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> DYSLEXICS FEEL BETTER WHEN: ... SAME COLORS REPRESENT SAME THINGS, FEW INFORMATION ARE ON THE SCREEN. I was identified as being "dyslexic" as a child, I had

by tomxor 8y ago

> DYSLEXICS FEEL BETTER WHEN: ... SAME COLORS REPRESENT SAME THINGS, FEW INFORMATION ARE ON THE SCREEN. I was identified as being "dyslexic" as a child, I had difficulty learning to read - but at some point I had an "aha" moment that I still remember very clearly even though I was very young: "english is full of completely illogical inconsistent nonsense, it's largely just a memory game combined with a bunch of very subtle rules", but of course as a child no one ever explicitly tells you this, I can only assume most people either just grok that or put up with it unconsciously without effort. As soon as I realised this it was much easier to progress and also more generally modulate my natural tendency to look for the assumed presence of logic and consistency in other systems created by humans - basically the "accepting random shit" filter that the majority of people seem to have by default, I don't think I could have carved my own career into the obscurity of computers and technology without that skill that others seem to just have, but it's also handy to maintain my original perspective because it helps me see flaws, weaknesses, inconsistency etc in designs very quickly. The above list reminded me of this, and although I wouldn't say it's "wrong", I am pretty sure everyone has a preference for those attributes: consistency (same colours representing the same things) and only relevant info on the screen etc - so in short perhaps it's just that dyslexics are more sensitive to bullshit and poor design, but being one doesn't make me an expert. [EDIT] Alternate hypothesis: I'm not dyslexic and was misdiagnosed, after all there is a whole multidimensional spectrum of non-neurotypicals and dyslexia sounds like a pretty arbitrary category.

onemoresoop 8y ago
Never been diagnosed as a dyslexic but was always wondering if i had a tiny bit of dyslexia for the same reason, the bullshit detector going off all the time. I don't have a problem now unless something is really inconsistent and it's more of an acceptance thing. Something rubs the wrong way
- tomxor 8y ago
  I'm not even sure it is dyslexia, just that it can sometimes manifest itself similarly. It's like some kind of naive idealism as a child but at a very low level, then you are presented these two systems for the same language one which you pick up naturally through mimicry and the other learned consciously is supposed to represent it, with some semi-consistent rules and then a million seemingly arbitrary exceptions that you are supposed to ignore and learn. I'm not saying you or I are particularly special in that ability (i'm sure many people notice these things), but the problem is if you notice these things in the wrong order, more specifically before you have the tools to be accepting of it: now that i'm older I can understanding the origin of these things (their evolution) and even being able to appreciate their subtleties as linguistic flourish rather than merely irritating inconsistency. The same goes for all the other crazy "systems" that have been invented, anywhere that a system has some kind of evolution and social interplay it's riddled with strange things that you would never design into it, if you are an extreme idealist this will drive you mad, but understanding it as an inevitable effect of the context of these systems makes it much more palatable - from a kind of "chaos theory" perspective. As an aside, I have heard that German is phonetically very logical compared to English.
marcosdumay 8y ago
> I can only assume most people either just grok that or put up with it unconsciously without effort Most people do not even notice. They live their entire lives without knowing this. It normally comes as a surprise that the hardest obstacle to natural language based AI is this, and not some well defined problem.
wingerlang 8y ago
I had the same aha moment just recently, but with thai. It also made it easier for me to progress, as I stopped dwelling on "why doesn't it follow the rules I know of!".
slg 8y ago
>I was identified as being "dyslexic" as a child, I had difficulty learning to read...Alternate hypothesis: I'm not dyslexic and was misdiagnosed... dyslexia sounds like a pretty arbitrary category. It isn't arbitrary, but the definition is so broad that it is almost meaningless. It isn't even a category of disorders that are grouped by symptoms, they are grouped by how those symptoms manifest themselves when trying to read. Basically you have dyslexia if you have trouble reading or learning to read, have normal intelligence, and don't have any vision issues. Therefore the only real way to be misdiagnosed with it is if there is some other more specific undiagnosed disability that impacts intelligence or if there is some undiagnosed vision problem like not identifying a child needs glasses. It also means it is possible that taking a different approach to learning "cured" you of your dyslexia.
- tomxor 8y ago
  > It isn't arbitrary, but the definition is so broad that it is almost meaningless. You are absolutely right, "arbitrary" wasn't really what I meant. > It isn't even a category of disorders that are grouped by symptoms, they are grouped by how those symptoms manifest themselves when trying to read. Basically you have dyslexia if you have trouble reading or learning to read... Therefore the only real way to be misdiagnosed with it is if there is some other more specific undiagnosed disability that impacts intelligence... I've always been deeply suspicious of broad labelling through analysis of fairly non-specific cognitive symptoms. Even with the consideration you mention: excluding other physiological and neurological factors. Reading the various definitions of different forms of dyslexia now which suggest certain causes - I don't feel like any of them applied to me. I think the failure in these attempts of classifying neuro-type or whatever is the expectation for little variation, and I don't mean in terms of a so-called "spectrum" I mean because the brain is incomprehensibly complex to us, is a composite of all kinds of "skills" that are subtly different in each individual, this is what I mean't by a multidimensional spectrum. It seems to me that even while trying to identify very specific manifestations of a symptom it's going to be easy to mix up completely separate underlying causes.
walshemj 8y ago
That's interesting I can still remember the moment and the place when reading just sort of clicked for me in my first year of primary school.

