This is coming from a neurodivergent guy. I just don’t get it. I mean, I know it’s probably because we act differently, but WHY EXACTLY do some people decide we’re lesser than neurotypical people?
My theory is that most people are scared, so they try to belong to a group so that they are less scared. The cohesion in the group is determined by the extent to which its participants are alike. To promote cohesion, people tend to conform to the rest of the group (speaking teh same way, dressing the same way, having similar interests etc.).
Now, if someone does not conform to the group, for example, because they dress differently, or have different interests, then either they are not in the group and should be kept our to promote cohesion (according to these people). If they are already in the group and do not conform, they are either pushed into confirming or cast out of the group, to ensure that cohesion remains intact. This is why some people act like people who are neurodivergent are different, I think.
TL;DR: Many people need to be part of a group to feel safe and feel like people acting differently threatens their group.
Guy, it’s simple. Human nature is to ostracize what is different. You know, social hierarchy and all that shit. I don’t get why you don’t get it.
That said, it’s deplorable and needs to change.
That’s not human nature that’s the product of a society that demands conformity, hierarchy, and defines community through exclusion. You wouldn’t say its in a coal miner’s nature to have black lung.
Edit: Hold on you might have been being sarcastic idk I’m in this thread for a reason lmao
And that society is the product of human nature.
How can you know that for certain when this society is all that you have known? Isn’t it more likely that you are told these things are human nature in order to justify their existence and power over you?
Society has changed drastically over human history and I am certain all forms of them claimed to be the purest expression of human nature.
How do you seperate human nature from the effects our society has on it when both society and human nature constantly affect eachother in turn?
Isn’t it more likely that you are told these things are human nature in order to justify their existence and power over you?
No, that is a significantly more complicated explanation than the obvious assumption that humans, behaving according to their nature, created a society that is the result of human nature.
I am sorry to say that human society, which has existed and evolved for millennia, is often complex and has more to do with production and hierarchy than the expression of a nebulous human nature.
And the conditions that created the seed of that society are the result of human nature.
No. Not being sarcastic. You’ve got to look at it from a historical context. Liberalism and tolerance are relatively newer concepts.
I forgot about that. It is absolutely deplorable, though, you’re right
Bullying is almost always about being able to single out a person that is somehow different in order to create a synthetic group feeling in opposition to them. Whether that be financially, absent parents, neurodivergence etc.
Yup. Herd mentality. If you’re not part of the herd, you’re a valid target for reinforcing the herd’s stances.
If you’re not part of the herd, you’re one of the nerds!
There. Made it catchier for you!
Because the whole fucking world is ass-backwards. I mean, FFS some defining traits of Autism are:
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Having empathy
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Having a strong sense of justice
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Having a strong disposition toward fairness
This would imply that allistic people do not have empathy, do not care about justice, and like when the deck is stacked.
What’s your source for this info? “Having empathy” surprised me; I’d often heard the opposite is true
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My mother thinks autistic people are “dangerous”. (like she said this to me like a few days ago)
Like what. the. fuck.
My parents came from some rural village in People’s Republic of China, a very conservative upbringing, modern psychaitry is still new, older people have trouble accepting that, and sometimes their views even get passed on to their offsprings. Because PRC is still filled with conservatives, people still get kicked out of university over an Autism diagnosis that the faculty later found out about, there is no “ADA” like there is in the US. (Imagine you have a country, but instead of half of them being US-MAGAs, its 90% of the entire country) Conservatives view any deviation from the “normal” as bad, they think people with any slight mental health issues as “brain damaged” or “useless”, the nazi germany’s concept of “useless eater” comes to mind.
TLDR: Sometimes ignorance, but mostly the conservative mindset.
As always, a difference. That’s it. That’s all. Needs no logic. A difference from main crowd. If just color of the skin is enough, then logic clearly isn’t needed in these cases.
If someone wants to find the justification for themselves, they will.
By not acting as they do, they interpret that as a deliberate choice. They then assume that by not acting like them, that you dont like how they act. This is an attack on them in their view, so they attack “back”.
On top of this, most tippies are very self centered, and likely have never stopped to think about life as a neurodivergent. That makes us strange to them, and people dont like strange.(ESPECIALLY if they say they like strange)
In my experience, I’ve bullied and also been bullied because of people/me being annoying. Or not getting a joke, making a stupid comment, etc. Neurodivergent people often don’t get jokes or can’t read the room, so they get made fun of/bullied for it.
“Neurotypical” people aren’t as aware of differences due to being the “dominant” group. They often have a herd mentality and join whatever dunks on others best to come on ‘top’.
If ypu read about Johanna Haarer a lot of conservative/ fascist mindset makes a lot of sense. That lady was a psychopath.
As a neurodivergent dude myself, it might be because they don’t understand us, and they happened to be miserable… projecting that onto us.
My producer, Sendo (who’s also autistic), was bullied when he was young, and his father wouldn’t do anything about it.
