4 ms·

You are probably right that it's two sides of the same coin. As societal preference has shifted towards people with longer attention spans it exposes the group

You are probably right that it's two sides of the same coin. As societal preference has shifted towards people with longer attention spans it exposes the group that has stayed behind. People who already had short attention spans are now even further from the norm and are forced to function in a society increasingly designed against them.

andai 6y ago
My (Asperger's) attention span is strange: it's very high (10-15 hours of work at full concentration with hardly any breaks) when I care, and abysmal (0-0.5h of useful work despite exerting my best effort) when I don't care about the work -- despite external consequences like pay -- and even when I really need the pay! I heard a similar experience from Jonathan Blow (paraphrasing), "I was doing this contract database work I just didn't care about, and my whole motivational structure just shut down and I stopped working. They were paying me money to do it, so I felt guilty about not working, but that didn't actually help me start working again." He didn't become truly productive until he went all-in on his interests and luckily that worked out for him (in the end).
- throwaway2552 6y ago
  Oh gosh - this is me 100%. I got an official Asperger Diagnosis in 2008. And one thing it finally explained to me: why for certain contracts ($BIG_BANK_LTD SQL) I just stopped working when I had no interest in the project. And it's crazy - I was on £££ per day and just COULD NOT do the work from lack of interest. Insane. I had to resign even though I knew this was an irresponsible thing to do. For a year or two I actually switched to working as a care assistant in a home for the elderly. Then when I started a shift I just had to do my 12 hours shift - no scope for just freezing and not doing the work.
  - eyelidlessness 6y ago
    As another response suggested, your responses strike me as very familiar coming from a place with diagnosed ADHD. It’s possible you’re responding to dopamine deficiency (and responding positively to dopamine reception). There being so much overlap between ASD and ADHD, it’s worth considering seeking a diagnosis and seeing if you might respond well chemically to treatment.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  This is a thing with ADHD as well, look up hyperfocus. Just another one of those things that implies the line between ASD and ADHD is blurry at best. My girlfriend has been diagnosed with both. Also, is asperger's still a thing? IIRC it's been superseded by the term ASD.
  - throwaway2552 6y ago
    That's it - AFAIK it's not possible to get an specific Asperger diagnosis any more. It's all rolled into 'ASD'...

andai 6y ago

My (Asperger's) attention span is strange: it's very high (10-15 hours of work at full concentration with hardly any breaks) when I care, and abysmal (0-0.5h of useful work despite exerting my best effort) when I don't care about the work -- despite external consequences like pay -- and even when I really need the pay! I heard a similar experience from Jonathan Blow (paraphrasing), "I was doing this contract database work I just didn't care about, and my whole motivational structure just shut down and I stopped working. They were paying me money to do it, so I felt guilty about not working, but that didn't actually help me start working again." He didn't become truly productive until he went all-in on his interests and luckily that worked out for him (in the end).

throwaway2552 6y ago
Oh gosh - this is me 100%. I got an official Asperger Diagnosis in 2008. And one thing it finally explained to me: why for certain contracts ($BIG_BANK_LTD SQL) I just stopped working when I had no interest in the project. And it's crazy - I was on £££ per day and just COULD NOT do the work from lack of interest. Insane. I had to resign even though I knew this was an irresponsible thing to do. For a year or two I actually switched to working as a care assistant in a home for the elderly. Then when I started a shift I just had to do my 12 hours shift - no scope for just freezing and not doing the work.
- eyelidlessness 6y ago
  As another response suggested, your responses strike me as very familiar coming from a place with diagnosed ADHD. It’s possible you’re responding to dopamine deficiency (and responding positively to dopamine reception). There being so much overlap between ASD and ADHD, it’s worth considering seeking a diagnosis and seeing if you might respond well chemically to treatment.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
This is a thing with ADHD as well, look up hyperfocus. Just another one of those things that implies the line between ASD and ADHD is blurry at best. My girlfriend has been diagnosed with both. Also, is asperger's still a thing? IIRC it's been superseded by the term ASD.
- throwaway2552 6y ago
  That's it - AFAIK it's not possible to get an specific Asperger diagnosis any more. It's all rolled into 'ASD'...