Playing the Autism Card May Be Harmful to Humanity

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A lot of material is being presented here that involves a new way of looking at things,so if a person is not familiar with this kind of language, this way of brain processing, it is going to be a little difficult to understand, but it is possible to eventually kind just pick it up by trying to understand and think about it, sort of like learning to ride a bike. At first is seems impossible, but eventually you just catch on.

I might leave this subject for while, but first let's look a the word "pun." Apparently this comes from a Sanskrit root which means a pile or a heap. So if we take the consonant base p--n and make different insertions of vowels we get pan, pin, pen, pon, as in pond (or ponder:-), and if we turn it backwards, n--p, we get nip, nap (as in sleep but also as in fur), and nope (as in not). This all may seem an arbitrary way of looking at words, but if you do it with every possible consonant base you can think of, you will no longer see it as arbitrary.

I think this would be a wonderful exercise for people who are so used to seeing things only in black and white. You can do it on the bus. You can do it in your car. You can do in bed in the morning before you get up or when walking down the street. You can exercise and develop you mind in such a way instead of thinking about how different you are from other people (not to imply that everyone here is always thinking in this mode)..

The traditional way ancient people talked about brain function was by representing left and right brain as female and male. This is what tantra is about. You would think that left brain analysis would be represented as the masculine aspect, but actually it is the feminine aspect, and the taking of whole bytes, so broader generalization is the male aspect. The male makes (puts, pushes, projects) himself and the female accepts, receives him. This is the mystery of creation which can only be completely acted out by the union of both aspects, which possibility exist in oneself, be one male or female, and the result is the bearing of a literal or figurative child. You can see how punning, using one thing to mean something else can relate back to the Sanskrit root for pile or heap, as in order to act it is necessary to make a generalization, First one may sort things out and understand why, but then one just knows, and this knowledge connects to the shape of oneself (ship) in present time. Various spiritual traditions sometimes use the image of boat building to talk about this..

People reading my messages here and on other threads, much of what I am writing can be related to the subject of autistic encapsulation. If you google that term you will see something like 250, 000 entries on this subject, but actually there are only a few, maybe a couple of dozen, of which I have only looked at about two or three. I suppose most educated people have an idea of what is meant by the word encapsulation and also have a pretty good idea what it means for a severely autistic person to close himself into some kind of shell, but the implication in my writing about autistic encapsulation so much on this forum is that this principle in someway applies to oneself and that to understand how this applies to oneself will in some way be helpful to oneself.

And it is difficult to make a bridge here, which is why, in this case, slow is fast, so it is important to make a good foundation.....

The first thing to understand and the single key point is that the human brain works by the principle of encapsulation. Most people including psychologists have never really thought about this that much, as it built into their/our own mental functioning, so kind of invisible, but the implication of human beings beginning to understand how this principle does work in such a way that they become able to apply this knowledge it to their own lives is thrilling and profound. Well, who better to understand this than we here on Wrong Planet?. After all, we are uniquely gifted:-) I say this with a gentle smile, and not as a joke, though maybe there is a touch of irony.

Stay tuned, as the story has just begun....

To continue with the wonderful story of Rapunzel. (You can look in the quote above to see the beginning or go to this link to see the whole story:.http://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales ... unzel.html:


Before going any further, just want to mention that in one theory of dream interpretation which I personally subscribe to and which can also be applied to understanding this kind of allegorical material is that every character within the dream represents (some aspect of) oneself.

So to continue, if we take a look at the word salad---the way some people would study this word is by looking at the entire consonant base, sld, and that is one way to do it, so salad would have the same consonant base as sold or sealed, but that is not as rich an approach, imo. To look at s-l offers the greatest possibility...and then combine the understanding of possible meaning with what is at the tail end, "ad." , so we have sol, seal, sell, etc. Aside from salad being green, which to ancient people was a symbol of life, there is the fluid or transformational aspect---solution, solve, solace etc.