by tomxor 8y ago

onemoresoop 8y ago

Never been diagnosed as a dyslexic but was always wondering if i had a tiny bit of dyslexia for the same reason, the bullshit detector going off all the time. I don't have a problem now unless something is really inconsistent and it's more of an acceptance thing. Something rubs the wrong way

tomxor 8y ago
I'm not even sure it is dyslexia, just that it can sometimes manifest itself similarly. It's like some kind of naive idealism as a child but at a very low level, then you are presented these two systems for the same language one which you pick up naturally through mimicry and the other learned consciously is supposed to represent it, with some semi-consistent rules and then a million seemingly arbitrary exceptions that you are supposed to ignore and learn. I'm not saying you or I are particularly special in that ability (i'm sure many people notice these things), but the problem is if you notice these things in the wrong order, more specifically before you have the tools to be accepting of it: now that i'm older I can understanding the origin of these things (their evolution) and even being able to appreciate their subtleties as linguistic flourish rather than merely irritating inconsistency. The same goes for all the other crazy "systems" that have been invented, anywhere that a system has some kind of evolution and social interplay it's riddled with strange things that you would never design into it, if you are an extreme idealist this will drive you mad, but understanding it as an inevitable effect of the context of these systems makes it much more palatable - from a kind of "chaos theory" perspective. As an aside, I have heard that German is phonetically very logical compared to English.

marcosdumay 8y ago

> I can only assume most people either just grok that or put up with it unconsciously without effort Most people do not even notice. They live their entire lives without knowing this. It normally comes as a surprise that the hardest obstacle to natural language based AI is this, and not some well defined problem.

wingerlang 8y ago

I had the same aha moment just recently, but with thai. It also made it easier for me to progress, as I stopped dwelling on "why doesn't it follow the rules I know of!".

slg 8y ago

>I was identified as being "dyslexic" as a child, I had difficulty learning to read...Alternate hypothesis: I'm not dyslexic and was misdiagnosed... dyslexia sounds like a pretty arbitrary category. It isn't arbitrary, but the definition is so broad that it is almost meaningless. It isn't even a category of disorders that are grouped by symptoms, they are grouped by how those symptoms manifest themselves when trying to read. Basically you have dyslexia if you have trouble reading or learning to read, have normal intelligence, and don't have any vision issues. Therefore the only real way to be misdiagnosed with it is if there is some other more specific undiagnosed disability that impacts intelligence or if there is some undiagnosed vision problem like not identifying a child needs glasses. It also means it is possible that taking a different approach to learning "cured" you of your dyslexia.

tomxor 8y ago
> It isn't arbitrary, but the definition is so broad that it is almost meaningless. You are absolutely right, "arbitrary" wasn't really what I meant. > It isn't even a category of disorders that are grouped by symptoms, they are grouped by how those symptoms manifest themselves when trying to read. Basically you have dyslexia if you have trouble reading or learning to read... Therefore the only real way to be misdiagnosed with it is if there is some other more specific undiagnosed disability that impacts intelligence... I've always been deeply suspicious of broad labelling through analysis of fairly non-specific cognitive symptoms. Even with the consideration you mention: excluding other physiological and neurological factors. Reading the various definitions of different forms of dyslexia now which suggest certain causes - I don't feel like any of them applied to me. I think the failure in these attempts of classifying neuro-type or whatever is the expectation for little variation, and I don't mean in terms of a so-called "spectrum" I mean because the brain is incomprehensibly complex to us, is a composite of all kinds of "skills" that are subtly different in each individual, this is what I mean't by a multidimensional spectrum. It seems to me that even while trying to identify very specific manifestations of a symptom it's going to be easy to mix up completely separate underlying causes.

walshemj 8y ago

That's interesting I can still remember the moment and the place when reading just sort of clicked for me in my first year of primary school.