• gregorum@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    i try to remember something Picard once said to Data about limiting one’s answers to information that’s pertinent and contextually-relevant to a situation. people don’t want a lecture when a quick answer will do.

    i have observed that, typically, when someone asks me a question, it’s because they’re trying to solve a problem, not to learn something new. The best course of action, then, is to help them solve their problem by giving them an expedient and relevant answer rather than to attempt to educate them on a new subject. they often have neither the interest nor the time.

      • gregorum@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        well, i don’t know about that, but it would certainly be accurate to describe him as neuroatypical.

        although… now you have me wondering if I’m on the spectrum.

        • snooggums@midwest.social
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          6 months ago

          Autism and ADHD are just things everyone does to some extent, just dialed up to the point of it impacting their lives. Everyone forgets things, everyone can be distracted, everyone can take things literally, everyone can feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar settings, or be overwhelmed by noises. Most people just have a higher tolerance for a lot of those things, or may even have the reverse where too much familiarity or silence can be uncomfortable.

          Nuerotypical tends to describe people who cope with those kinds of feelings, or who don’t obsess about their mistakes and roll with it in a way that doesn’t have a significant impact on their lives.

          So while you could be on the spectrum, it is also likely that you just became aware of something everyone does and if it doesn’t cause you problems often then you wouldn’t be on the spectrum, which tends to describe a spectrum of symptoms that doe cause problems.

      • hamms@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I’m not sure whether or not the android Data could be considered autistic from an in-universe perspective, but I would say that as a character Data was inspired by autistic humans and written in a way that neurodivergent viewers would empathize with. At least that’s how he’s always come across to me, as a neurodivergent trekkie.

      • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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        6 months ago

        Data has very much been adopted by the autistic community, but it’s debatable to what extent we can think of Data as being autistic. Certainly his character resonated with a lot of autistic and other neurodivergent folk, but it’s likely that this wasn’t even intentional.

    • Jarix@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Hah thats season 1! I just watched that episode yesterday or the day before. Picard also told him not to babble which prompted Data later on to catch himself babbling and call himself out