In any case, this woman who craved the salad, had a hole in herself, a hunger, in that she had to have this forbidden food on the other side of the wall in the garden of a witch, ha ha, in order to make things right for herself. This exotic green was called rapunzel or rampion. Now let's look at the word rampion. One dictionary definition of ramp is "An inclined surface or roadway connecting different levels." Also, if we look at the consonant base of ram, we will see rim. "P" is the put or push consonant (pen, penis, pile, punch pat. pill) and "ion" implies happening over time, but also suggest something placed or overlaid on top of something else, so an impression or imprint. Perhaps this is stretching it a bit, but this is what we do when we exercise our thinking muscle in order to understand something in a new way.

Also, I forgot to mention, note he in order to help his wife he determined to get this rampion "let it cost thee what it will" and that this drama occurred at twilight:-)..and that she liked it so much the next day she longed for it "three times as much as before."

This somehow brings to mind the Zen poem by Basho which I have quoted before:

Even in Kyoto-- hearing the cuckoo's cry-- I long for Kyoto.
:

Re the Rapunzel material, in order to be able to explain the basic principle of autistic encapsulation as it may apply to oneself, it is necessary to look at material from many different angles. I selected the Rapunzul story because it is very rich and it made a big impression upon me as a child. I forget how old, but probably around eight or nine. The analysis I am giving is all new, as I have never looked at this material from the perspective of word roots before, except I looked at the word "pun" about two years ago and had an insight this story is about brain function, but that was all I could understand at that time.

Of course a child assimilates this kind of material without having to think about it..

But the point is not exactly to learn about brain function from understanding this story (according to my own interpretation which could even be wrong), but more to be able to understand ones own brain function by developing a dormant capacity to look at material in a way which is more comprehensive.

Not much more to write more now, but it does occur to me that the hunger for the green rampion is obviously the key to the whole story. as not only is the food called rampion (Rapunzel), but the girl herself is called Rapunzel (rampion), and this is also the name of the story..

Back to the Rapunzel material later, maybe... The main thing is that people cannot grasp the point that the 'fact' is also contextual. That is why it helps to show there is a different kind of approach, a different kind of world where one thing can represent something else. To a person the way he frames his own material is what is real to himself, but it does not exist outside of his own mind in terms of the meaning. This is not to imply that everything he is experiencing exists within his own mind. That would be a form of encapsulation, not in the sense of autism, but generally speaking, in the sense that it is categorizing in a way which cuts the self off from other perspectives by making an over generalization in tha this impliest all other minds would exist within ones own mind,

Here is a link to a message from yesterday on the documentary thread:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5758617.html#5758617

My comment on the Doctor Seuss quote is in reference to this, as in present time a person is obviously connected to a world outside of his own brain---something physical exists outside of 'the brain,' but without the brain he could not perceive it, so in terms of making a movement it is natural to assume one own context exists outside of oneself as ultimately true or real, but this is not the actual case as there are differing contexts which different people are acting from, but only one actual physical reality, which is why we have war in that people are trying to impose their own expanded contexts upon others, so trying to fit them into the shape of these. A generality can be used to implement a detail, and this detail can also represent a generality. This can be either bad or good depending, again, on the context. To be able to sort it all out a person has to be very dedicated to thinking. clearly, but also may have to begin to look at his own context from outside of it. So, how to do this?

Yes, there is nothing bad about asking people to help oneself find a certain spot. There is also nothing bad with a person telling someone he has a brain problem and asking for help or accepting help if it is offered..That would not be what I mean by playing the autism card, but it could be. I actually played this card with the inspector who came to my business. I told her I had a brain problem in an attempt to explain certain previous behavior at a meeting where I said something that could be taken in such a way as to cause her to want to hinder a certain facet of my business, which she surely has the ability to do. I didn't say autism, but probably knows as she has interacted with me several times over the years. Anyway, I was playing the autism card. I think it may be a little different than the example you explained. Yours is very pure, asking for simple physical help. I am not even sure I would consider that playing a card. Mine was a tad corrupt. Also, your example does not really apply exactly straight down the line to complex social behavior, as In the latter there are so many variables.

