On what are you focusing right now?

Friday, December 23, 2005

Where is your attention at right this moment? Are you in the middle of an important task? Are you tuning out in front of the television? Are you working on something mundane while a concern is going around in your mind? Are you running through the list of things you have to pick up at the shop after work? Are you nose deep in an amazing book? Are you enjoying the company of friends, laughing and chatting together? How do you do that? There are a millions other things going on around you, noises, movement, you have things to remember to do, you have concerns and problems of your own, you have lists of names matched to faces matched to life stories. How does the right information come into your consciousness at the right moment? How do you filter out all the rest?

The Majority Mind 

Everyone who has a 'majority mind' (most people do) takes for granted the focus control function of the brain. It's the part that filters out extraneous information, both external and internal, allowing only the relevant or important stuff to enter your conscious mind.

But how does it work? Well, that is not completely understood but elements like emotional state, personal connections to the object of attention, current health, level of alertness, and so on, all have an effect. And, of course, some people are simply better at controlling it. Those we often label as genius have an extreme level of focus control. They seem to be able to command focus into sustained concentration as needed for extended lengths of time.

Your average group of people though have a reasonable level of focus control; they are generally able to pay attention to the here and now. Unless of course there is some other important thing going on elsewhere, in which case they might appear distracted. If they are sleepy or bothered by something they might have trouble concentrating. But, generally, people pay attention to what they need to and if attention waivers it can be refocused at will.

Taken for granted

It is taken for granted so completely and unconsciously that it forms a part of human behavioral language. For example if you are not paying attention to someone who is speaking to you it is a sign of disrespect and giving your whole attention to somebody is a sign of great respect. Forgetting birthdays, anniversaries and other events and details are all social mistakes. There are certain behaviours and actions in relationships and human interactions that are acceptable and respectful because of the way focus control works in the majority mind.

In the majority mind focus control performs a filter based on a ranking of importance. People who have good focus control are often well regarded because they always remember your name, your birthday, your personal details and so on. Because they do this you feel respected by them. Essentially, they must have considered you important enough to pay attention to. This way of thinking is almost hardwired into the majority mind. In every interaction, friendship, love, employment and cooperation, this is the unspoken communication. If you consider it important enough you will pay attention to it.

The problem with being an ADDer

If you are reading this and saying "Umm yeah, of course, so what? That's part of being alive, that part of being conscious!" think again! This part of your experience of consciousness is merely a function of your brain. What if you mind and it's focus control function operated in a different way? What if your focus control brought things into your conscious awareness based on different criteria?

In a word; 'odd'. Because your actions are interpreted within a set of assumptions that are different to the the cause of your actions you'd appear odd. On the flipside you would receive constant negative feedback because of your actions. Your actions would be constantly misinterpreted and misunderstood.

That's the problem with being an ADDer. Because the focus control mechanism of the ADD mind does not perform the same kind of ranking function as it does in the majority mind, the actions of an ADDer do not relate to the level of importance they attach to any one thing. The ADD Mind moves to a completely different kind of beat. This complicates social interactions, often to the point of communication breakdown. Friendships and partnerships are especially hard as close relationships often rely on behavioural feedback you will not get from an ADDer.

My brain has two modes 

As an ADDer I describe the way focus control works for me like this; my brain has two modes; 'scan' mode and 'action' mode. While in scan mode it takes everything in, attending to all stimuli internal and external, bringing it to my attention for me to react too. When in action mode it reduces focus to a very small area and I'm intensely absorbed in one thing. Both modes can be a lot of fun!

However, moving between modes is not an easy process to do consciously. In fact it's damn annoying. If I'm in action mode, someone interrupting, wanting my attention for something else is like a swarm of mosquitoes buzzing around your ears when trying to sleep. It's extremely irritating and sometimes I react angrily. Similarly if I'm in scan mode, having to concentrate on one thing is just as irritating.

Not built for the industrial age

Unfortunately the choice of being in scan mode or action mode is often up to my brain and had little to do with the real life demands in front of me like work and family. If I'm at work it's hard to get into action mode when my brain wants to remain in scan mode. It's certainly not the kind of brain built for the industrial age and that's where a lot of ADDers have problems. We just can't be methodical or consistent, which is what is usually required from good employees.

But, on the other hand, there are a lot of benefits. My scan mode is excellent for trouble shooting in IT. The majority mind will attempt to sort through issues and symptoms in a methodical way, performing that ranking of relevancy, sometimes going down blind alleys, sometimes in circles, but always following a path. The ADDer sees all symptoms as having equal relevance and thus creates a more holistic view of the problem. The result is that the ADD mind is often able to come up with a solution or identify the cause of a problem quicker, on the basis of intuition. Everything seems to go into a soup and the most likely answer pops out on its own. It's one of the things I like about the way my brain works.

The perception of 'normal' 

I find focus control an interesting topic because it leads onto the broader topic of human perception and the way we perceive the world around us through our conscious mind. I've mentioned two kinds of brains, but there are undoubtedly many more. Each one of us believes the notion that the way we experience the world is how it really is. It's the ultimate survival mechanism, evolution's gift to us, our brains, very efficiently, make sense of the world for us. But if there are so many versions of reality stored inside different people's heads, who is right? It really shows that the concept of 'normal' is simply unconscious consensus, and nothing at all to do with reality!

 

 

 

Random outings from a chaotic mind