sufficiently advanced autism is indistinguishable from just being competent

many people IRL don't actually believe me when I tell them i'm an aspie; i'm too sociable, too perceptive, too "normal"

thats bc i've sunk much effort into learning to be that way
some call this masking

i, personally, don't. i'm no stranger to masking, as I do it quite often, in situations where for whatever reason it behooves me to come off a certain way

but what i'm talking about is wholly other; its not just ACTING, but BEING

not just mimicry, but full-resolution simulation

the difference here is a subtle, but important one

masking is: "i know i'm supposed to laugh at their joke bc everyone else is, even tho i dont think its funny"

but this is: "that joke wasn't funny, but I value making them feel at ease/appreciated"

---
RT @pee_zombie
the system itself has maximum depth, by definition, as the yardstick against which the simulation is measured

the simulacra has minimum depth, only capable of pre-deter…
https://twitter.com/pee_zombie/status/1391632228694863873

one might say i'm splitting hairs here, but IMO this is a crucial distinction; WHY are you taking an action? is your motivation to not stand out, or are trying to achieve something specific? is the action material to your goals, or are you just following a script?

sometimes, I laugh bc i'm masking, for ex., when I don't care about the interaction v much & just want to get thru it; this isn't unique to autism, as mostly everyone does this; everyone masks sometimes

so, when a question asks about this, what to say? yes, I mask, but so do you

many of the other questions follow a similar pattern; they ask about my natural tendencies, which are very much autist in nature (light sensitivity, cognitive rigidity, etc), ones which thru effort I've compensated for, often to the extent that I'm more competent than normies

this phenomenon exhibits itself in many domains, such as language-learning; ever noticed that immigrants tend to have a higher command of their second language than native speakers, on average?

where natives just absorb a language & its rules ambiently, immigrants have to study

that intentional studying often gives one a deeper understanding of the domain in question, affording them more competence than is typical

i've always been like this; very little comes naturally to me, & as a consequence i'm unusually good at many things

autism is a superpower