but why?
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2025
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Hmmm, I am almost 70. I think I am neurodivergent?
After all the stuff I have been reading the past couple of years on Reddit and Lemmy I seem to exhibit quit a few of the traits mentioned about being neurodivergent. Starts with me having Aphantasia(no pictures in my brain) and Anendophasia (no inner voice at all) maybe. Not sure. Is it even worth getting a diagnosis at this point in my life?
Why indeed.
Yes it's your call. It was for me, it gave me peace about being labelled as thick as a kid and it helps me in day to day life.
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I have multi-sensory aphantasia. No pictures/sounds/tastes/touch/smell. My inner voice is soundless but constant.
I discovered aphantasia at 40; it is not a lack or detriment merely a difference. I talked with my Mum about it, she is has aphantasia and didn't realise and she is 66.
Aphantasia doesn't hold you back or make life harder; especially since you can go decades without realising that you have it.
You may have other stuff, ASD or ADHD etc....but aphantaisa isn't in the same realm.
Found out about the aphantasia about 10yrs ago. Found out about the Anendophasia about 5 yrs ago. It’s more the other stuff I do or have done that has me a wondering’.
You don't need a diagnosis to know you're built different, you just need it if you want to get medical care or assistance for it.
If your experience lines up with others, and you identify with their struggles and interests when other people do not, then to me that's enough.
According to my religion ignorance is a sin, thusly I must know as much as possible in a sisyphusian goal of madness. Is summary: why?
The more we know about the universe, the better equipped we are to weather its challenges
My religion also says ignorance is sin but there are also a fucktonne of very content sinners in our ranks, sadly.
Could be worse a solid contingent of the followers of my god are Nazis. Neo paganism is fun.
I used to be norse flavored neopagan, I get you. Can't do a single rune wheel without someone putting a swastika next to it...
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I don't think this has anything to do with autism, ADHD, or neurodivergence.
Intelligent people are curious. That's what makes them intelligent.
IMHO neurodivergent people don't have a trait for "curiousity" -- they're just more intelligent (if their neurodivergence isn't too severe) and so are interested in things. That's why there's so many in technical and engineering fields, mathematics, science -- the really hard stuff (hard for most people.)
Yeah, it's still not easy because there's so much other stuff going on inside the mind, but all that other stuff is going to lead to some pretty cool thoughts that could turn into a paper, project, business, thesis, etc. (if you manage to remember them long enough to write them down!) Over years this builds brain matter and this is where the intelligence comes from (again assuming the neurodivergence isn't severe.)
By "intelligence" I mean the raw ability to process information and gain understanding from it. Not IQ.
The way I understand it (based on some introspection and reading the experiences of other autistic people), it's not a matter of ability to process information but rather the inability to not process information. We don't have the innate ability to recognize what's important and what isn't, which hinders our ability to recognize that two situations are the same and should be handled the same way. Asking "why?" is an attempt at understanding the pattern so that we can generalize in the same way as other non-autistics instead of memorizing every individual situation.
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But why do I?
Yes I have read multiple encyclopedias, as the internet was not available to most people when I was a child
Yes.
Sure let's make "why" into a negative.
Might as wel surrender your life and live by a.i.'s statements.