4 ms·

Neurotypical people are overwhelmingly monotropic. Humans will often focus largely on the social aspect of the conversation at the cost of reason. Walk for an h

Neurotypical people are overwhelmingly monotropic. Humans will often focus largely on the social aspect of the conversation at the cost of reason. Walk for an hour and not notice 99% of the information around them. Internal systems that select points of interest in the data coming in aim monotropism. It is an intended feature not a bug. I don't think it has anything to do with autism.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
I struggle to disagree, actually. It makes me wonder if the observations which we refer to as autism are really just observations of the differences people have with where they choose to focus their attention. That doesn’t explain the particularly debilitating experiences that some suffer but it may explain how others can relate so strongly but still hold down a job. Anyway, I haven’t really heard of “polytropism”. Maybe nobody thinks that way. I don’t know how much that topic has been explored.
- wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
  We likely wont have a strong theory of how brain architecture results in unique emergent temperments and subjective experiences until weve got data collected from millions of people with chips in their head, and a large database to work with. Until then, I will remain agnostic on any theory unless it is very obviously causal.
  - 0xEF 3y ago
    This is an interesting take that I hadn't considered the reality of, before. We rely a lot on self-reporting but only for lack of a better option that doesn't violate ethical conventions. Self-reporting is subjective, making the data shakey at best, but even an objective observer can misinterpret what is being observed. I'm mot much of a scientist or philosopher, but that seems like a remarkably large problem when it comes to truly understanding the human brain. How does neuroscience get around this problem, and how close are we to actual "brain chips" that could provide viable diagnostic data?
0xEF 3y ago
Is there an opposite to monoropism? To use your "take a walk" example, when I take a walk I end up mentally and emotionally exhausted, having been hyperaware of too much data during my walk. Examples would be the sounds of traffic, snippets of conversation, the color of bricks of buildings, bird nest locations, the unnatural mix of smells. My walks happen in an urban environment, obviously, but you get the idea. I feel flooded. There is also something specific happening with the way my brain processes sound. When I go to dinner with my wife, for example, I can hear and can't help but focus on every conversation happening in the room, making it difficult to stay focused on my wife (she is blessedly understanding about this because she can see that I am in slight distress if I am not wearing my attenuating earplugs). I describe it to people as being akin to all sound in a given space "coming in at the same volume" which is not what is actually happening, but gets the idea across. This happens while still taking in too much visual info too, but sound definitely dominates me. I've approached two doctors about this, but they seem quite clueless. I was diagnosed with GAD about 14 years ago, and the last doc chalked it up to that and sent me to a psych who wanted me on an SSRI after only 20 minutes of speaking to me, a drug that has done very little to improve this condition in the past. I work in a field that requires earplugs (or good earbuds) basically all the time, so thankfully those help me cope. It's not debilitating, I can still function out in public in a limited-engagement capacity, but I have a plan ahead for hours, sometimes days of decompression because of this sensory overload.
- wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
  That is interesting and sounds plausable. I actually experienced what you described on a few occasions in my life, and it kept progressing until the center part of my vision doesnt work and I couldnt read. It only happened to me two or three times. I also experienced a milder form of what you describe when I stopped taking benzos, but that sideffect went away. But generally I find walks in the park nice for the opposite of what you describe. Nature sounds do not stimulate or annoy me in the way background human noise does.
Anotheroneagain 3y ago
Indeed. In fact it is repeatedly observed that this DOESN'T happen to autistic people. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027717300963 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001002771...

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago

I struggle to disagree, actually. It makes me wonder if the observations which we refer to as autism are really just observations of the differences people have with where they choose to focus their attention. That doesn’t explain the particularly debilitating experiences that some suffer but it may explain how others can relate so strongly but still hold down a job. Anyway, I haven’t really heard of “polytropism”. Maybe nobody thinks that way. I don’t know how much that topic has been explored.

wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
We likely wont have a strong theory of how brain architecture results in unique emergent temperments and subjective experiences until weve got data collected from millions of people with chips in their head, and a large database to work with. Until then, I will remain agnostic on any theory unless it is very obviously causal.
- 0xEF 3y ago
  This is an interesting take that I hadn't considered the reality of, before. We rely a lot on self-reporting but only for lack of a better option that doesn't violate ethical conventions. Self-reporting is subjective, making the data shakey at best, but even an objective observer can misinterpret what is being observed. I'm mot much of a scientist or philosopher, but that seems like a remarkably large problem when it comes to truly understanding the human brain. How does neuroscience get around this problem, and how close are we to actual "brain chips" that could provide viable diagnostic data?

0xEF 3y ago

Is there an opposite to monoropism? To use your "take a walk" example, when I take a walk I end up mentally and emotionally exhausted, having been hyperaware of too much data during my walk. Examples would be the sounds of traffic, snippets of conversation, the color of bricks of buildings, bird nest locations, the unnatural mix of smells. My walks happen in an urban environment, obviously, but you get the idea. I feel flooded. There is also something specific happening with the way my brain processes sound. When I go to dinner with my wife, for example, I can hear and can't help but focus on every conversation happening in the room, making it difficult to stay focused on my wife (she is blessedly understanding about this because she can see that I am in slight distress if I am not wearing my attenuating earplugs). I describe it to people as being akin to all sound in a given space "coming in at the same volume" which is not what is actually happening, but gets the idea across. This happens while still taking in too much visual info too, but sound definitely dominates me. I've approached two doctors about this, but they seem quite clueless. I was diagnosed with GAD about 14 years ago, and the last doc chalked it up to that and sent me to a psych who wanted me on an SSRI after only 20 minutes of speaking to me, a drug that has done very little to improve this condition in the past. I work in a field that requires earplugs (or good earbuds) basically all the time, so thankfully those help me cope. It's not debilitating, I can still function out in public in a limited-engagement capacity, but I have a plan ahead for hours, sometimes days of decompression because of this sensory overload.

wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
That is interesting and sounds plausable. I actually experienced what you described on a few occasions in my life, and it kept progressing until the center part of my vision doesnt work and I couldnt read. It only happened to me two or three times. I also experienced a milder form of what you describe when I stopped taking benzos, but that sideffect went away. But generally I find walks in the park nice for the opposite of what you describe. Nature sounds do not stimulate or annoy me in the way background human noise does.

Anotheroneagain 3y ago

Indeed. In fact it is repeatedly observed that this DOESN'T happen to autistic people. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027717300963 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001002771...