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I tried to organize some of my notes from the rabbit hole about 3 months back. Level 1 Autism requires some support, level 2 requires substantial support, and level 3 requires very substantial support. This list mostly describes level 1 and severity can vary and not all traits are universal. Diagnosis & Demographics Men are diagnosed 3-4x higher than females Females mask more effectively than males Many autistic people get diagnosed with ADHD first Autism runs in families and is often multi-generational Not uncommon to have multiple siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles all autistic Often undiagnosed across generations Ever wondered what was wrong with your family? lol Social Patterns General Tendencies Comfortable with isolation Preferring not to talk unless necessary One or two people as entire social world Hyper-focused once latched onto something Autistic-to-Autistic Connection Autistic people often recognize and gravitate toward each other Even without knowing you're both autistic, there's often an unspoken "getting it" Understanding of social exhaustion Direct communication styles match Less exhausting social interaction Don't have to mask as much—less judgment about "weird" behaviors or interests Similar conversational patterns (info-dumping, special interests) Neurotypical relationships often require constant translation and masking Autistic people do tend to partner with other autistic people at higher rates than chance Special Interests Autistic people often have a "special interest" they are highly competent in Can present as obsessive pattern recognition and mastery Deep, intense focus on specific topics Can talk extensively about interest More intense than typical "hobbies" Self-teaching through obsessive focus "Geeking on" specific topics Sensory Processing The Underlying Mechanism The autistic nervous system processes sensory input differently—often more intensely Bright lights, background noise, textures, smells all require active filtering This happens constantly and unconsciously drains energy Sensory Overload Examples Discomfort with unexpected physical contact Clothing tags, seams, certain fabrics unbearable Can't stand certain textures against skin Light touch more irritating than firm pressure Loud commercials unbearable Background noise draining Bright lights uncomfortable Need for dim, quiet environments Bothered by chewing/breathing sounds from others Can't filter out background conversations—hears everything equally Sudden sounds (doors slamming, dogs barking) physically jarring Self-Soothing & Stimming Listening to the same song on repeat (sometimes for hours/days) Repeating words, phrases, or sounds (echolalia) Rewatching the same movies/shows repeatedly Cracking knuckles or joints Running mental loops (replaying conversations, scenarios) Organizing/categorizing as a calming activity Info-dumping (talking about special interest is regulating) Often self-medicates to soothe nervous system Hand rubbing Knee bouncingFoot shaking Fidgeting Pacing Humming Finger wiggling Rocking Executive Function & Task Initiation Why "Simple" Tasks Are Hard Requires constant mental energy to self-initiate tasks Can do complex things BUT struggle with "simple" things Starting a task actually involves multiple processes: Recognize it needs to be done Shift attention from current focus Plan the sequence of steps Overcome inertia to begin Monitor progress and stay on track Weaker Automaticity Weaker habit formation: The brain doesn't create automatic "if-then" connections as easily ("if it's 8am, then make coffee") Every time feels like the first time: Tasks don't become automatic through repetition as readily Manual override required: What happens automatically for others requires conscious, deliberate thought each time Time Perception Difficulty perceiving the passage of time accurately "Just five more minutes" turns into an hour May hyperfocus on something and completely lose track of time Routine & Flexibility Self-imposed schedules require constant self-monitoring and discipline. (Level 1 autistics typically have enough executive function and self-awareness to create schedules and know they need structure, but not enough automaticity for those schedules to run themselves.) What was manageable yesterday might be overwhelming today If one thing goes off schedule, the whole day can feel derailed Difficulty improvising or adjusting when unexpected things happen Rigid thinking can make it hard to restart a routine once it's disrupted Complete shutdown when facing unfamiliar situations Context Switching & Transitions Moving from one activity to another requires "resetting" the brain Autistic brains often excel at deep focus but struggle with transitions Each task switch depletes mental resources more rapidly High cost to transition between activities Difficulty shifting attention Need time between different tasks Energy & Burnout Unpredictable Energy Fluctuating daily capacity Good days vs. bad days with no clear pattern The Burnout Cycle Intense focus → depletion → shutdown Need significant recovery time Can't "just push through" Physical/emotional collapse from prolonged stress Shutdown Responses Going silent, non-responsive Complete inability to engage Not just tired—system offline Need to withdraw completely Project Abandonment Pattern Intense 3-5 day focus, then can't return Many unfinished projects Difficulty restarting after breaks Masking & Compensating Monitoring their own behavior to appear "normal" Suppressing stims (self-soothing repetitive behaviors like bouncing the knee) Scripting and rehearsing conversations Managing facial expressions and tone of voice manually Cognitive Styles Concrete vs. abstract thinking: High-IQ autistic: strong abstract reasoning Average/below-average IQ autistic: concrete, literal Can be either—but thought process is detail-oriented Metacognition varies widely between autistic individuals Work & Achievement Career Patterns Staying in same role for decades Solo work preference Struggle with workplace social demands Underemployment despite intelligence Frequent job changes OR extreme job stability The "Squandered Potential" Narrative High intelligence + poor achievement "Gifted kid" who "didn't live up to potential" Teachers noticing mismatch between ability and output
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cetus replied to tlowedajuicemayne's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
@tlowedajuicemayne Why didn't you just PM Leo directly? -
On the nose. Thank you for that ahaahhaaksdkaahks
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Tell me two "things" or "people" or "experiences" that are exactly the same.
