Attention disorders confer perceptual advantages that misaligned perspectives obscure in others

Evidence

Starting with the example of her own journey from dyslexic child to education advisor to President Obama, Cathy Davidson notes the extent to which people suffering from ‘academic handicaps’ (dyslexia, attention deficit, etc.) tend to be overrepresented among successful scientists, artists and entrepreneurs. She attributes this to the fact that, since they are unable to attune their attention to that of others, these people have had to invent workaround procedures which have enabled them to perceive better certain hidden faces of things. If you hate counting or you have not understood the test instructions, you will be in a much better position to see the gorilla. It is because all our perspectives are aligned on the returns of GDP growth that we have missed the gorilla of climate imbalance. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 525

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: reframing neurodivergence as perceptual diversity rather than deficit, using Davidson’s gorilla/climate-blind-spot analogy as the hook.
• XREF: Connects to the gorilla/selective-attention experiment literature and to standing commentary in the attention-decli politics thread (Marcusian ‘attentional deficit’ reversed into asset). — connects to: Distraction enables perception that focused attention forecloses — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 338; So-called attention deficit is misdirected attention, not absence of attention — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 513; Attention is more valuable when it diverges from others than when it aligns — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 526 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Attention is more valuable when it diverges from others than when it aligns #corroborates (0.85) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 526
• Attention deficit disorders partly reflect unhealthy attention environments #qualifies (0.78) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 258
• Attentional alignment with others generates communal powers no individual could reach alone #complicates (0.75) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 111
• Attention training reveals the many distinct ways one can fail to notice something #expands (0.72)
• Hidden biases can be corrected by training attention, not by adjusting conditions #exemplifies (0.72) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 394