Along these lines, my brother-in-law gets autism headaches where he hears a guitar riff and can copy it instantly, and can look at a row of lockers and say how many there are without counting. Was I ever shocked to be talking with him one day, he pauses, says "48", says he has a headache, and goes home. It turns out there were 48 chairs in that room.
If that kind of autism can be turned on with a "switch", why not other aspects?
I have borderline high-functioning autism myself. Regarding "special talents" (with me anyway) - it comes and goes. I can't switch it on/ off. Regarding the chairs if there were 6 rows of 8 chairs it isn't that hard to count. The ability to remember musical melodies isn't that difficult - and can be learned. It's part of most musician's training to be able to memorise not just a riff but entire pages of music. If you've taken a music exam you have to sing back a few phrases played to you - which is not far off playing them. I get the tension headaches too - one of the downsides of the frustration caused by having a communication disorder and being misunderstood.
In my own experience I remember a migraine I had come on at work and it transformed me into a savant (of sorts) by giving me a mini Tourette's episode. I couldn't actually tell my colleagues in so many words why I was being a bit odd (apparently muttering "motherfucker" every third word is normal for me when I'm working on something tricky - who knew?) but I developed an amazing ability to communicate my predicament by pointing at my head, grimacing, and saying "shit motherfucker gnnn!"
Who knew that talent lay latent within me, just waiting for its release through the method of blinding and nauseating pain?
In college, we'd drop acid and go to the arcade (early 1980's) and play video games. I was a pretty good Missile Command player normally, but on LSD, I was basically perfect. The game was slow, smooth, and also had a weird 3D quality (it looked kind of like claymation animation).
What horrible advice. Messing up your brain with artificial stimuli can open up a can of horrors.
Try meditation and breathing excercises instead. It is used by top-professional chess-players and athletes with big success. Traditionally, martial arts are BASED on meditation, yoga and spiritual practices, with good reasons. It really enhances your mind, physics and general life-quality.
The only downside to being intoxicated by life, is diminishing passivity. Check out the link in my sig if you're
I've done both LSD and psilocybin in quite large doses (ok, warning: I worked up to those doses. Doing psychedelic drugs is a dangerous and unpredictable thing to do. Don't do it, you have been warned.) LSD was interesting and produces interesting hallucinations... but it was geometric and straight lined.
On the other hand, psilocybin, to me, is an organic fractal entity unto itself. The immediate difference from LSD for me was the process of 'coming down'. Coming down was never a 'downer', and I eve
"Be there. Aloha."
-- Steve McGarret, _Hawaii Five-Oh_
Screw that (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Screw that (Score:5, Interesting)
If that kind of autism can be turned on with a "switch", why not other aspects?
Re:Screw that (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Screw that (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Screw that (Score:5, Funny)
Who knew that talent lay latent within me, just waiting for its release through the method of blinding and nauseating pain?
Re:Screw that (Score:2)
The half-life 2 trailer was much more impressive though..
Re:Screw that (Score:3)
Try LSD.
In college, we'd drop acid and go to the arcade (early 1980's) and play video games. I was a pretty good Missile Command player normally, but on LSD, I was basically perfect. The game was slow, smooth, and also had a weird 3D quality (it looked kind of like claymation animation).
Re:Screw that (Score:2)
What horrible advice. Messing up your brain with artificial stimuli can open up a can of horrors.
Try meditation and breathing excercises instead. It is used by top-professional chess-players and athletes with big success. Traditionally, martial arts are BASED on meditation, yoga and spiritual practices, with good reasons. It really enhances your mind, physics and general life-quality.
The only downside to being intoxicated by life, is diminishing passivity. Check out the link in my sig if you're
Re:Screw that (Score:3, Interesting)
I've done both LSD and psilocybin in quite large doses (ok, warning: I worked up to those doses. Doing psychedelic drugs is a dangerous and unpredictable thing to do. Don't do it, you have been warned.) LSD was interesting and produces interesting hallucinations... but it was geometric and straight lined.
On the other hand, psilocybin, to me, is an organic fractal entity unto itself. The immediate difference from LSD for me was the process of 'coming down'. Coming down was never a 'downer', and I eve