Pathways & Journeys
Videography
Neurodiversity
Divergent minds lead to divergent thinking and problem-solving. This “thinking outside the box” is a strength for many neurodivergent people, who often thrive in entrepreneurship, music, and other creative fields. So, what does neuroscience have to say about these gifts, and are there ways to restructure schools, workplaces, and lifestyles to better harness them? This event will feature a conversation about how neurodiversity often comes with increased access to creativity, and how the neurodiversity paradigm is shifting around how we think about conditions that were simply considered “disorders.”g about your business here.
What Is Neurodiversity
Understanding Dyslexia and Neurodivergence
with Exceptional Individuals
In this thought-provoking video, host Nat Hawley explores the world of dyslexia and neurodivergence. Dyslexia is a specific learning difference that affects an individual's ability to read and write and is often accompanied by challenges with processing information. But what exactly is neurodivergence, and how does it relate to dyslexia?
Autism and Invention
Is there a link between autism and invention? Is autism a unitary condition? Is autism more common in regions of the world that are rich in STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics)? Is autism genetic? Is autism a disorder, a disease, a difference, or a disability? 70,000 to 100,000 years ago, there was a cognitive revolution in the brain, transforming the behaviour of Homo Sapiens such that today we dominate the planet. The Systemizing Mechanism allowed our species alone to search for if-and-then patterns in the world, enabling generative invention; and the Empathy Circuit allowed our species alone to imagine the thoughts and feelings of others, enabling complex social interaction, including deception and self-reflection.
Asperger
For most of his life, broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham didn't tell anyone about the one thing that in many ways has defined his entire existence. Chris is autistic - he has Asperger's Syndrome, which means he struggles in social situations, has difficulty with human relationships and is, by his own admission, 'a little bit weird'. But what if there was a way of taking away these autistic traits? Would Chris ever choose to be 'normal' In this film, Chris invites us inside his autistic world to try to show what it is really like being him. He lives alone in the woods with his 'best friend' Scratchy the dog, but he also has a long-term partner, Charlotte, who discusses the problems Asperger's creates in their relationship - she describes Chris as being sometimes 'like an alien'. Asperger's has helped make him who he is today.
How Autism Feels from the Inside
Professor Tony Attwood believes the "out of the box" thought processes of people on the autism spectrum will solve the world's big problems. He is credited with being the first clinical psychologist to present Asperger's syndrome not as something to be "fixed " but as a gift, evidenced in many of the great inventors and artists throughout history. But while Professor Attwood has reached the top of his field, he reveals in this episode of Australian Story the personal cost of a missed diagnosis in his own family. Early in his career, he didn't see the signs of Asperger's in his son Will. The consequences were devastating for everyone.
How Autism Feels from the Inside
What is it like to live with Asperger’s syndrome? Jordan Kamnitzer tries to answer that question in “Perfectly Normal,” Eli Gottlieb describes it as “a rare filmic experience of the sensory overload of autism … as Jordan, the articulate middle-aged subject of the film, speaks about his own condition, the music skitters and booms, rapid jump cuts intensify the sense of danger, and in this swelling moment of uncertainty, the viewer experiences a fleeting sense of what it might be like to live in a condition of permanent, anxious neural flood.” He is a reporter at a hinge-point of consciousness, able to inhabit his condition while describing it for us — whether we are “neurotypicals” or lodged somewhere on the spectrum — with remarkable precision and insight.”
The Quantum Brain?
If we compare the human brain to the computer, a neurodivergent may be more like Quantum Computing - analyzing all modes simultaniously (see Maze comparisions)
Character / Critical Thinking / Neurodiversity
The relationship between character, critical thinking skills, neurodiversity, and innovation is multifaceted and deeply interconnected. Neurodiversity refers to the variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions. The concept of neurodiversity suggests that these variations are not deficits but differences that can contribute positively to society, particularly in the context of innovation.
Commonplacing
Commonplacing (a way to compile knowledge).
“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.” (Einstein)
Cognitive scientists’ research shows that creative thinking can come from connecting disparate ideas that wouldn’t otherwise cross paths - but we no longer teach students to use tools that would facilitate this cross pollination of ideas.