Overstimulation and Environmental Neurodiversity
Note: This theme wove through multiple topics during the OGM 2025-11-06 call, particularly in Mike Nelson's check-in and Scott Moehring's Environmental Neurodiversity hypothesis.
Mike Nelson's Overstimulation
Mike described feeling "completely, absolutely, intellectually, politically overstimulated" from:
Sources
- TEDx Mid-Atlantic - Powerful talks on Saturday
- Virginia Election Results - Major political shifts
- Technology Developments - IETF debates, digital identity, content scraping
- AI Bubble Concerns - Daily Wall Street Journal articles
- General Change - "There's so much going on"
His Coping
- Long bike rides
- Semi-retirement allowing some breathing room
- Peak fall foliage appreciation
Scott's Environmental Neurodiversity Hypothesis
The modern information environment has created a situation where:
Previously:
- Neurodiverse (ADD, autism) people: Needed special coping strategies
- Neurotypical people: Filters and strategies worked fine
Now:
- Many neurotypical people experiencing what neurodiverse people always have
- Information flood overwhelming typical filters
- Strategies developed by neurodiverse community now needed by everyone
Key Quote: "The strategies that are essential for one group might now be what's needed for another group."
Connection to GABA
From Jerry Michalski's discussion of GABA and Filtering:
- GABA as the brain's primary inhibitor
- Modern life as constant stimulation
- Filters working overtime
- Some people's baseline filters different (ADD/ADHD)
- Need for cognitive "breathing room"
Scott's Personal Experience
"I feel everything everywhere all at once as just part of every day. Not to the extent of a psy trip, but much more than the people I hang out with."
The Information Environment
Changes that created this:
- Constant connectivity
- Multiple simultaneous channels
- Rapid context switching
- No boredom (Scott: "We have killed boredom")
- Always-on news cycles
- Social media streams
Implications
Universal Need for Strategies
- Filtering techniques
- Attention management
- Recovery time
- Environmental control
- Organizational tools (like Tab Groups Discovery)
Reframe "Normal"
- What's "typical" is contextual
- Current environment is atypical
- We're all adapting to new conditions
Value Neurodiverse Approaches
- Doug Breitbart's Tab Groups Discovery
- Former Google CIO's ADHD-driven organization methods
- Other strategies born from necessity
Related Concepts
- Environmental Neurodiversity
- Curiosity and Attention
- GABA and Filtering
- Information Overload
- Mike Nelson
- Scott Moehring
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