A Re-Introduction

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Hi All,

I have not posted in over a decade but now I need to reconnect. Recently a friendship went south due to my inability to understand their cues and a request for them to use words so I knew what was going on. That reminded me of my invisible difference. I think it is better for me to seek support from "people who think like me" (analogous to the de-racializing language of "people who look like me").

I am not a disorder
I do not see what I am as a disorder. Disorder implies that there is an order that is being violated. People on the spectrum have a functionality that is different in the human race from those that don't. Treating it as a disorder creates stigma and prejudice. There are no disorders in nature just things that are less functional in their environment.

I am Extra-Cultural
My word for what we are is "Extra-Cultural". The rather insulting term "Theory of Mind" is simply a cultural algorithm that allows "Culturals" to understand through facial expressions, tone of voice, body language and many other subtleties what another person wants, needs or feels. This is entirely dependent on the cultural context.

I do not have the cultural algorithm
For example... If we were to take a psychologist from New York City who adheres to the idea that people on the spectrum do not have a "Theory of Mind" and plop them down in a tribe in the middle of Papua New Guinea... their "Theory of Mind" would stop working for them... in fact, it would conspire against them.

We might bother a person with our behaviors on a 1 on 1 level but people with a "theory of mind" can synchronize to become frighteningly violent as a group of people (they can also synchronize to do wonderful things!). A "theory of mind" is simply another functionality, one that I do not have. This algorithm is extremely "processor intensive". My brain is freed up to think about other things.

I have a theory.
My theory is called "Functional Cognitive Typology". This is based on the idea that the human species has a survival method close to bees, ants, and naked mole rats. It is not fully "Eusocial" so I call it "Pre-Eusocial". The human race has types: worker, soldiers, drones and queens. We also have a cultural vs extra-cultural difference with both having all of the types.

Eusocial Type= Cognitive Type = Disorder Theory = Tribal Type
Workers = Acceptance Driven = psychological "normal" = group joiners
Soldiers = Trust Driven = possible diagnosis of Schizophrenia = warriors/guardians
Drones = Understanding Driven = possible diagnosis of ADD/ADHD = teachers, care takers
Queens = Respect Driven = possible diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder = Chief, Leader

We also have cerebral vs. somatic (adrenaline averse vs. adrenaline seeking)

It this model I am ECUC (Extra-Cultural Understanding Driven Cerebral). I have been working on a book but I am sure most of you know how that goes... keeping my mind focused is like herding cats. I will be writing about the models here. If anyone is interested in helping me refine my language, let me know

Hi and a very warm welcome back, Chain !Sorry to hear that a friendship went south. According to your theory, I am a drone. Good to have you back with us again. Interesting Tribal Types ...

Looks like I’m a drone too.

Welcome back.

I like thinking of Aspergers as a "different cognitive style."
However, the word "disorder" may still be useful in one sense, by opening up the door to legal protection against getting fired and other forms of discrimination.
So, don't knock it?



No, the neurotypical would still enjoy an advantage among the headhunters of Papua New Guinea, due to being able to quickly adapt through osmosis to whatever cultural and social environment they find themselves in. I don't agree that understanding body language is dependent on cultural context, I think NTs are adaptible enough they will just make concessions for different culture and adapt to different "rules."



I think Aspies go right along to synchronize with the majority, if there is a war then the Aspies are right in the middle of it doing whatever their neighbor is also doing, just in a more or less Aspy way. There is always some task in any community effort that the Aspy will be good at, and wartime is no different.



It seems like there is an emphasis on mental illness above, like anyone who is not a Worker (Acceptance Driven) has possibly got something. Apparently being soldier, drone or queen has drawbacks?

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Disorder implies that there is an order. It is irrational. Life is function. We are part of a survival function for the human race. I like the term cognitive style but I am more interested in a scientific truth. The stigma is not good, of course... but my theory simply is a predictive one that is the opposite of the disorder theory.



NTs (Culturals) are actually some of the least flexible people when it comes to culture. The rules are culture specific and learned in youth. They have something called culture shock. I have lived with US NTs in Thailand, Japan and Germany. They all had culture shock and had a very hard time adjusting. I felt liberated from the expectation that I act normal. My quirky behaviors were written off as me being a Farang, Gaijin or Ami.