In my case this particular inspector is trying to make the selling of certain products illegal because this is her special interest, and it is in my best interest to sell some of these products, and I have suffered extreme bouts of anxiety over my interactions with her for several years. The thing is she is having a problem making selling these products illegal because in my country it is legal, but if I do not comply with her agenda which I do not legally have to, she has the prerogative to not cut me the slack in other angles of my business that she and other inspectors automatically cut for everyone, so basically she can hone in on me in a punitive way, and at a recent hearing about banning the use of this product I stupidly called attention to myself in that I said something about how much I like to sell this product and gave all these arftsy fartsy reasons. This was because I have a brain problem, but I do not know if should be cut slack because of it. I sure I will be, though. She seemed to buy it..

I think that when an entire community forms around this kind of brain problem card that I played with the inspector it is a little different, not just on a larger scale, but with different implications. It is very hard to talk about this because there are so many different variables and so many shades of gray..

Sorry it took me so long to reply. You understood right away...and your message was very clarifying...I guess I myself was just too confused at the time to be able to find the right words to answer. Anyway, thanks for writing that.....

Another thing I was thinking today is when a person plays the austism card, meaning gets into it on an emotional level. it amplifies the symptoms, as you kind of have to focus on the worst aspects in order to get the 'best' results. I have never said autism, but I have said I have some kind of brain problem, and it is true, but it makes me feel crippled. It is not empowering. A person can get pay off for doing it, but the psychological price one has to pay can be unwholesome. I am talking not about simply asking for help when one needs it, but getting into ones weakness in ones head. Let's say if I know I might need help because I have a big struggle on a bad day, though on a good day I do not need help, by the time a bad comes it may be too late to get help. so I have to ask for help on a good day, but the person I am asking for help will not believe I need it unless I project myself into the state I'm in on a bad day. Something is off about that. I used to do that kind of thing to a minor degree quite a bit when I was younger, and there was shame attached.. It did not help me at all.

Whoever hit this thread just now, thanks for reading here and having patience. This is a good day to talk about human intelligence, specifically how it relates to encapsulation regarding brain function, but first, why is this thread getting so much readership? I did try to pick a catchy title that expressed the main idea, but that is not it, exactly. I think it is because no one really wants to harm humanity, and the implication is that there is something a person who is autistic can do that would be helpful to humanity. That is the other side of the coin.

The people I am writing for here are very smart. Imo some of the cream of the crop of human intelligence, though bear in mind that most people are pretty smart. Look at the things people have done and are doing. It is amazing. The human mind is very inventive. Let's look at trains: http://voices.yahoo.com/why-autistic-ch ... 97578.html (nothing too deep in here---I just skimmed it), There is a philosophical system that arose as a response to post industrial revolution malaise. People had lost their direction. They previously found order and meaning in making things. Everything was organized around the individuality of doing this.Thinking was consciously interconnected with this kind of organization which was connected to the human hand in such a way that a well worn and loved circuit was made between the human hand and brain function, and there was a place for things, a felt place..Yes, the social organization was not fair, in but in a certain simple way things made sense. Post industrial revolution people began to lose that. Anyway, the train is the most classic existential symbol, though there is also the ascending staircase, Greek columns generally arising out of ruins, and the blinding light, but the train is primal, and in the beginning of many existential films you will see a train, usually moving slowly upward from the left to the right hand corner of the screen, though you will see in films today, as that image got overplayed..We know that the train is a symbol of brain function, but we do not have to know it to know it..This in itself is fascinating. Anyway, a lot of intellectual/artistic movements come and go, but existentialism will never be outdated as it describes the human dilemma which is always about brain function, about processing and integrating data, a main facet of which involves combating ennui which leads to despair. To be original, to express ones own individuality is to be fully human, and the forces of nature will always contrive to take that away. Nature really just does not care.

