Autistic thinking seems to involve *both* types of focusing. Detectivelike, we look for clues everywhere.

This flexibility could be seen as “rickety” if the swoops and soarings are seen as dangerous or are defined as illegal. A possibly-useful metaphor here is that of a dirigible planet which can be placed in orbit around whatever “sun” (concept/model/approach) one wishes. Just don’t get sucked into it, though. In this model, mental illness could be seen as being trapped in (decaying?) orbit around something unhealthy, with no inherent means of breaking out.

Here, the terms “rigid” and “fluid” lead me to consider physical metaphors. (I tend to think in terms of metaphors, and a whole discussion/analysis could evolve from questioning whether such metaphors are tangential - that is, not essentially relevant - or vital, going to the center of understanding. In support-group discussions, I tend to begin with a physical example seemingly unrelated to the point I wish to illuminate, then tie it into some aspect of self-understanding.)

Two promising-looking metaphors concern the properties and behavior of liquids. One involves the interplay of surface tension, wetting, and viscosity as aspects of mental focusing, and the other involves the sudden crystallization of a supercooled liquid.

The first one has lots of possibilities that I won’t get into here, and is left as an exercise for the reader. The second is a single, startling event: a pure fluid is cooled below its usual freezing point, yet it remains liquid until either mechanical disturbance, introduction of a foreign particle such as a speck of dust, or introduction of a “seed crystal” causes the transition to the solid phase. To me this resembles how my attention can, after some period of idly waiting for something to happen, be seized (seeded?) by an event or idea and coalesce around it. Perhaps this is different in some way than the focusing of a neurologically-typical person’s attention...

Last revised: June 23, 2007
(c)2007 Dave Spicer
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