“(M)ental horizons... protect us from the cognitive predicament of
being constantly bombarded by an undifferentiated stream of stimuli...
they basically ‘close’ our minds by helping delineate what we consider relevant.
After all, there is much more that could ‘enter’ out consciousness
yet is nevertheless excluded as irrelevant because it basically lies ‘beyond’ our mental horizons...
social situations are typically surrounded by mental fences...”
(Z36-7)

None of this seems true for autism. (See immediately preceding item.)

To me it seems boring that one would be limited to the horizons described above... and there is in fact a formula for determining the horizon distance (horizon in miles = square root of [height in feet x 1.6]). So the closer one is to the ground the closer the horizon is. The Powers That Be seem interested in keeping folks’ “thought balloons” on short strings, so they can’t see too far...

The association which showed up upon my seeing this quote again was the Malvina Reynolds song, “Little Boxes”:

“...and they’re all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same.”

So it would be a “cognitive predicament” to be aware of territory outside the fences? This seems to call for a bumper sticker:

AUTISM: Free-Range Thinking!

Isn’t free-range chicken and beef supposed to be healthier? Cognitive feedlots and chicken-coops seem dismal to contemplate... yes, shelter from the storm is good, but surely there could be some accommodation short of being penned up?

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