Auralsthesia: Buds Are Your Drug

[Martin Hash]

Buds Are Your Drug.JPG

Everyone falls somewhere "on the spectrum" of autism. How obviously the symptoms display determines the severity, Asperger's being the first titled range. Autism is an exchange of social perception for internal contemplation, and though concentration is a valuable commodity, unsophisticated, naïve interactions within society has severe penalties. Every situation deserves its own evaluation of the tradeoff, but from personal experience I can unequivocally say that at least my location on the spectrum has been advantageous. However, I've had to develop coping mechanisms, one of which I will share here, assuming some of you, at least, can also benefit.

Serotonin, dopamine & norepinephrine are the brain drugs that motivate you. Things that stimulate their production, like cocaine, Ritalin & Prozac, are highly sought after. As well as euphoria, they also increase confidence & creativity, marshal your thoughts, and relax you, but they are short acting, and if you overuse them, they become less effective, even damaging, not to mention legality issues. But I'm going to tell you a natural way to get a similar effect, one you will immediately recognize but are under-utilizing... Sound, specifically music, loud music: amplitude is important because it significantly increases the effect. Here's the formula:
1. Plug in your earbuds.
2. Set 90% volume.
3. Play music that you've noticed occasional causes a shiver to go up your spine during a particular passage, usually a loud chorus.
4. Loop. You will enter a fugue state, a solitude like you sometimes get being in a dark room alone, but you can do this anywhere: on the bus, waiting in line, during a workout. Your thoughts, though flighty, will coalesce around ideas. Your creativity will be on full.
5. If you happen to get the shiver, immediately turn the music up near full volume; the tingling will increase. You'll get 5-20 seconds of a cocaine high, and it costs you nothing. Sometimes you can do this a couple times in a single session.

The selection of music is important because continuous loudness will tire the experience, Grunge-style, repeating building waves of cacophonous sound is the most effective. For me, the effect can last upward to a hour. Take notes as ideas come to you.

p.s. I listen to hundreds of songs trying to find ones that precipitate the effect. For me, the words are important, but most important is the rhythm, and music with white noise is more effective at blocking the outside world. After a while the song doesn't work as well & I have to find a new one, even though I keep all the old stalwarts in rotation. The song I'm currently using is Nine Inch Nails, "We're In This Together."

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

This isn't exactly a direct response, but I was reading it right before I saw this post:

The market has become so flooded with streaming services that it is almost impossible for any standalone service to succeed given the scale it needs to achieve to be profitable and keep investors happy. Streaming services attached to bigger companies are now loss-leaders, and while those companies seem happy to keep them afloat for now, there could easily come a time when they decide to cut them off.
If this is the future, consumer attention will likely start shifting away from music and onto other ascendant formats, like podcasts and TV shows, especially if those remain free or very cheap. Music competes with free not only when it comes to piracy versus paid streaming, but also when it comes to other forms of no or low cost content. Already, many people are choosing to listen to podcasts instead of music on the subway or while working out, and devote their time and fandom to dissecting TV plots instead of discussing music. Humans have a finite amount of leisure time and capital, and we would likely choose to spend it on things other than music if it were to become a scarce commodity.

https://medium.com/cuepoint/four-future ... .32uj09ihc

Here's to synchronicity!

[LVH2]

This reminds me of something I saw by a guy who studies the sperg, but did not have it himself. He thought that every true genius was on that part of the spectrum, because you could not be a visionary without being detached and in your own head.

But, do you think real autistics are merely extremely introverted and detached?

I'm introverted and detached, but I took some online aspy quizzes and scored firmly non-aspy.

Even though I don't have stellar intuitions for interacting with normies, I am able to perceive this and think about it and adjust. What prevents autistics from understanding their own situation and trying to deal with it?

Also, aren't you going to get tinnitus?

[Martin Hash]

When I talk about "Metas," it's, of course, my own experiences I use as reference. I intentionally hired Asperger's in the computer biz, and I'm not one, but I'm something. Is it autism? Not by Medical School definitions. Anyone who has ever known me, especially as a child, would say something was definitely different. I'm not complaining, but I'm trying to figure it out, and always on the lookout for others, which takes a bit of observation to confirm.

I could gin up the brain molecules if I had to back in the day, calling it "pumping," and do some superhuman shit. Now I, only half joking, self-title as "Wysest Myn in the Wyrld."

p.s. I worry about tinnitus: my brother & dad both have it, so when not plugged into the drug, I wear ear protection.