Environmental Neurodiversity
Note: This concept was introduced by Scott Moehring during the chat discussion about Curiosity and Attention on the OGM 2025-11-06 call. This page explains Scott's emerging hypothesis.
The Hypothesis
Core Idea: The information flood has increased to the point where many otherwise neurotypical people now experience what neurodiverse people have always experienced.
The Reversal
Traditional Understanding
- Neurodiverse people (ADD, autism, etc.): Struggle with filtering and overwhelm
- Neurotypical people: Have adequate filters and coping strategies
Scott's Observation
Now: Many neurotypical people feel:
- Their filters are inadequate
- They have no strategies to cope
- Overstimulated and overwhelmed
- What neurodiverse people have felt their whole lives
The Strategic Advantage
Neurodiverse People
Have developed robust techniques to filter and focus because:
- They've felt overstimulated their whole lives
- Had to develop coping strategies to function
- Refined these strategies over years/decades
- These are essential survival skills for them
Neurotypical People
Now experiencing:
- Sudden overwhelming stimulation
- No developed coping strategies
- Filters that worked before now inadequate
- Need for strategies they never had to develop
The Insight
"The strategies that are essential for one group might now be what's needed for another group."
Skills that were previously considered "special accommodations" may now be universally needed survival strategies.
Examples of These Strategies
From Neurodiverse Community
- Rigorous information filtering
- Selective attention techniques
- Environmental management (reducing stimuli)
- Task chunking and organization
- Time blocking
- Visual organization systems (like Tab Groups Discovery)
- Reducing simultaneous inputs
- Planned breaks and recovery time
Connection to Doug's Discovery
Doug Breitbart's Tab Groups Discovery exemplifies this:
- 69 years old with ADD
- Executive function finally matured
- Discovered tab groups
- "Life-changing" organizational tool
- Solved 250-tab overwhelm problem
This kind of organizational innovation, born from neurodiverse necessity, may be exactly what neurotypical people now need.
Relationship to GABA
Connects to GABA and Filtering discussion:
- ADD/ADHD linked to GABA levels
- Different baseline filtering
- Strategies to compensate for different filtering
- Now those strategies needed more broadly
Scott's Personal Experience
"I need more, because I feel everything everywhere all at once as just part of every day. Not to the extent of a psy trip (which I've only read about), but much more than the people I hang out with."
The Information Environment
What Changed
- Constant information streams
- Killed boredom (Scott's phrase)
- No empty cognitive space
- Always-on connectivity
- Multiple simultaneous channels
- Rapid context switching
The Result
Previously "normal" filters and strategies insufficient for the new environment.
Mike Nelson's Response
Shared that the former CIO of Google wrote a book about how his ADHD forced him to learn better information strategies:
"Getting Organized in the Google Era"
Another example of neurodiverse-developed strategies becoming generally valuable.
Implications
For Education
- Teach filtering and attention management to everyone
- Don't assume "normal" attention is sufficient
- Neurodiverse strategies as universal curriculum
For Workplace
- Design for attention protection, not just productivity
- Recognize different filtering needs
- Value neurodiverse approaches
For Technology Design
- Default to less stimulation, not more
- Enable focus and filtering
- Learn from assistive technology
For Society
- Rethink "normal" vs "neurodiverse"
- Environmental factors matter
- Adaptation strategies for everyone
Related to Other Call Topics
Remixability
Scott Moehring's Remixability concept - creating modular, lower-cognitive-load tools
Curiosity Decline
The attention crisis manifesting as apparent curiosity loss
Tab Groups
Doug Breitbart's discovery as example of neurodiverse strategy
The Name
"Environmental Neurodiversity" suggests:
- The environment has changed
- What's "typical" neurodevelopment is contextual
- Current environment may be "neurodiverse" relative to human baseline
- We're all adapting to an atypical information environment
Related Concepts
- Curiosity and Attention
- Overstimulation and Environmental Neurodiversity
- GABA and Filtering
- Information Overload
- Tab Groups Discovery
- Executive Function and ADD
Participants
- Scott Moehring (originator of hypothesis)
- Mike Nelson (supportive response)
- Doug Breitbart (living example)
- Jerry Michalski (GABA connection)
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