that, because I see the West is just a bubble of wealth surrounded by billions of people increasingly pissed off at how they see that wealth having been achieved, instead of being a good thing it may just weaken the West's capacity to influence other countries. I think the West has become so detached from the RoW, they seriously don't realise that they might just be on their own track, not actually leading anywhere.
i would like to comment off the cuff - but also comment again later after this thought has soaked in a bit .
as a music professional , I know that music is medicine , in that it stimulates chemical action in the body pharmaceutical - what I like to term " Pharmacy VanGogh " -- I know that appropriating and dominating sound concepts from AFRICA , for example , and then mixing them with lyrics that create cognitive dissonance in the logical mind , is the reason WHY people like Mick Jagger were knighted , as the fight they fought was a cerebral one . I just went to see the new movie Napoleon , and the best line was when the actor playing Napoleon said " You English think you are so great because you have SHIPS " - The actor , Joaqin Phoenix really interpreted the part like the genius that he is ... in any case , the delivery of this line was incredibly amazing to the picture that I have been constructing inside of the music industry as warfare . The ships , be they the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, or Taylor Swift , are engaging a mental battlefield , and controlling the situation via this permanent propoganda campaign of anxiety and "Dissatisfaction " because " I can't get no ..." That is my off the cuff comment , which I will contemplate addressing the school system and its categorization , no different than the Dewey Decimal System did to our libraries . Suddenly - Dead Space . What is going on is : Depopulate Community .
Again , Devaraj , don't let this make your ego glow to bright , but this is just brilliant .
As a neurodiversity advocate, this was a very interesting read. It makes sense, given the whole cultural landscape being formed by status considerations, that this would appear in the neurodiversity movement too. I'm less sure that the ND movement is necessarily advocating for an equal playing field, since this is technically impossible. At this stage I think it's more about raising awareness, therefore increasing tolerance and accommodations within the workplace and schooling, for example. Have you looked into the social disability model at all? I feel that it is a helpful framework but also doesn't account for all the difficulties of, say, ADHD and autism. I don't believe that if our society were different we'd all just magically function perfectly.
Thank you for putting those ideas out. I think I probably could have picked any of a range of modern social drifts for that piece. As opposed to it needing to be specifically about ND. But for me I wanted to pick one modern phenomena, to start to try to articulate the status-related aspects. I think it's a useful dialogue to have, because sometimes things which are actually status-related are presented as altruistic and I think this can lead to issues.
The concept of social disability I find interesting. You mean like not genetically "wrong" but rather socially challenged? Like there's still the idea that one might be subtypical? If so, that feels like an intelligent compromise. I think it's important to balance any desire to level the playing field with an appreciation of the right to strive for individual excellence. Because that quest does seem to be one of the main things that has got humans this far. So I guess it's about giving people the right to have "average" status, if they choose, but still get more if they strive beyond the norm, or maybe something like that.
I feel like I support ND but have, aside of the status aspects, certain concerns. What I see is that Western society (about 13% of global population) seems to be moving more on its own track these days. I have this sense, living outside the West, that the non-Western world is doing more its own thing. Yet I think a lot of Westerners still perceive themselves as being standard-bearers for some future global culture. This might happen and they might become that. Equally, the West might just collapse, in part because dismantling the status-landscape might create a period of weakness that other cultures can exploit. So it feels like there needs to balance and that this possibility needs to be recognised.
Social disability meaning, in brief, that if society were structured in a more inclusive way, many of the apparent 'disabilities' would no longer appear as such, therefore there is no inherent 'problem' - just a response to an ill fit of an environment. For a simplistic example, would we be having so many children diagnosed with ADHD if there were more exercise and creative, interest-based activities in the classroom (or even better, outdoors!)? Etc.
The western world is certainly in an illusory bubble as far as what you're saying goes ... and I hear your concerns on standards going down. Curious about the assumptions behind your statement that "Because that quest [for individual excellence] does seem to be one of the main things that has got humans this far." I guess it depends on what you value as being progress...
Look forward to reading more.
I guess I see progress as being for humanity to get to a place where we have the time, and there is incentive, for more inner journeying, more self-awareness. It seemed to me like we were heading at least vaguely in that direction for a while. But now, in the West at least, it's suddenly all about making things fair in a strictly semantic or numerical sense. That to me feels more like a symptom of impending cultural meltdown rather than anything good.
As I see it, the movement for the acceptance of neurodiversity is about people not getting negative status simply because of how their brain chemistry is. Which seems good. But what concerns me is that, because I see the West is just a bubble of wealth surrounded by billions of people increasingly pissed off at how they see that wealth having been achieved, instead of being a good thing it may just weaken the West's capacity to influence other countries. I think the West has become so detached from the RoW, they seriously don't realise that they might just be on their own track, not actually leading anywhere.
this is incredibly brilliant .
i would like to comment off the cuff - but also comment again later after this thought has soaked in a bit .
as a music professional , I know that music is medicine , in that it stimulates chemical action in the body pharmaceutical - what I like to term " Pharmacy VanGogh " -- I know that appropriating and dominating sound concepts from AFRICA , for example , and then mixing them with lyrics that create cognitive dissonance in the logical mind , is the reason WHY people like Mick Jagger were knighted , as the fight they fought was a cerebral one . I just went to see the new movie Napoleon , and the best line was when the actor playing Napoleon said " You English think you are so great because you have SHIPS " - The actor , Joaqin Phoenix really interpreted the part like the genius that he is ... in any case , the delivery of this line was incredibly amazing to the picture that I have been constructing inside of the music industry as warfare . The ships , be they the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, or Taylor Swift , are engaging a mental battlefield , and controlling the situation via this permanent propoganda campaign of anxiety and "Dissatisfaction " because " I can't get no ..." That is my off the cuff comment , which I will contemplate addressing the school system and its categorization , no different than the Dewey Decimal System did to our libraries . Suddenly - Dead Space . What is going on is : Depopulate Community .
Again , Devaraj , don't let this make your ego glow to bright , but this is just brilliant .