That's all most of these new-age "autists" are - noncomformist. You can become comfortable with that. You can become your own person. But don't invent nonsensical labels that are insulting to people who actually suffer because of autism. I would probably rank fairly high on the "spectrum" of autism, but that doesn't mean anything to me, because this "spectrum" doesn't mean anything to me.
Usually, these "signs of undiagnosed autism" are essentially signs of self-awareness. I don't wanna go into conspiracy theory territory, but this may or may not be why autism in particular has been targeted for "spectrumization", rather than depression, anxiety, gender dysphoria, suicidality, or other equally prevalent mental conditions - locking up self-awareness behind labels is more useful to the system than with the other conditions.
There's nothing stopping us from inventing an artificial "injury spectrum" that runs from stubbing your toe / getting a paper cut all the way to quadriplegia / losing limbs. We could come up with this spectrum right now, and the DSM could include it in their next edition, because it would be supported by ScienceTM in the same way that the autism spectrum is. But that wouldn't change the fact that someone with a paper cut is not "injured" in the same way as someone who has lost both legs is "injured", regardless of the fact that they both fall on the same artificial, imaginary "spectrum" of injury.
Just like it is usually the same people who cling to ScienceTM that believe women must be portrayed as perfect little angels who can do no wrong, the same people who shout the loudest about the autism "spectrum" and make "awareness videos" about the same are usually the ones who also shout the loudest about economic disparity among social classes. "Eat the Rich" and "Autism Awareness" are more often than not found on the same social media pages or clusters.
Why, then, do these people not think of poverty and wealth as a "spectrum"? Why is a jobless, homeless person fundamentally different from billionaires, when they both fall on the same "wealth spectrum"?
Why are "hateful divisive populists" and "helpless endangered minorities" not perceived as falling on the same "power spectrum"?
Why are politically powerful male billionaires and downtrodden, blameless female victims of domestic abuse not on the same "agency spectrum"?
(Keep in mind that I am not the one saying that these two are fundamentally different; it is the same people who claim that being slightly awkward around people is the same "autism" that renders others incapable of communication with another human being altogether. It is the same people who build up a social media presence and socioeconomic clout on the back of their "autism" and "AuDHD" labels that claim that the two poles in the above examples are fundamentally different and must be treated as such.)
Could it be because it is not politically convenient to think of other parameters in terms of a spectrum, but it is profitable to spectrumize autism?
This is why, despite mocking and criticizing the modern Left all day long, I firmly remain an apolitical. It would be easy to criticize "The Left" for this "selective spectrumization", if you will, but it goes deeper than that. This is not about which banner is being flown by who. This is more about the fundamental structures of order and chaos that govern human behavior.
I don't "hate the left wing", in the same way that I don't "love the right wing".
To irrevocably identify with one side of a necessarily binary proposition is akin to cutting off your arm and leg on one side because having both would somehow be a betrayal to "your side". If you eat with your right hand, you better be using your left hand for washing the last traces of that same food off your butthole. It is not advisable to use the same hand when eating and when shitting.
The important thing is to trust the bihemispherical activity in our very human brain. In many ways, the activities of the two hemispheres of the human brain (broadly) correspond to the values and ideals of the political left and right. The logical, analytical, factual left hemisphere corresponds broadly to the right wing, while the creative, intuitive, emotional, imaginative right hemisphere roughly corresponds to the left wing. I cannot emphasize enough that this is a broad, generic comparison, and I make no claim that it will hold up in every particular.
In the past, we have had brainless jocks rule the world, and we have had spineless nerds rule the world. Perhaps it's now time for the flowering of the bihemispherical man - the jock who can read, and the nerd who can bench press; the poet who can fight, and the warrior who fights for love, not hate.
Hanuman and Ganapati are examples of this selfsame bihemispherical excellence from the Hindu faith. In fact it is probable that Hanuman and Ganapati were conceptualized as they were precisely in order to emphasize the importance of bihemispherical excellence for future generations.
We tend to know about the bodybuilder Hanuman, but Hanuman is so much more than the ubiquitous photo frame in gymnasiums. In addition to being frighteningly strong, Hanuman is also said to be the highest among the intelligent (बुद्धिमतां वरिष्ठम्), as per Hindu scriptures. In addition to being smart and capable, he is also the exemplar of devotion, the ideal devotee. Even more than being Lord Ram's military general, he is his humble servant. He is not only well-trained in the martial arts, but is also a singer and poet par excellence. He is not drunk on his magnificent power, but perfectly in control of his physical body (जितेंद्रिय). He is eager not just to lay enemies to waste for Ram, but also to praise and glorify Ram through emotive, evocative, devotion-filled keertan (religious singing). He is not just a destroyer of evil, but also an able upholder of the good. He has not only placed Ram on his shoulders, but installed Him in his heart of hearts. Ram, for Hanuman, is not a mere worldly concern; He is the core of his very being.
Exactly the opposite fate has befallen Ganapati. While the famous elephant-headed god is, in actuality, the commander of Shiva's diverse and fierce forces and son of the war-goddess Chandi (a manifestation of Parvati) herself, we are loath to look past his pleasing, erudite, sophisticated persona as the god of the arts and sciences. He is not just the remover of peril (विघ्नहर्ता), but the knower and master of peril (विघ्नेश्वर). He doesn't just keep his devotees safe from danger, but enables them to see the peril for what it is, to understand its nature, and to derive useful lessons for future progress from it. In this way, he is a willing and able safeguard against chaos and peril, not the idle, languid, almost Bohemian dreamer and artist that we have made him out to be.
Along with the modak, Ganapati also holds his battle axe in his hands. While one of his hands is raised in the abhay mudra (the stance of fearlessness), granting courage to his devotees, another holds the ankusha, which stops the errant mind from wandering off into the inutile, unwholesome reaches of human consciousness.
Similarly, the mighty, all-powerful arms of Hanuman are forever prostrated before the majesty of Lord Rama. The tumult of Ram's righteous war and the melody of the soulful praise of Ram are equally pleasing to this great lord of simians.
The creative, intuitive right brain and the logical, analytical left brain may prove to be incapable of handling real-life adversities on their own, but together, they are unstoppable. Stories from Hindu scriptures show a clear trend that whenever the logical, analytical left brain has divorced itself from the devotion / faith of the right brain, disaster has ensued. Perhaps this is why the Hindu tradition exalts Ganesh and Hanuman above all else, as a symbol of what happens when the right and left halves of the brain, physically and metaphorically, work together towards a common objective. Perhaps this is why the future belongs to the complete, bihemispherical Hanuman and Ganesha, who are not "one of the two", but both, and more.
Tanmay Viraj Tikekar
25/01/2015
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