[extropy-chat] Fwd: CNN features amazing user with autism

[Jef Allbright]

> Jef I noticed that most of her song consists of actual pitches that can be
> found on a piano keyboard.  The fact that perhaps 10% were not close to a
> standard pitch makes it even more interesting.

Yeah, I noticed most of the "singing" aligned with western musical
scales, and figured that's a natural consequence of exposure to such
music and then the atonal variation are fun to play with because they
create novel feelings in the mind.  We *all* notice and feel these
things, right? ;-)

I recall as a very young child by myself making similar sounds as I
introvertedly examined and interacted with the world.  Making the
sounds felt like a calming flow in my mind that all my various
thoughts could align with.

It may be related that for most of my adult life I've had a habit of
unintentionally whistling intricate pieces from Bach when I'm deep in
concentration.  Again, it seems to help the flow and catalyze the
structure of my thoughts.  I wonder whether this could be related to
the creativity-enhancing of transcranial magnetic stimulation reported
a few years ago.

Another aspect where I can strongly relate is in sensitivity to
environmental overload. While I have no problem interacting socially
and had a successful career as a high-tech manager, I always felt
mentally drained when I've had to interact in environments of
chit-chat and shallow conversation.  My mind insists on searching for
deeper meaning, even when it's not  the best environment for doing so,
and it has its price (that I willingly pay.)  Conversely, an exchange
of high-quality information is energizing; literature and speech where
every phrase fits and expresses concepts working at many levels is
like the ultimate poetry, no matter how technical.

How many of us here have found ourselves at a party where the dynamic
patterns of interaction are far more interesting than the words
extracted from the din?   How many of us have nearly trembled with
excitement upon discovering a new fount of knowledge. (I'll never
forget my first time in a university library, and the potential of a
Google-like resource was only a glorious dream in the 70s.) How many
of us are moved to sadness or anger at the violation of what appears
to others to be only abstract concepts?

I may be playing up my geekness a little here, but just a little.

Hi, I'm Jef, and I'm a geek...