The ADHD part of this is being unable or very bad at “tuning it out” so you can focus on something. Like, you recognise there’s sound, but since it’s not relevant to what you’re focused on, you ignore it without thinking about the fact that you’re ignoring it… That’s what ADHD people are bad at.
It can be very helpful if you need to listen for specific sounds to survive. Like, if you were in the brush and you hear very specific crunching noises, the kind that you would hear if you were being stalked by a predator… Someone with ADHD would be able to pick up on that more readily, while doing something else (like, idk, gathering), than someone who doesn’t have ADHD.
IMO, a lot of ADHD traits provide advantages in specific scenarios, mainly related to crisis, conflict and survival, but those traits work against you for basically everything else.
My ADHD superpower is basically being situationally aware to the point at which it harms my ability to live. I almost always remember the most trivial details of places and situations that largely do not matter. I’ll get called into a meeting for some hyper important project from my manager for client x, and that I should be working with person y at the client site to push forward.
I will remember every detail of the plant on the managers desk, whether it was real or fake, was it in dirt or mulch or that foam stuff that they sometimes use for plants, was it recently watered (was the substance it was in, wet?), any oddly colored stripes in the stem/branches/leaves. How big was it, were there any issues with it, did it have any neighbors (other plants, maybe a fish?), even pictures nearby, etc…
Then I have to email my manager later to ask who y is, because I’ve forgotten the name.
Yes and no. It’s not exclusive to ADHD.
The ADHD part of this is being unable or very bad at “tuning it out” so you can focus on something. Like, you recognise there’s sound, but since it’s not relevant to what you’re focused on, you ignore it without thinking about the fact that you’re ignoring it… That’s what ADHD people are bad at.
It can be very helpful if you need to listen for specific sounds to survive. Like, if you were in the brush and you hear very specific crunching noises, the kind that you would hear if you were being stalked by a predator… Someone with ADHD would be able to pick up on that more readily, while doing something else (like, idk, gathering), than someone who doesn’t have ADHD.
IMO, a lot of ADHD traits provide advantages in specific scenarios, mainly related to crisis, conflict and survival, but those traits work against you for basically everything else.
My ADHD superpower is basically being situationally aware to the point at which it harms my ability to live. I almost always remember the most trivial details of places and situations that largely do not matter. I’ll get called into a meeting for some hyper important project from my manager for client x, and that I should be working with person y at the client site to push forward. I will remember every detail of the plant on the managers desk, whether it was real or fake, was it in dirt or mulch or that foam stuff that they sometimes use for plants, was it recently watered (was the substance it was in, wet?), any oddly colored stripes in the stem/branches/leaves. How big was it, were there any issues with it, did it have any neighbors (other plants, maybe a fish?), even pictures nearby, etc…
Then I have to email my manager later to ask who y is, because I’ve forgotten the name.
This is my life.
So my Sherlock powers of observation are also ADHD?
Am I maladapted to modern society, or is modern society inhospitable to people with innate survival abilities?
Yes.
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