This is why the term neurodivergency is a thing.
Our level of, let's call it, "capacity", varies very significantly compared to a neurotypical person.
So a ND person of average capacity (compared to an NT person), it's going to vary wildly. For example. I never passed high school maths. And I tried it to the point of attempting suicide.
However, I'm absolutely amazing at intuitive thinking. The kind where you get all the pieces to click together without being able to explain very well. Like the kind of knowledge needed for a somewhat complex strategy videogame.
This has granted me a, until now, fruitful career on IT. A good fit for ND people. If only because the expectation that we can be a bit weird.
The ability to intuit where of a thousand joints on a metaphorical pipe the leak is coming it's extremely useful.
To an external observer it may appear I just didn't give my all. But I very much did.
Ah, and not all ND people are uniquely talented at anything, or average. Or brilliant on similar ways.
It's the fallacy of general intelligence, smart in one thing, smart in everything, and capable as well. This is exacerbated with ND in that much of our mental horsepower is expended in masking and coping strategies.
That too, but I'm just going to say that the things ND are good at can be somewhat unpredictable. And there are more factors at play than intelligence. But, sometimes ND people just aren't good at a basic thing in a way that isn't explained by any actual symptom, and it's just the result that we have more variance in our capabilities. Also happens to NT people, just much less frequently.
If life came with a stat sheet, most NT people would be balanced, and quite a few NT people, besides having a few debuffs, would have a min max build. Some of us may get to luck out and get a good build even.
There is also the factor of wealth. Behaviors, and handicaps that get handwaived away when you are a rich person are not tolerated on the lower classes . Just look at Elon Musk failing upwards to being the world's richest man for a little while
Completely agree, I wasn't phrasing myself as precisely as I should. There is no interchangeable metric of cognitive ability. I'm good at STEM but have serious dyscalcula so I struggle at simple arithmetic, but can do Fourier Analysis in my head. I also have appreciable misphonia and audio processing issues so I get into "can't hear myself think" situations.
To extend your analogy our high stats get functionally debuffed by our dump stats when those are needed. If I'm masking and compensating for noise or light etc. I'm at a fraction of my ability.
Felt that. My family would use this phrase to villainize me as well. “You’re so smart you must have realized __ so you did this mean thing on purpose”, “you’re so smart so whenever you do something stupid it’s intentional”, “you’re so smart so when you do things we don’t like we get to ascribe malice to it so we can take our anger out on you” now I don’t talk to them at all :D
In my case, yeah I do have the knowledge and adaptability, I just can't find the motivation. It's so tough to even get out of bed. Like most of my effort is just trying to do the bare necessities and I fuckin hate that feeling because there's so much I really want to do that I enjoy but I just... Can't.
i’ve literally been raised to think along those lines my whole life
which is why now i’m cripplingly incompetent at things i could be merely bad at if i weren’t “too smart” to even bother working on them
Yeah, had this ever since I was a tiny child. I have a big, mostly hick, family. They think I am some kind of super-prodigy and put a lot of expectations on me.
Hell, some of them told me it was a divinely given gift and it was up to me to use it. I don't get as much of that one, in particular anymore but it left it's mark.
I often get this feeling of "I need to save everyone all the time or I'm a waste" and that's a tough thing to fight, honestly.
I've gotten this from my family too. "You should be making the most money youre the smartest." :(
As opposed to the "If you're so smart why aren't you rich?' jibe
Ikr theyre both basically going "you've been given every advantage and you still failed." Dawg, I am disabled
I was making the most money and then I got fired and it destroyed me and now I'm homeless yaaaaaay
This is why the term neurodivergency is a thing. Our level of, let's call it, "capacity", varies very significantly compared to a neurotypical person. So a ND person of average capacity (compared to an NT person), it's going to vary wildly. For example. I never passed high school maths. And I tried it to the point of attempting suicide. However, I'm absolutely amazing at intuitive thinking. The kind where you get all the pieces to click together without being able to explain very well. Like the kind of knowledge needed for a somewhat complex strategy videogame. This has granted me a, until now, fruitful career on IT. A good fit for ND people. If only because the expectation that we can be a bit weird. The ability to intuit where of a thousand joints on a metaphorical pipe the leak is coming it's extremely useful. To an external observer it may appear I just didn't give my all. But I very much did. Ah, and not all ND people are uniquely talented at anything, or average. Or brilliant on similar ways.
It's the fallacy of general intelligence, smart in one thing, smart in everything, and capable as well. This is exacerbated with ND in that much of our mental horsepower is expended in masking and coping strategies.
That too, but I'm just going to say that the things ND are good at can be somewhat unpredictable. And there are more factors at play than intelligence. But, sometimes ND people just aren't good at a basic thing in a way that isn't explained by any actual symptom, and it's just the result that we have more variance in our capabilities. Also happens to NT people, just much less frequently. If life came with a stat sheet, most NT people would be balanced, and quite a few NT people, besides having a few debuffs, would have a min max build. Some of us may get to luck out and get a good build even. There is also the factor of wealth. Behaviors, and handicaps that get handwaived away when you are a rich person are not tolerated on the lower classes . Just look at Elon Musk failing upwards to being the world's richest man for a little while
Completely agree, I wasn't phrasing myself as precisely as I should. There is no interchangeable metric of cognitive ability. I'm good at STEM but have serious dyscalcula so I struggle at simple arithmetic, but can do Fourier Analysis in my head. I also have appreciable misphonia and audio processing issues so I get into "can't hear myself think" situations. To extend your analogy our high stats get functionally debuffed by our dump stats when those are needed. If I'm masking and compensating for noise or light etc. I'm at a fraction of my ability.
Felt that. My family would use this phrase to villainize me as well. “You’re so smart you must have realized __ so you did this mean thing on purpose”, “you’re so smart so whenever you do something stupid it’s intentional”, “you’re so smart so when you do things we don’t like we get to ascribe malice to it so we can take our anger out on you” now I don’t talk to them at all :D
I’m so smart that I sent several ICBMs to your location’
In my case, yeah I do have the knowledge and adaptability, I just can't find the motivation. It's so tough to even get out of bed. Like most of my effort is just trying to do the bare necessities and I fuckin hate that feeling because there's so much I really want to do that I enjoy but I just... Can't.
All I want to do is play video games. I don't want to be around people or endlessly chase money, I just want to chill.
mood
My mother just told me I was so smart I was stupid
i’ve literally been raised to think along those lines my whole life which is why now i’m cripplingly incompetent at things i could be merely bad at if i weren’t “too smart” to even bother working on them
Fr it makes my blood boil i hate it, plus being called lazy
Yeah, had this ever since I was a tiny child. I have a big, mostly hick, family. They think I am some kind of super-prodigy and put a lot of expectations on me. Hell, some of them told me it was a divinely given gift and it was up to me to use it. I don't get as much of that one, in particular anymore but it left it's mark. I often get this feeling of "I need to save everyone all the time or I'm a waste" and that's a tough thing to fight, honestly.
"... if you'd just apply yourself". [Twitchy Eye Here] Story of my youth right there.