On Sat, Dec 15, 2001 at 11:58:33AM +1100, Damien Broderick wrote:
> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html
>
> A couple of test points allegedly indicating autism are actually related to
> *visualization ability* rather than *imagination* or *ability to handle
> novelty*. As a non-visualizer, I feel deeply wounded by this Aspersion and
> will go off and console myself by memorizing the phone book.
> (Unfortunately, as a non-visualizer I *can't* memorize the phone book.)
So, what do you non-visualizers do for kicks?
It seems like there is a huge variation in the inner life of people, far
beyond the ordinarily accepted differences in personality and
motivations. Autism disorders show a whole spectrum of ways of valuing
that are different from neurotypical, people have surprisingly different
sensory experiences (synesthetics, supertasters, tetrachromats) and it
seems to me that we have so far only scratched at the surface on the
many ways people can experience a sense of self (the uploading identity
debate is just a hint). It might be beneficial for transhumanism (and
transhumanists!) to learn more about this range and to promote an
understanding of it in popular consciousness, in order to both get
inspiration for possible changes and help build a tolerance for truly
different mindsets.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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