They are not mental illnesses but functional types. Being a specific type or gender is not an illness. These are actual social drives with specific neurochemistry and differences in the brain. Mental illness can be specific to the types but the types in and of themselves are not. The world is basically built for cultural acceptance... so the other types can be at a disadvantage.

Thank you Julliette. The friendship seems to be coming back as I give it space. It is just gut wrenching when you have heart for a person and it all goes sideways because you don't get non verbal ques. There is a goldilocks zone for every person and relationship and I am always too close or too far away. I told my friend about the functional cognitive types and where I fit in them. I finally had to explain to her that I am on the spectrum. She is cultural drone. (CUS)

So... you feel loved when someone understands that you care = drone = understanding driven = more temporal grey matter = less prefrontal white matter = low levels of dopamine in the brain

Go drones!

Well, I'm going to disagree, I believe NTs have more than mere mastery of cultural rules, they have more physical gray matter dedicated to processing social stimuli. NTs don't learn rules, they learn entire systems like overnight, even in a moment, that's all it takes.

My husband was pure NT, like more NT than most NTs, and went around the world, culture to culture, and he swam like a fish in water wherever he went.

He could enter a room, look around, identify 9 to 10 people he might have seen once in ten years in different settings, different clothes, different hair styles. He would remember their first and last name, who they were with, occupation, and know how to talk with them and what to say, what not to say, how to get them to do this, how to get them to do that. Doesn't matter the culture, which country, what language. He's been to Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia, all over. And he built this network in his mind meanwhile linking x to y to z, a vast social network of who knows who and why. And all of that comes naturally without any effort, just like breathing. That is what a pure true NT can do.

Your discussion of types and acronyms built around those types (CUAC, CUC, CUSP) does not help me to understand. I find it confusing and disorienting. I think it would be better to use just plain old English words.

I am sure your husband could do all of this... He might not have actually been a cultural (NT). I look very NT to the uninitiated yet I have been diagnosed twice with Autism and twice with ADD. I can do everything that your husband could. Most people like me are not diagnosed.

These acronyms are new since this is an unpublished theory I have been working on for 15 years (my first posts here were the initial Eureka moments). First I simply have a vastly different view of this and it is going into a book "A Theory of Mind: Introduction to Functional Cognitive Typology".

NT is a massive oversimplification of people who can process culture. There are some who can do fine in other cultures... most have trouble. I know these words may be confusing but I simply do not see the disorder theory as valid. In order to explain how I see things, I use these acronyms. I do not like using DSM terminology.

I also feel that what are considered disorders today in the DSM wont be in the future... for example "Sexual Orientation Disturbance" was a mental illness terminology for being gay in the DSM until the early 70's. I find that abusive, bigoted and not at all scientific. It is not different for ASD in my mind.

Order = "Man" is made in the image of (a Christian) God... disorder is those who are not in the image of God. That is no philosophical underpinning for a scientific theory (modern psychology as it pertains to disorders).

This is how I view it. I am quite aware that this is an unusual view that many people will disregard.

This is a predictive scientific theory... it can be tested, it explains the "why" instead of checklists that often are inaccurate. All that being said, I truly appreciate your feedback

wow. scratches head. this hermit is not up to not being a hermit.

I like hermiting. Here is one of my "heros". I used to dream of doing this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Proenneke

I'm glad if said feedback was useful in any way, I am just calling things like I see them at all times. My main problem on wrongplanet and other forums is I write too much. Tl;dr. I belong to a different era. I often find I am the last person to reply to a thread, after me, people are like okay, enough.

I don't have any reaction to your theory per se. I agree with the points you made about DSM's shortcomings and the shortcoming of semantics like "NT". I am not an academic or psychologist, and it may be that your theory is on the level of academia, the sort of thing that papers are written about in universities.

i saw the film he shot of himself on PBS a few years back. lordy he was a real survivalist. made just about everything from scratch.

Universities are often where novel ideas go to die.

This theory is pretty accurate and predictive. In a sense I did not "come up with it", I saw it. I simply asked a question. "what is a disorder?" followed by "why are there things that look like disorders?" (since I answered the first question)

Really the whole thing hinges on a very specific question "what is life?" (not "what is the meaning of life?" that is 42)

Psychology is concerned with the minds of Humans and humans are life... so what is this life stuff?

I thank you for your support

My highest "compliment" to another person is "Spending time with you is as good as spending time alone"

a good comedian would find in that comment, grist for plenty of good humor [attempt at humor, no offense intended]