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Mar. 28th, 2013 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedYesterday, I wrote a friend-locked entry in which I talked about an email I sent to Jake and Chelle, which was about my Nicktoon aversion and how I would like to overcome that. Chelle left a comment saying that the reason she was taking so long with that one was because it contained two unfortunate implications that she didn't want to risk messing her brain up dealing with too much.
(I also mentioned that I would be writing this entry tomorrow, since I had an appointment at Community Enterprises yesterday. That appointment was cancelled shortly after I finished the entry for that morning.)
That, actually, was the first of two emails I sent her that stem from this particular entry. The second one, which I was hoping to send her after she responded to the first (which I assumed she would much sooner), was about some kind of habit that I developed during my years of writing this blog. She did reply to that one several weeks ago, but couldn't help me figure it out as much as I hoped she would.
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* What finally cued me into describing my aforementioned aversion to Jake and Chelle, hoping that they would have some advice on how to overcome it, was an intended reference to the SNES game adaptation of that show, without mentioning the title. That's right, the one that, up until now, I refused to mention directly, but the extent I went out of my way to avoid such that time only felt awkward. What I wrote was "the game that would come alphabetically first on any complete list or archive of SNES games", but that failed to take digits and symbols into account. Such a criterion would have actually referred to 3 Ninjas Kick Back (or 3x3 Eyes: Juuma Houkan, if you count Super Famicom games). I didn't fix it immediately afterwards, because certain people had just read it right afterwards, and to fix it then would have been just as awkward; now would be a better time, now that I'm about to describe what this is really about.
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Each time I post a blog entry, part of the fun is, afterwards, listing in my head each game and console mentioned on the entry, and the console that each game goes to.
-this blog reply of mine from way back in March 2009. Also applies to anime.
For this, there are two sides: The personal aspect, in which I myself keep track of what games and anime are referred to during any given past time period, and the social aspect, in which I keep track of who is reading this in the present. Hard to explain.
A most recent example of the social side of things (and one applying to something other than this blog) would be me having shown Brian that MS Word page on which I compiled a bunch of video game songs and a few gameplay videos. While he already has been familiar enough with Snowboard Kids 2 for years, I have no reason to believe that he was ever familiar with Chip-chan Kick, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Knuckles Chaotix, or any installment of the Mega Man franchise. He clicked on the link to the Shinto shrine theme from CCK, but only listened for a few seconds. Still, that made me feel good, as would if he were to listen to or watch anything listed in its entirety. (To go into detail about everyone I'm friends with would be a bit time consuming, so let's just leave this as an example and move on.)
(*I actually do remember him being present when we were watching my friend Steven Moretti (and his brother Justin) playing Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on separate occasions, and I also remember bringing the manual for StH3 home from his house, but we were kids back then, so he's probably long forgotten.)
On the flip side, if something I'm unfamiliar with becomes relevant to me, I might look up gameplay videos or other stuff on that. Whether or not I deem the context involving it worth mentioning on this blog is a different story. Right now, though, no examples in particular come to mind.
And then there are times when something is mentioned that I know someone in particular is not going to bother with. For example, Chelle is generally not into video games and actively avoids anything that has too much or certain kinds of fanservice, and Melissa (whom I haven't heard from since October 2011) had told me beforehand that she isn't into anime or the Angry Video Game Nerd. With them, that makes any references to anything fulfilling such criteria all the more enjoyable for me.
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Regarding the personal side of things, I consider this blog to be my legacy, just like if someone were to write a book. Every time I mention some game, game system, anime, etc. it makes everything a bit more unique and enjoyable (provided that there actually was any reason to mention it). Especially if it's something that I rarely refer to or never have beforehand. While most people don't remember details on anything from the past as well as they would the big picture, this blog helps me to do just that.
In fact, not coincidentally, the time that I started actively keeping track of which games and anime get referred to in a given entry would probably be during the latter half of 2007, when I became a fan of both Penny Arcade and the Angry Video Game Nerd. Comparisons were already made here and here (as well as this entry from two years later).
Usually, I'm quite careful about when to write something and when to withhold it. To mention something just for the sake of mentioning it goes against my personal blog policy. There have been entries I wrote in the past, which I ended up wishing I hadn't written because there was nothing to really warrant them. For example, early in 2010, there were two consecutive entries (the second much longer than anyone would want to read), in which I wrote down a bunch of random thoughts. I took those two down at some point, because there was nothing to cue marking any of them down, and they were just awkward to re-read. Since then, I have made a point to decide more carefully where to write any given thing that comes to mind that doesn't pertain to my actual present experiences.
All of this does apply as well to other things, such as PMs, forums, live chat, etc. But, especially on this blog, since it's all more permanent, lengthy, and for everyone to read.
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Here was what Chelle was able to infer when she responded to the email:
I'd say it's not a general autistic thing, but something that you specifically developed to give a manageable frame to your life. A lot of autistic people have fixations on little practices and perceptions in life to frame and give order; you appear to be more word and concept focussed while I'm more number focused. What's relevant to your brain is that you always do it and work towards it. Autists are far more likely to develop this and stick with them than neurotypical people, but neurotypical people can also develop them.
(I also mentioned that I would be writing this entry tomorrow, since I had an appointment at Community Enterprises yesterday. That appointment was cancelled shortly after I finished the entry for that morning.)
That, actually, was the first of two emails I sent her that stem from this particular entry. The second one, which I was hoping to send her after she responded to the first (which I assumed she would much sooner), was about some kind of habit that I developed during my years of writing this blog. She did reply to that one several weeks ago, but couldn't help me figure it out as much as I hoped she would.
