Month: March 2024

The Wall

Jeff/neighsayerLeave a comment

So, there are five blind men, trying to identify an elephant.

Why is this the job of blind men? Well, for the purposes of the story, let’s say this is the whole town, everyone is blind, and hey, why not the whole world? It will still work, as long as you and I, Dear Reader, are still in this world and not in the story. It is a blind world and a blind little town, and these are the scientists among this blind population, these five. Why five? Well the elephant is an unknown, no-one knew which to call and simply called them all, I assume they must all have their own areas of expertise.

These five have lives and do not live together, so when they are called and come to inspect the new thing, they come from all around, and each approaches the thing from a different direction. The nearest and first to arrive encounters the tail of the beast and proposes that someone has hung a rope here but is no longer about to claim or explain it. The next one comes up beside the first, touches the elephant’s leg and says, Rope, what rope, this is a tree, while another meets the animal head on and declares that the town has been invaded by a huge snake.

A fourth scholar upon arrival finds an ear and has a theory, it is a great fan for some reason, I’m sorry, I only repeat the story, I wasn’t there. I don’t know how trees or fans just walk into town or suddenly appear – look, it’s not the point, OK?

Anyway, the last of the five appears with some pomp – apparently he was waiting in order to show up last – and broadsides the beast at full walking speed. Embarrassed and rubbing his nose, he bellows, What are you all talking about, it’s a bloody wall!

By now, a crowd has gathered and there is some quiet laughter and chatter going on. The other four examiners double checked and reiterated themselves, Sorry, no, it’s a rope, a fan, a tree, a snake.

Run, you fools! Shouted the one at the front. A snake this thick and standing this tall can surely eat people! But the other four were unmoved, assured of their own perceptions, and honest with himself, that scholar had to admit that the snake had not grabbed him, or demonstrated any aggression and all remained debating the situation, but the latest arrival, Mr. Wall, let us say, turned to address the crowd.

The wall broke my nose! It’s a hazard! He declared. No-one has been eaten by any snake, and ropes don’t break your nose by just hanging, and trees and giant fans don’t simply appear out of no-where, someone has built a wall!

He waved off the objections of his peers, still addressing the people hanging about. Are you going to wait until you break your noses too? He waded into the crowd, taking people’s hands and having them feel his swollen nose.

Ouch! said some empath, No, we don’t want that! What are those other guys thinking? At this, Mr. Wall grew serious. That’s a good question, he said, and honestly, I can’t explain it. They seem to have taken leave of their senses, don’t they? What sort of perversion turns a wall into a snake?

The buzz of the onlookers dropped an octave as well. Was there something wrong about the other scholars? Were they lying? Someone wondered, was this the first time? What other things have these four been telling us about? As these noises increased, the erroneous four melted into the background and made an escape, saying to one another, I may not know from walls, but I know from angry crowds, I’m out.

It happened that soon after the event that the wall disappeared, along with a great quantity of produce from the stalls along the town’s main street, and so with further study impossible, the wall incident passed into history. Mr. Wall made great hay and fame off of it, he would be the Father of Wallology, while three of the other four saw their reputations suffer and their departments’ budgets shrink, and they faded into retirement.

Mr. Snake published a somewhat successful book about the missing produce, which phenomenon happened a few more times, although no-one felt a wall during those events, so no-one paid much attention.

It would be the Age of Walls now, and dissenters would find themselves on the wrong side of it.

Jeff

March 7th., 2024

The Hard Pill

Jeff/neighsayer3 Comments

It’s not easy hearing about neurotype, hearing about it and that it means you. I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to bludgeon people with it, I so ought to know better.

It’s not easy for anybody, is it, and of course, it means everybody.

It’s not easy for “normal people,” either.

I think in normal people’s normal paradigm, in the world of “Human Nature,” everyone is all things, at least we all have the potential for all things, like the individual is a molecule of the human element, made of what all of humanity is made of, a fractal sort of idea, as for one is for all, sort of a thing, but the existence of neurodiversity annihilates all that.

Perhaps we are atoms instead, and combine to make only neurotype molecules instead, and humanity is not one element but several, a compound element. From containing the possibilities of all of humanity within oneself to containing only some of them, this can only be a downgrade, a sad bit of learning for us all, but many folks on the divergent side learned it young and have lived with it already. For the Neurotypical, learning it must be comparable to the experience of a late hatching Autistic, what the Hell do you mean I am missing some big pieces and no-one cared to notice?

Except how many are forced to see it, not so many.

The force, ha – the Force – is on their side, and works against their self examination, to their own detriment. To know thyself is critical, but somehow we have evolved in such a way that not to has somehow become even more critical, we are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, etc., insoluble and so unbeatable or something. There is something about your organizing principles can’t be disturbed if you don’t know what they are, or something.

That’s an intuition, too difficult to express. Don’t worry, it won’t be on the test.

But I have been screaming, “YOU are a neurotype too!,” at people online and getting predictable responses, it’s not going great. I need a real plan.

I need a way to soften it, present it as a positive, somehow.

I’ve considered something like, “Spike’s my friend, ‘cause he’s so big and strong,” and really, I can’t let the idea go, it sort of is the point for me, and that’s a compliment for them . . . but of course that will be the end of it, Thanks Kid, I know.

Sigh.

I’m open to suggestions.

Jeff

March 6th., 2024