What is one difference between your thinking and NT thinking

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For autistics only!

If you've met one autistic, youve met one autistic, but there probably are commonalities,
and its useful to know the differences, so we can accept ourselves!

For me, I suppose it is still hard to say, after thinking for so long about it and masking so much
I am not myself anymore.

Probably the biggest thing is just fast-paced responses to what others are thinking. I never know what other
people are thinking and tend to focus on much longer term goals and trends.

CLOSE ENOUGH

I mean what I say, no more and no less, and assume the same from you.

NDs, however, seem to be consistently imprecise and vague and just assume everyone'll correctly understand what they meant, or at least close enough.

I would say one difference is that I can more clearly see the difference between what I think and what other people think, regardless of such tricks as attempting to appeal to my emotions or to outnumber me.

My thinking is extremely monotropic.

Because of my ASD and ADHD, it's either a rabbit hole or nothing.

That includes hyperfocus on sensory input without being able to filter.


WP thread and quiz:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=416920&hilit=monotropism#p9382495

My language processing is just one of the many other differences I have to start with.

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I'm aspergers. I have concluded that I can't be conniving. There must be some ability required to make conniving possible. I think it's the skill related to theory of mind. Devious tricksters probably have good agility with theory of mind.
It becomes dangerous for me because I can't detect when someone else is being conniving with me.
I expect most NT's will have better theory of mind skills than I do. I know what it's like to think in language, music or math. But I can't think in other people's thoughts. I can't imagine them and manipulate them in my mind like I can with language, music or math.

I think NT's can think in other people's thoughts, beliefs and attitudes.

And while we're thinking about thinking I have another theory of how I'm different from NT's. Here's my theory: Everybody lies because everybody has secrets. Everybody lies to hide their own secrets. But nobody knows which secrets everybody else has and how many . So nobody can guess who will be lying about what. And yet NT's seem to navigate through this mess with some success. Isn't privacy just a list of your secrets?

Theory of mind skills must be required to separate the lies from the truth for each person in different circumstances. That blows my mind. I can't see how anybody could do that. And yet NT's pull it off without even knowing they're doing it or that it is a special ability. I feel profoundly disabled compared to NT's that way.

I think NT's are masking all the time too. They have secrets and lie to protect them so they'll appear to be normal just like ND's do. But we don't call it masking when they do it. My masking is just a form of lying to protect my secret.

And what about prejudice, bigotry, racism, and projection. Is that where "theory of mind" has gone wrong?

NTs tend to be casuals in their interests. I think it is socially rewarded to be this way. Being more knowledgeable or interested than others could make you seem "different" in a negative light.

There is another reason why autistics are more likely to delve deep into their interests. It is because autistics, on average, get less enjoyment or benefit from socializing. The interests then became a way to fill the void.

With NTs, the interest is often a means of relating to others. For autistics, the interest itself can be very pleasurable. It's kind of like saying for NTs the interest is like an object they share with others. Where for autistics, the interest is a person or at least living thing, to be appreciated on its own, not just as a means of bridge building.