Ruminations Part 1

Well, here I am again. I finally got an afternoon off and thought that I would do some exercise: finger exercise that is. Hey, fingers need a work out too; and typing is hard work. Luckily I am keeping hydrated with a nice mug of Mu tea. I have no idea what is in it and it smells quite funky, but a mug of tea (no matter how funky!) is great for morale. 

                                                                         Tea!!!

After having re-read (for about the 50^th time) ‘:59 seconds’ by Professor Richard Wiseman, especially the chapter on personality, I got to wondering how much my experience in life so far has modified my Aspergers. Not every Aspie is exactly the same (I know that I sometimes use generalisations) and so the differences between us must either be due to minute biological differences (nature) or how we are raised (nurture). Not just between Aspies, but also NT’s. Aspies are very introverted, whilst NT’s are usually extroverts. According to Wiseman introverts brains are very sensitive to stimulation, whilst extroverts’ brains are less sensitive. This would explain why Aspies such as me often feel swamped in apparently mundane situations. Perhaps the differences in our biology have made our brains even more sensitive to stimulus than even the most introverted NT. Robert Winston in ‘The Human Mind’ states that “many of the key elements of our personality are present from birth”(pg. 309 if you are interested).

When you factor in my life experience so far it’s not hard to see that I am irrevocably who I am. My fear/hatred of parties and other similar social situations stems from terrible past experiences which in turn were influenced by my Aspie biology. I cannot like them any more than a cheetah can change its spots. Even if I wanted to change, I could not alter my personality. Winston suggests as much when he states that by the time you leave high school (pg. 309 again), so it is much too late for me.

There is far too much information on the nature vs. nurture debate for me to share in one post, so I will try and gradually post more on it in the future, especially where it is relevant to Aspergers. I also feel that I should stop here as I have run out of tea.