If what we call ADD were the norm, and those who didn’t have those attributes were rare, we would likely still call the condition of the few ADD. Those people who had ADD would be the unfortunate ones who were unable to tune out the background noise of life and focus on the task at hand. They would be the ones who were unfortunate enough to have to stop typing, reading, or solving a puzzle to have a conversation. They would be considered unfortunate in that they could not quickly jump from what they were thinking on to a new, more interesting, and probably more important topic. Intolerant people would be frustrated with the inability of those so afflicted to leave a task for later, their inability to jump to another task, then back to the one at hand. They would seem slow, unable to adjust to new situations, unable to start preparing for a task until after they had completed the first one. We would be surprised that they didn’t have the multiple channels of attention, having to get through life only thinking about one thing at a time.
With patience and tolerance for those people, however, we could make the most of their uniqueness. We would need someone to go behind us and turn off the stove, to remind us of the unfinished projects, to organize the wonderful piles of work we created into meaningful and manageable conditions. We would need them for those boring jobs like analyzing data and doing research. Basically, if we could just be patient with their shortcomings, they could serve an important role in our society.
We need to remember in life, that just because someone is different from us, doesn't mean there is something wrong with them. We all have our place and purpose and our uniqueness should be seen as an advantage.
3 comments:
Edgy. Sharp. Excellent.
Also, there would be many more automatic shutoff features on the things we buy.
Well, after a few houses burned down, they put a nifty two-hour limit on keeping the coffee hot! See? We can be taught ...
Post a Comment