Hi folks, I lurk alot but haven't posted until now. I am not going to do a long drawn out introduction of myself I am who I am and I love being the me that I am becoming
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Hello! Well I dont know if youre a rare case, but you sound alot like me. I too enjoy learning about psychology and religion. Also I have never studied those subject in school, but I do read much in my spare time about various fields of psychology. Personality disorders and all that. I learn about it because I enjoy it.
I'm working on a graduate degree in history which is a discipline that requires abstract thought. A historian has to reconstruct the past based on what is here in the present. Thus, in order for me to say something I about it, I have to try and reconstruct it, but the past is not here, and many of the people I study are long dead, so I have to totally create a whole new world.
The ability to think abstractly can be true of any autistic person who has invented, created, discovered, written, etc., since before they could execute their plan they had to create it in their mind. A lot of times the issue is presented in terms of impairments of abstract thinking, especially in terms of metaphor. However, metaphor is basically what language is (see Lakoff and Johnson Metaphors We Live By for more information about that), thus, for those Autistics who have serious language impairments, it may be because they don't get metaphors at all
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No it's great don't apologize I guess the way I would describe abstract thought are issues or problems that do not use a formulaic way of solving them
In math A+A=A and B+B=B but A=B wuld have to equal AB because it has already been deduced that the integers are not equal(if they were B+B would also equal A and vice versa)
But the question of what is reality has no set formula for figuring out. Reality to me is my life and the way I precieve it and it's totally different than the way you or someone in china would precieve your reaity, Or even funner if we were to take you and insert you into my life you still wouldn't have my reality you would have your preception of my reality, which in turn would become your own
There are no rules except the existential ones that we are creating as we precieve. So in essance a+b could equal A or C or any number of posibilities
My response to that would be to say that A B & C are nothing more than representations of their ideal forms that exist solely in our mind. In order to communicate these we have to use language, but language is an imperfect tool since it relies on the speaker (or writer) interpreting thoughts in his or her head into words that he or she thinks the other person will understand, then the listener (or reader) understanding these words and creating meaning out of them, based solely on his or her own thoughts ideas, etc.
Thus, one can not say that persons on the Autism spectrum lack the ability to think abstractly if they are capable of communication.
"I love philosaphy religon and psychology" Me too. Especially religion. As for philosophy, " I think therefore I am." *smile* As for psychology, I've worked that one out of my system by overdosing with it when I was a young person. But, I was very interested about it at one time too.
" I can muse about the human condition for hours on end." Me too. Aren't people, each and everyone fascinating? If it isn't to hectic, my favorite thing to do is sit and watch people in a mall or someplace like that. I am so fortunate because I have people around me who like to talk about the human condition too. Or better yet...listen to me talk about it.
Yeah I love to get into a conversation with people. One of my more interesting theories that I've come up with is simply the idea that the same thing that drives people to do drugs is the very same thing that drives people to find religion. It's certainly not a derogatory thing just an observation behavior
Along the lines of, "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opiate of the people." ? Rhetorical question that. Interesting obervation. I don't agree, but that's okay. Maybe we will meet someday in another lj community to discuss this sometime. So, were you surprised to see your interests were not the rarity you suspected?
i prefer the things that are labeled "abstract" as well. i love the arts, i enjoy writing, poking at philosophy and religion, and the more theoretical aspects of math and science. i was very annoyed and frustrated with math, until it finally clicked--i was to ignore all the math-people that kept insisting that numbers were True and Real, and deal with math as yet another language. the number "2" is just as no more or less abstract or metaphorical or "Real and True" as the word "blue
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Yeah labels,,,, I am not into labels or pigeonholing "you're this so you have to be this way" "and the star bellied sneetches had stars upon thars" It's all rather frustrating "then you're not autistic" well ok than explain this noise in my head this all encompassing interweaving trail of twisting tuning multiple thoughts that used to keep me up at night but now rock me soundly asleep explain my meltdowns my fixations my stimming my disconnect from society I am what I am go pigeohole that
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Also I have never studied those subject in school, but I do read much in my spare time about various fields of psychology. Personality disorders and all that. I learn about it because I enjoy it.
My thinking style is fairly abstract.
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The ability to think abstractly can be true of any autistic person who has invented, created, discovered, written, etc., since before they could execute their plan they had to create it in their mind. A lot of times the issue is presented in terms of impairments of abstract thinking, especially in terms of metaphor. However, metaphor is basically what language is (see Lakoff and Johnson Metaphors We Live By for more information about that), thus, for those Autistics who have serious language impairments, it may be because they don't get metaphors at all ( ... )
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I guess the way I would describe abstract thought are issues or problems that do not use a formulaic way of solving them
In math A+A=A and B+B=B but A=B wuld have to equal AB because it has already been deduced that the integers are not equal(if they were B+B would also equal A and vice versa)
But the question of what is reality has no set formula for figuring out. Reality to me is my life and the way I precieve it and it's totally different than the way you or someone in china would precieve your reaity, Or even funner if we were to take you and insert you into my life you still wouldn't have my reality you would have your preception of my reality, which in turn would become your own
There are no rules except the existential ones that we are creating as we precieve. So in essance a+b could equal A or C or any number of posibilities
Reply
Thus, one can not say that persons on the Autism spectrum lack the ability to think abstractly if they are capable of communication.
Reply
Me too. Especially religion. As for philosophy, " I think therefore I am." *smile* As for psychology, I've worked that one out of my system by overdosing with it when I was a young person. But, I was very interested about it at one time too.
" I can muse about the human condition for hours on end."
Me too. Aren't people, each and everyone fascinating? If it isn't to hectic, my favorite thing to do is sit and watch people in a mall or someplace like that.
I am so fortunate because I have people around me who like to talk about the human condition too. Or better yet...listen to me talk about it.
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Interesting obervation. I don't agree, but that's okay. Maybe we will meet someday in another lj community to discuss this sometime.
So, were you surprised to see your interests were not the rarity you suspected?
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"and the star bellied sneetches had stars upon thars"
It's all rather frustrating
"then you're not autistic" well ok than explain this noise in my head this all encompassing interweaving trail of twisting tuning multiple thoughts that used to keep me up at night but now rock me soundly asleep
explain my meltdowns my fixations my stimming my disconnect from society
I am what I am go pigeohole that
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