Never got to the intelligence part and now am running out of steam....sorry...to be continued...

Existentialism is obviously a framing of human experience that speaks to a lot of people, and probably especially to a lot of autistic people, as in many ways it describes the experience of many of us, so to continue:

The basic existential storyline, especially as expressed in film, is that the individual (due to post industrial society) but a particular story line it could be anything such as being trapped in a zzzzz marriage or locked into some kind of life situation Then, generally speaking, somewhat by chance, an opportunity is presented for the protagonist to enter a different situation where he has an opportunity to redefine his circumstances and to transcend his ennui (loss of meaning) in that these new circumstances cause him to think and act outside the box, such as in one film masterpiece of about twenty years ago the protagonist was a junkie who was taken out of that situation by a special government agency and primed to be an assassin). There are all kinds of potential dramatic twists to these stories, and I think this kind of scenario could somewhat easily be applied to realizing oneself is autistic, which realization puts an entirely different spin on everything and so potentially offers a new possibility, but the question arises about how not to fall into the old trap.

Here, interestingly, I suppose the train functions as a double symbol, as it possibly also does, on an unconscious level, to an autistic child who is so fascinated with playing with trains.

Running out of stream again.....sorry.....

Agreeing with everything you wrote.

I do see a difference if I focus on it., Focusing from one angle amplifies the thinking from that angle and makes me feel even more different, and this at its worst made things very loud and bright and even gave me despair--it closed me me off from other people, from being interested in them, from listening to them, from adapting to them and from being open to them, from feeling affection to them and from them.. Once a person sees this about himself, it would make sense to try to focus more on other people, and I did see this about myself, finally, fortunately, and then I did focus more on other people rather than comparing myself to them or forcing my world and my interests on them, and this did transform my thinking and even my physical health. However, though the realization that I was not the center of the universe, except to myself, was like a light bulb going off, I had to practice various new behaviors, and more and more little light bulbs began going off after the big one.

Also, the similarities between people are probably much greater than any differences. One of the biggest if not the biggest realization of my entire life was the realization that each person cherishes himself, meaning from a perceptual angle one considers oneself to be the center of the universe and so has a natural regard for oneself. I realized one day when riding the bus. By realized I mean I deeply felt and understood in my whole mind and body, my whole being that each person cared for himself, meaning wanted to feel good, to be happy, to survive, and the feeling of this caring was exactly the same as what I felt for myself, so this equalized perception and turned it into a connecting experiencing rather than an isolating experience. This was the major turning point in my life. It only happened a few years ago, I would hate to see others go through life unhappy and miserable like I did. Yes I had my special interests, my cravings, enjoyed various sensual pleasures etc. and had an upbeat attitude in some respects because of a naive theory of mind, though fueled by a lot of illusion, but I was not a whole person and was missing the greatest joy of life and basically picking through a trash can for food when there was all kinds of magical food hanging from the trees.

A genuinely charming comment. but actually playing the autism card can serve as a psychological buffer in order to not feel and face certain facts, so from that perspective, playing that card serves a function which is to 'win' a certain game, though imo it is not really winning or maybe it is winning but in a game that is not so productive. I have played this kind of card myself and it has gotten me nowhere. So yes, it would be like the two of diamonds.

If a person identifies with people like himself and chooses to be with them, this is not what I mean by playing the autism card. I more mean playing it from an emotional angle that supports a person holding grudges toward other people and expecting to receive benefits and special consideration because he is born a certain way. In some instances he really is born this way, but in other instances it is his own negative thinking that is causing or greatly amplifying his situation. This does not mean that he should not receive benefits, as if a person's thinking is way bent out of shape and he is having various problems with executive function, this is obviously still a handicap, whether he was born a certain way or not, so this is not the point I am making,, but I think it is both harmful to this person and also to society to play this kind of card from an emotional angle, as it keeps people from developing..I do not think the solution is necessarily not to give people benefits, but rather it is for these people to begin to think differently about themselves and focus more on their own behavior rather then blaming other people for not understanding them..

