99. Everything I've Learned About ADHD In 2 Minutes

I posted the following on X(Twitter) the other day. If I were to travel back in time and could only slip a secret bit of information to myself, it would be this.

I have spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out ADHD.

Here is what I've learned.

1. Fun and Meaning are not properties of the action required but a way of thinking by the mind performing the action.

It takes creativity to transform a seemingly unfun and meaningless task into something that draws you in.

2. ADHD is a condition where your theory of fun forms rigid boundaries around what you find engaging making it difficult to see the enjoyment in other activities.

I call it a theory of fun because you have preconceived ideas about what fun is. These ideas get to decide what you do and avoid criticism so they can remain in power like a dictator.

3. Billions of dollars are spent to make these stubborn ideas more powerful.

We live in the attention economy. There is a war with huge incentives for locking your mind in specific products. This war could be increasing ADHD in society.

4. But there is hope. You just need more powerful ideas. One of the most potent ideas in human history is freedom of speech.

In this context, it could be the freedom to come up with new ideas.

5. And if you are free to speak, to express yourself, and to create new ideas, then you are also free to criticize ideas.

Our sovereignty demands that we seek explanations that we can critique. Nothing, no idea, is immune to this. Especially, our ideas about what is and is not fun.

You may not understand the message fully at first. Take some time to mull it over. My language is abstract and entangles many ideas. I like that sort of thing. If you are going to give yourself secret information it needs to say a lot more than the words that make it up.