-----
* What finally cued me into describing my aforementioned aversion to Jake and Chelle, hoping that they would have some advice on how to overcome it, was an intended reference to the SNES game adaptation of that show, without mentioning the title. That's right, the one that, up until now, I refused to mention directly, but the extent I went out of my way to avoid such that time only felt awkward. What I wrote was "the game that would come alphabetically first on any complete list or archive of SNES games", but that failed to take digits and symbols into account. Such a criterion would have actually referred to 3 Ninjas Kick Back (or 3x3 Eyes: Juuma Houkan, if you count Super Famicom games). I didn't fix it immediately afterwards, because certain people had just read it right afterwards, and to fix it then would have been just as awkward; now would be a better time, now that I'm about to describe what this is really about.
-----
Each time I post a blog entry, part of the fun is, afterwards, listing in my head each game and console mentioned on the entry, and the console that each game goes to.
-this blog reply of mine from way back in March 2009. Also applies to anime.
For this, there are two sides: The personal aspect, in which I myself keep track of what games and anime are referred to during any given past time period, and the social aspect, in which I keep track of who is reading this in the present. Hard to explain.
A most recent example of the social side of things (and one applying to something other than this blog) would be me having shown Brian that MS Word page on which I compiled a bunch of video game songs and a few gameplay videos. While he already has been familiar enough with Snowboard Kids 2 for years, I have no reason to believe that he was ever familiar with Chip-chan Kick, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Knuckles Chaotix, or any installment of the Mega Man franchise. He clicked on the link to the Shinto shrine theme from CCK, but only listened for a few seconds. Still, that made me feel good, as would if he were to listen to or watch anything listed in its entirety. (To go into detail about everyone I'm friends with would be a bit time consuming, so let's just leave this as an example and move on.)
(*I actually do remember him being present when we were watching my friend Steven Moretti (and his brother Justin) playing Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on separate occasions, and I also remember bringing the manual for StH3 home from his house, but we were kids back then, so he's probably long forgotten.)
On the flip side, if something I'm unfamiliar with becomes relevant to me, I might look up gameplay videos or other stuff on that. Whether or not I deem the context involving it worth mentioning on this blog is a different story. Right now, though, no examples in particular come to mind.
And then there are times when something is mentioned that I know someone in particular is not going to bother with. For example, Chelle is generally not into video games and actively avoids anything that has too much or certain kinds of fanservice, and Melissa (whom I haven't heard from since October 2011) had told me beforehand that she isn't into anime or the Angry Video Game Nerd. With them, that makes any references to anything fulfilling such criteria all the more enjoyable for me.
-----
Regarding the personal side of things, I consider this blog to be my legacy, just like if someone were to write a book. Every time I mention some game, game system, anime, etc. it makes everything a bit more unique and enjoyable (provided that there actually was any reason to mention it). Especially if it's something that I rarely refer to or never have beforehand. While most people don't remember details on anything from the past as well as they would the big picture, this blog helps me to do just that.
In fact, not coincidentally, the time that I started actively keeping track of which games and anime get referred to in a given entry would probably be during the latter half of 2007, when I became a fan of both Penny Arcade and the Angry Video Game Nerd. Comparisons were already made here and here (as well as this entry from two years later).
Usually, I'm quite careful about when to write something and when to withhold it. To mention something just for the sake of mentioning it goes against my personal blog policy. There have been entries I wrote in the past, which I ended up wishing I hadn't written because there was nothing to really warrant them. For example, early in 2010, there were two consecutive entries (the second much longer than anyone would want to read), in which I wrote down a bunch of random thoughts. I took those two down at some point, because there was nothing to cue marking any of them down, and they were just awkward to re-read. Since then, I have made a point to decide more carefully where to write any given thing that comes to mind that doesn't pertain to my actual present experiences.
All of this does apply as well to other things, such as PMs, forums, live chat, etc. But, especially on this blog, since it's all more permanent, lengthy, and for everyone to read.
-----
Here was what Chelle was able to infer when she responded to the email:
I'd say it's not a general autistic thing, but something that you specifically developed to give a manageable frame to your life. A lot of autistic people have fixations on little practices and perceptions in life to frame and give order; you appear to be more word and concept focussed while I'm more number focused. What's relevant to your brain is that you always do it and work towards it. Autists are far more likely to develop this and stick with them than neurotypical people, but neurotypical people can also develop them.
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Date: 2013-04-07 01:24 pm (UTC)The idea here is that autistic people seem have an uncanny ability for comprehending complicated algorithms, rule based systems, and structured relationships. To bring up the previous examples again, buildings and skylines are essentially derived from the height, width, depth, location, and orientation of each individual building (rule based) but what is amazing is the artist's ability to internalize all of this data in a systematic and reproducible fashion.
The intrigue of the second artist was his ability to manifest realistic reflections on curved surfaces, such as the hood of a car. Again, it is easy to imagine tracing a beam of light through a scene, but to do so systematically throughout a work of art is difficult and time consuming even for a trained artist.
The Dutch Computer Scientist Edsger Dijkstra called this kind of structural simplicity 'elegance.' We use elegant systems to dispense with the superfluous details of our existence. In this way we can comprehend the most data with the least amount of effort.
By thinking in elegant terms, say numerically as Yincira does, or by the one-to-one relationships of video games to consoles, you free mental resources for other such things, such as comprehending the finer details of another subject you are interested in. Ultimately that comprehension can lead to more elegant systems of thinking, and the process repeats itself, yielding and ever more refined view of the complex universe.
- Brian