In terms of bonding with people like oneself and having someone like oneself to share with, of course that feels very good and is natural to do. I do not consider this playing the autism card unless these people contribute to helping each other amplify their own disorder, and the latter can easily happen/.

To get down to brass tacks--so why is this thread getting so many hits? What is so interesting here? But first, it just occurred to me to look at this idiom. This is going to be intellectual material, so if you are not one of the fight or flight people, you may want to skip it.

I have never looked at the word, brass till about five minutes ago when I wrote the above, and have always used this idiom without thinking about it.Interesting how when you think someone is listening, the same story, or should I say the same material, acquires a much much richer meaning and value..Thinking/feeling someone else might understand opens ones own mind to seeing things in a new way. The potential for discovery increases. I have often thought foraging for food is a primal activity that connects all people, at least assuming that if it is a group activity that any food discovered will be shared with the group..You never see children fighting when they have discovered an interesting stone or an insect and are grouped together, kind of in a little circle, looking at it. They forget any previous animosities. Looking with the mind open becomes the bridge.

The origin of the idiom of getting down to brass tacks no one really knows.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_down_to_brass_tacks

Interestingly, the origin of the word brass is also unknown, but we have a new way of looking at words according to consonant bases (new readers go back a page or two to the beginning of the Rapunzel material...and you can also read some recent material (looking at the words black and white) on page 8 of this other thread--Autistic Encapsulation--Protecting The Self From Pain:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5777294.html#5777294

We are now going to be perhaps begin to understand the logic behind the word the construction of the word brass. .
From the Online Etymology Dictionary:


brass (n.) Look up brass at Dictionary.com


Sorry..I'm getting tired....This will be continued --in the meantime, suggested thinking:-) to look at the consonant base br, and remember to turn it backwards and forwards when you insert various vowels, and something interesting to add to the ponder is that brass looks like gold....but is obviously not gold. Also, regarding the possible origin of the idiom, the word cloth is very interesting and does seem to fit into all of this..

I did a lot some reading yesterday about the theory of mind, TOM, as it applies to literalism in autism. Can an autistic person understand symbolism? Of course he can, so in this regard I am thinking there is some 'perceived' benefit or function in NOT understanding it. I put the marks around perceived because the function is obviously not consciously perceived as it it completely blocked from the conscious mind. I guess I should point out I myself have an undeveloped theory of mind (which used to be much more undeveloped), so I get to observe my own functioning in this regard. Maybe I will write about it sometime.

<waits patiently for someone to explain the above post to him>

It was only the first part of the post. Sorry. I am over seventy and got tired, plus have to go to work soon. The study of word roots is a way to begin to understand autistic encapsulation. The principle of encapsulation which is for any person the way the brain functions (left brain fine tuning of data moving toward more generalized right brain function) to pivot directly into understanding and action but it can also be used for protection and escape b y turning inward. It would equate to making a kind of wall or wrapping oneself within or into oneself rather than moving outward into the world.

Some of this kind of material cannot be approached directly but only by metaphor, analogy and allegory (story), which is kind of a right brain function in that something represents something else in such a way that enables the mind to make a bridge or a bar (barrier). Note the use of the consonant base, br. It is thrilling, to me, at least, to begin to see the implication of this. When you turn this base backwards and insert vowels, look for something very interesting (clue--the creation of Eve).

Granted this material is not for everyone. I said in the beginning this thread would be difficult..Of course what you have written in no way indicates the material is too difficult for you to understand. I just used this reply as an opportunity to throw in some more information.

The one is, some things can't be explained...ones own thinking about it adds the missing ingredient. What does it mean to ponder? That is an interesting thing to ponder.

Again, this haiku from Basho:

Even in Kyoto--
hearing the cuckoo's cry--
I long for Kyoto.

You're off your chump.