1/ Auditory and Visual parts of the brain are largely about strategies for direction attention and processing meaning. Co-opted in thinking?
2/ Our brains are good at visual analogies - "does this look like a predator / a juice ripe berry?" - "Does this look like the way home?".
3/ Likewise, auditory analogies - "does this sound like my child/mate?" - "was that a twig snapping?" - "Do you hear that, sounds like..."
4/ Those who "hear voices" & "see things" usually have oddities related to meaning making part of the brain & process attention differently.
5/ Yet we have a class of human, "Synesthetes" who experience meaning differently, but this is largely considered benign and normal.
6/ I'd assert both of formulations of thinking should be construed as 'variations on normal' - part the human collective's sensor network.
7/ What culture at large don't seem to get is autistics, schizophrenics, synesthetics are all spectrums of attention and meaning making.
8/ But instead of viewing them as variations - different arrangements to be catered to - they are viewed as purely unwanted annoyances.
9/ Just digging into autism alone, I find time and again the concern is about 'costs'. Framing a 'cost centers', or drags on the economy.
10/ Interacting w/ people in the community, there's a strong perception of it being "bad thing: mothers literally "grieve over their loss"!
11/ The way we've framed mental health taints our cultural percept. That bleeds into what gets research funding for: "finding the cure" etc.
12/ But if you listen to autistic people in the community, biggest problem seems to be a lack of understanding of strengths AND weaknesses.
13/ In the IT support world, you'd call a perception issue. The group is perceived as an unfortunate hindrance that needs to be dealt with.
15/ How do you change perception from cost-center to be minimized, into a valuable part of organism needing a different style of management?
16/ I can't count the number of times I've seen "attention to detail" and "fast paced environment" as a desired skill for an individual.
17/ Yet, it is only by creating a mixed team can you really get the gamut of attention and processing speed to match that requirement.
18/ A homogeneous collective, whether at the organizational or species level, is not the kind that can adapt to new & unforeseen challenge.
19/ Those who process things slowly have that attention to detail to see the missing piece.This tweetstorm is missing 14/
20/ In our fast paced era, are we missing entire classes of human? How can we leverage untapped value?I don't want to be a cost-center. :(
