What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Weird’ Brain in the Age of Neurodiversity?

Re:What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Weird’ Brain in the Age of N... by majormajor on Friday April 01, 2022 @07:19PM (#30884300)

Is that a difference of kind or of degree? Take away my depression/anxiety and I would be quite different and act quite differently, if not to the same degree you're describing. Many things driven by my anxiety have been good for my career in some ways; many other things driven by it have been bad for my career; all I can say for sure is that without it I'd be in a VERY different place.

How would we separate various mental differences into "disorder" vs "diversity"?

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Re:What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Weird’ Brain in the Age of N... by shrimpx on Friday April 01, 2022 @07:40PM (#30884452)

I would say there are 3 tiers:

a) Your condition prevents you from being a functioning adult in society. You have to be in someone's care in order to function at a basic level.

b) You're a functioning adult in society but you (or others, or both) perceive your condition as a handicap that hurts areas of your life and needs to be fixed.

c) Your condition is a mixed bag and you perceive it as beneficial in many ways.

I'd say (a) is definite "disorder" territory, (c) is leaning into "diversity", and (b) is a gray area. It could be "diversity" if you choose to embrace it and live with it, or a "disorder" if you're set on keeping it at bay.

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Re:What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Weird’ Brain in the Age of N... by throwaway6532 on Sunday April 03, 2022 @10:51PM (#30902929)

All 3 are disorder from where I'm standing :(

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Re:What Does It Mean to Have a ‘Weird’ Brain in the Age of N... by throwaway684936 on Friday April 01, 2022 @09:43PM (#30885152)

I would argue it's purely a difference of kind, not degree: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30884953

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