How do smart Aspies think differently to smart NTs?
-Detail oriented approach to tasks which may result in missing the “bigger picture”
-Difficulty seeing “parts-to-whole” and “whole-to-parts” relationships
I think both groups are needed. NTs would not have the hyper-focus, detail-oriented persistence/patience to allow for discovery. And without NTs to put these parts together we would be missing the big picture.
I agree with this. Just two examples: I went to a university prep highschool, so you'd say people are smart there. During maths class, most people just learned the formula and applied it when they saw thesame format question. I couldn't do that. I HAD to know why I was using that formula and how it worked before I could use it, instead of just applying it without any notion of why.
Another one: I now study History at university, and before my first class about the Falklands War (so without any knowledge of what intake the teacher would have on the subject) we had to prepare for the subject of the islands since they were discovered till they were claimed by Argentina. I had learned and read all these details, from how many sheep there were in relation to the people and the changes in this over the years, all the names of people who had even remotely thought about the islands, etc. In class it turned out that everyone had just globally learned the diplomatic events and what effect they would have on future events. parts vs. bigger picture?
I have noticed this as well. I absolutely CAN'T concentrate when someone is talking to me during a lecture. Others seem to be able to multitask this quite easily AND have good notes.
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"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
Sherlock Holmes in The Sign Of Four (1890), ch. 6
ADHD here, so not sure if that counts...
I find with myself I am able to pick up the material faster than my classmates in some situations and slower in other cases.
When I am truly concentrating, I learn the material well the first time around and usually retain it quite well. However, on a bad day, I can read and re-read the same passage and not retain any of it. Studying, particularly before I started taking medication, was always hit and miss. Sometimes I could do it, other times I could not. While it's still like that even now, at least on meds I don't just fall asleep anymore when the material gets difficult.
// Edit: I should also add that the amount of studying I need to do is considerably less than my classmates if I am interested in the material and able to concentrate. This allows me the free time to pursue my interests and study what I want to study.
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Mummy_of_Peanut
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For me, the main difference was that I never needed to study at school or universtity and still manged to be one of the top pupils. The teachers thought I was a swat, which couldn't have been further from the truth. However, I pulled out of university before the final year (after getting a basic degree) as I couldn't handle the thought of waht was expected in the final year (liaising with professors, doing even more presentations, people stuff). Academically, there was no reason for me not being able to get an honours degree. An NT would have stayed on for the senior honours year (unless they had a social phobia, or some other issue).
It's a long time since I did any studying but I too picked up things very quickly. I never took much notice in lectures, often completing unrelated assignments. I would read upthe lecture notes later, in my own time.
I have a useless memory but am good at understanding and working from first principles.
Not true in my case. I have to think very hard before I open my mouth or I will put my foot in it.
simfish
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Interesting - how would you describe the "autistic inertia"?
Bloodheart
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I think aspies are better with learning things instinctively or that we internalize and process new information easier. At least that was always my impression.
I always found school impossible because even in top classes it seemed to take my class mates all lesson to pick-up something I grasped within a few minutes, and they seemed to struggle with applying knowledge and putting things in their own words. We seem to grasp better understanding and so we may be more likely to be thinking a few steps ahead too.
I think NT's think one dimensionally, they take information as they get it, where as our brains take an idea and flip it round, dissect it, pull it apart and see how else it may fit together or where else it may fit. So we become more intimately aware of the information we take-in so can apply it easier elsewhere.
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Bloodheart
Good-looking girls break hearts, and goodhearted girls mend them.
Interesting - how would you describe the "autistic inertia"?
It's mostly a need for intense focus. Almost an emotional need. There's also the sense that my focus is either "on" or "off" with nothing in between. I can't really do things "half-assed" the way NT's can.
-Detail oriented approach to tasks which may result in missing the “bigger picture”
-Difficulty seeing “parts-to-whole” and “whole-to-parts” relationships
I think both groups are needed. NTs would not have the hyper-focus, detail-oriented persistence/patience to allow for discovery. And without NTs to put these parts together we would be missing the big picture.
I think this is a generalisation. I am a smart NT working in a technical field. I am very detail orientated where I need to be which is actually what I like, in particular working the unknown out, but can step back to generalisation or dealing with something at a concept where its expedient. I think its more about what you like and find rewarding doing. I find it exciting to work things out for myself, find problems, learn things by observation and experimentation, and then apply that to an end.
I have worked with plenty of people I now recognise as having Aspergers traits. I don't see any particularly different way in approaching tasks..but I can see where and how they deal with things like office politics and interpersonal relationships differently.
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