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😂 "The" nootropic.
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One thing is to tie your identity to these language labels, the other is to mistake your world for reality, the map for the territory. Categories can be useful - fire is hot, fire burns, don't touch fire. In terms of dealing with people, and other life situations, it is my experience that it limits your experience, typically keeps you stuck in the mental realm. You seem that point as trivial. I say read the books I mentioned. I say look at your last 1,5, 10 years of your life. Check all your mental models. How many of them have changed? How you think you'll look back at this ND discussion and your current model of "people" in 3,6, 12 months?
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It can be an app on your phone; your phone already can record sound, it can record the screen on your phone, the app can gather your general online footprint, etc. And of course various accessories like heart rate monitors (like smartwatches), vision trackers and smartglasses (cameras), brain measurement helmets if you want to be very geeked out. But yes, just any form of measurement, sent to an app that gives in-depth and structured AI insights. Think of it like a live, extremely comprehensively behavioral study, where tons of variables can be correlated across various time points. There are already limited versions of this for various purposes, but I'm talking about a generalized, powerful and obviously useful one, the same logic behind the smartphone itself. I got this idea from working with an app called ExpiWell which is used in behavioral research for gathering data on the mobile phones of research participants in their daily lives (and from developing a website for using AI to analyze personality using various online and offline data sources). It's those two ideas combined and taken to their logical conclusion when increasing power: more data, more data types, more types of insights, more utility.
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tlowedajuicemayne posted a topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
Hey Leo, I was just reading through your blog for the first time in a long time when I passed your post about appearing on a podcasts. This is actually something that I've wanted you to do for a long time, because I believe your message is valuable. Because I think that your message is valuable and that it should be shared I want to offer you a word of advice. And that advice is - just be cool. When you go on a podcast, don't make it about delivering your message. Instead, focus on being human and being cool. Likable. Especially for the earlier podcast that you go on. The reason why I say this is because people don't accept messages from people they don't like, People don't buy things from salesman they don't like, and people definitely don't listen to three hour podcasts with people they don't like on it. Your message is important, and you will get it out there. But not if go into this thing with a hammer. Instead, I urge you, pull back from delivering a message and just focus on being approachable, friendly, sociable. Remember all of those days where you were doing self-development and going out and practicing pickup and talking to people and being social? This is what you need to bring to the podcast. Is it stupid? Yes. Should you have to do it? No. Is it beneath you probably? Probably. But if you go into this thing with a sledgehammer, trying to convince the host, or trying to convince someone listening, or trying to deliver a message, you are only going to make yourself look like a madman. You may feel like that's what it takes to deliver a high quality message, or that distilling the truth of reality at its deepest levels is worth looking like a mad man for. But I would argue this goes against your own best interest and the best interest of the message you're trying to get across. Anyways, I think you get my point and I hope you take it. I would love to see more people in the world listening to your content and learning from your message. However I feel that you are too radical to appear friendly or approachable on TV and on podcast and so for this reason, the only people who may ever know of your work are people like me, who exist along the fringes of society. I know you probably have many rebuttals for this type of advice and I know that it was unsolicited. I hope it is okay that I gave it anyway. Good luck -
@Cred @Joshe What should a ND person do? What they want to do? Ok. What if they want to listen to Leo Gura? What if they feel it resonates? Then you come with your "neurodivergent-neurotypical" framework and try to thread it over their head, just like a good neurotypical would with their externally derived social standards. To truly honor the individual means to honor the individual, not necessarily put them in a box (although they can put themselves in that box if they want to, but then remember that it's just a box and that they are an individual). I'm not just throwing out a "it's more complicated than that, labels are just labels" as a platitude. It has real implications for how you act. Take someone like myself. I've jokingly referred to myself as "neurodivergent" (in my own mind) because I am a bit "out there" in some ways but I can also go well with people, I can play with external social standards. And I can look back and remember specific