Even relating to animals

[8398]

I've always strongly, innately known: I want to live close to nature, I want to be self sufficient, I want to live a life that makes more sense, I want to create and build, I don't care about societal status/achievements.

I hear of how, when a part of the brain doesn't function properly- others become stronger(?).
For example the one guy was kind of a doofus troublemaker, had a really silly shaved haircut- then got beat up in a fight and was put in a coma. He had trauma to a specific part of the brain and subsequently woke up the epitome of a genius nerd. Temple Grandin even talked about something related... something about deterioration in the brain of an older person and they subsequently became amazing at art.

Made me think of how the integrity of the social part of my brain is... well you know...
Doesn't work like other's.
And on top of that I can't enjoy reading, also can't take in information well from verbal.

Makes me wonder what's left. Pfffff

I think I am visual thinking and have a strong natural/survival sense. Kind of like an animal! Maybe that is what's left/ made to be stronger.

This forum is one thing, but in day-to-day life most of the stuff people talk about is hard for me to care about. Even weather- all weather is good. The nature I might be exposed to and the animals I might meet is all I can really care about. I guess my human thing is art.

I have this innate sense and anxiety about the climate I live in, it's a high desert and way too cold, despite always wanting to have the mindset of appreciating every location's beauty.

Sorry about the lack of specific information regarding the brain thing- I guess I'm too lazy to research about it but I'd like reading any of your comments.

 

[tree]

"In acquired savant syndrome astonishing new abilities, typically in music, art or mathematics, appear unexpectedly in ordinary persons after a head injury, stroke or other central nervous system (CNS) incident where no such abilities or interests were present pre-incident...


—The skill has an abrupt onset with no prior interest in or talent for the newly acquired ability.

—There is no obvious precipitating event or CNS injury or disease.

—The new skill is automatically coupled with a detailed, epiphany-type knowledge of the underlying rules of music, art or math, for example—none of which the person has studied. They know things without ever having learned them.

—The new skill is accompanied with an obsessive-compulsive (OCD) component; there is the overpowering need to play music, draw or compute. It is as much a force as a gift, as is usually the case with both congenital and acquired savant syndromes.

—There is a fear the gift and OCD is evidence of losing one’s mind, and a tendency to hide the new ability from others rather than display it."
Brain Gain: A Person Can Instantly Blossom into a Savant--and No One Knows Why

The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition. A synopsis: past, present, future

Brief excerpt from Grandin's Animals in Translation.
Some animal behavior is similar to autistic savants: Extreme memory and specialized cognition


"...left-brain damage/right-brain compensation hypothesis is consistent with some recent threads of research. Allan Snyder and his colleagues have had some success in increasing savant-like skills (e.g., proofreading ability, artistic style) in University students by using low-frequency magnetic pulses to suppress the left fronto-temporal lobe.

Also consistent is research involving elderly patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Bruce Miller and colleagues found that some of their patients with degeneration in very specific regions of the frontal and anterior temporal lobes on the left side of the brain suddenly expressed interest and skill in art and music as their dementia progressed. The paintings that the patients produced were generally realistic or surrealistic without symbolism or abstraction, and the patients approached their art in a compulsive way, repeating the same design many times."
Where do Savant Skills Come From?

 

[onlything]

There is a theory that we carry parts of the knowledge of our ancestors in our DNA (base for ours insticts, some say). I always wondered if it could be the reason for the savant syndrome.

 

[8398]

@tree, that was exactly what I needed. Also gives me a great starting point for new information to search out. I think by laziness I meant lack of motivation, not knowing where to start and reluctant to deal with the frustrations of reading. But I'm the only one I can count on and I could do well with extracting more information from articles. Thank you.

Upon reading, I wondered what exactly qualifies someone to be a savant. Could someone not be a prodigy while also being a savant to a degree? Here it's considered a spectrum:

"The most common are splinter skills, which include obsessive preoccupation with, and memorization of, music and sports trivia, license plate numbers, maps, historical facts or obscure items such as vacuum cleaner motor sounds, for example. Talented savants are those cognitively impaired persons in whom the musical, artistic or other special abilities are more prominent and highly honed, usually within an area of single expertise and are very conspicuous when viewed in contrast to overall disability. Prodigious savant is a term reserved for those extraordinarily rare individuals for whom the special skill is so outstanding that it would be spectacular even if it were to occur in a non-impaired person. There are, from my experience, probably fewer than 100 known prodigious savants living worldwide at the present time who would meet that very high threshold of savant ability."

I wonder if "savant" should be reserved for others or if it's fair to say a person like me has varying splinter skills and talent. There's definitely deficits and things that make up for it. I don't want to get hung up over the word savant but I gather it's relevant to all autistics to some degree.

 

[Major Tom]

I feel much more comfortable in nature as well, but living in it is hard work and not for the faint of heart, (unless you are a vegetarian).

 

[8398]

I feel much more comfortable in nature as well, but living in it is hard work and not for the faint of heart, (unless you are a vegetarian).

I eat bug. I think I do really good.
I need a trial to see for sure though, my weaknesses to work on. I would certainly need help with constructing things like power/water systems, kind of intimidating. I think if given the chance, isolation would turn me into a crazy hermit creature.