changes I made or insights I had about how socialization works in an "intellectual way", that made me alter my behavior outside what was merely spontaneous and impulsive. But that's about growing up, about seeing yourself from a different perspective, of putting attention outside yourself, of developing self-awareness, of not just merely acting on your impulses but what you think is "right" morally, ethically. Criminals, psychopaths, children, act in a more unrestrained way, they have less cognitive control. They can be less insightful, empathic, caring, more self-focused. Growing up tends to make you more attuned to others, and you will also have the cognitive faculties to use your intellectual mind to assist in this. There is nothing necessarily "special" about this. Yes, some have an intense tendency towards intellectualization, systematization, it's the way they interact with the world primarily, they have less intuitive cognitive functions, less ability to just tune in and vibe. Then address that in the way you see fit: pick the activities you enjoy, or try to grow your weaknesses, it's up to you how much of either you want to do. I think Leo Gura is quite aware of his "neuro-non-typicalness". He says it all the time: "I suck at working with other people, I'm not a team player" is a recent quote (paraphrasing). He says constantly "nobody cares about truth, they only care about what is socially expedient" (paraphrashing again). He also likes to hammer in the point on "it's genetic", which is a direct nod to the neurodivergent "it's ingrained" philosophy (I believe there will be a video on that soon; the role of genetics). Could he be more accommodating to the fact that people are different and that they should go by what is suitable for them? I mean, really? His main "product" is his life purpose course which is about finding out "your" life purpose, not what somebody else has told you is good or valuable. What you think. Maybe for some people they don't have to even think about what their life purpose should be because it's so obvious what is valueable for them. But some don't, and they can still feel like piranhas in the normal world. Maybe the particular culture around "neurodivergent-neurotypical" terminology has valueable insights, maybe you can share those here. But it's a hard sell that you are bringing something essentially new; maybe a different way of putting things and maybe some original insights here and there, but nothing categorically groundbreaking.
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aurum replied to Meeksauce's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
"Space" is inside your consciousness. -
- Today
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So the next step before AGI is a smartwatch type device? Which device will the next step be on?
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The Marxist-Leninist revolution is extremely deeply studied and makes perfect sense. The thing about ND is my idea and was meant as a fun thought to get people warmed up on real revolutionary theory. I do believe that there is a lot of truth in this idea. The claim that autistic people are uncorruptible lacks a lot of nuance I agree. Ben Shapiro for example seems to me to be autistic for example, but he also seems corrupt. Idk. -
This is correct. I use the word ND here in a more narrow way. Autistic people, gifted people, highly sensitive people mainly.
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These are really good instructions on how to make capitalism win and keep you oppressed. Also, there is a nice bonus that there is the chance that a fascist state is erected and you land in a concentration camp. Finally, a perfect environment to do spiritual bypassing!
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A long time ago i read the words "believing is not enough, we must know". Everything changed from that moment on.
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Hey guys check this out https://www.instagram.com/p/DTi1s4wjZS6/
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First, you have an incomplete understanding of what autism is. My claim is that a significant portion of people here are autistic, including Leo. Do they seem to you to hit themselves in the head uncontrollably? Also, I want you to read this sentence again:
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It's not necessarily a disorder. I'm autistic but do not think I have a disorder. And I would rather be my flavor of autistic than NT. There's a degree of giftedness that often accompanies ND. It can be debilitating for some but for many, it gives them an edge, and they wouldn't have it any other way. There are pros and cons.
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@Optimized Life I wasnt replying to you, but ok.
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Sorry that I'm bashing you so much in particular my guy but did I get that right that you just complained about woke people and political correctness? Dude I hate to have to break it to you but you are majorely shooting yourself in the foot here. Woke people are the only people who accept you for who you are lmao.
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Can ChatGPT go fuck itself? Thank you.
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https://youtu.be/XOUvmPd_bbY?si=hN0pt0crtVCTEdQB
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This is a little harsh, no?
