Twitch AMA

[thefxbip]

The perfect square wave of death.

[vkxwz]

"Rob's a big geology fiend, always talking about rocks"

Really enjoyed this ama, was nice how he actually answered questions pretty much in order as they came in the chat, not skipping any, at least early on.

[YELLOW]

I was also glad that he read the questions before answering them, atleast for us tuning in after the fact

[beerwolf]

just rewatched some of this, Sean has better rewatch value than Blade Runnner 2049 

I'm sure there was a part where he sings the praises of Analord. Or was that a dream?

[exitonly]

3 hours ago, beerwolf said:

just rewatched some of this, Sean has better rewatch value than Blade Runnner 2049 

I'm sure there was a part where he sings the praises of Analord. Or was that a dream?

it happened. he said something about how at first they sound like standard acid tracks, but if you know what’s up, you know they aint

8 hours ago, thefxbip said:

The perfect square wave of death.

brown wave

[Lianne]

Forgive my total ignorance on this topic, but I really want to understand this. Sean referred a number of times to being neurodivergent, and even to "his" autism, which I really appreciated. However, from what I've read and seen of autism, there usually seems to be issues with social interaction. However, I again admit I know nothing about this really. My point is, someone like Sean comes across pretty socially gifted, witty, with good emotional intelligence, self awareness, humour and bantering skills. Great to talk to or hear from (though I know it wasn't a regular conversation.) Is it possible to be autistic and be like that? I mean he's not a "regular" maintream guy, but really if we're on here we're probably all mutants.
Would like further insight... 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Lianne

[xox]

8 minutes ago, Lianne said:

Is it possible to be autistic and be like that? 

no

[ignatius]

10 minutes ago, Lianne said:

Forgive my total ignorance on this topic, but I really want to understand this. Sean referred a number of times to being neurodivergent, and even to "his" autism, which I really appreciated. However, from what I've read and seen of autism, there usually seems to be issues with social interaction. However, I again admit I know nothing about this really. My point is, someone like Sean comes across pretty socially gifted, witty, with good emotional intelligence, self awareness, humour and bantering skills. Great to talk to or hear from (though I know it wasn't a regular conversation.) Is it possible to be autistic and be like that? I mean he's not a "regular" maintream guy, but really if we're on here we're probably all mutants.
Would like further insight... 

autism is a spectrum. i think neurodivergent has a wide range as well and can mean many things.  he says stuff like "that's when my autism gets going/shows up" which i took to mean like OCD a bit when wanting things to be a certain way and leaving them unfinished/incomplete rubs someone the wrong way.. i think he was talking about the idea of all the autechre remixes being on one compilation and not being able to include all of them because of licensing would "make his autism get going". 

if you google neurodivergent there's a lot of information. 

i know people who are on the spectrum or have Asperger's and are high functioning, funny, engaging and appreciate life, have relationships etc... but are also highly technical and have obsessions to varying degrees... so, someone can be on the spectrum of autism and still have "neurotypical" behaviors. also, sometimes, people are still able to learn new social skills etc.

Edited June 9, 2022 by ignatius

[Lianne]

10 minutes ago, ignatius said:

autism is a spectrum. i think neurodivergent has a wide range as well and can mean many things.  he says stuff like "that's when my autism gets going/shows up" which i took to mean like OCD a bit when wanting things to be a certain way and leaving them unfinished/incomplete rubs someone the wrong way.. i think he was talking about the idea of all the autechre remixes being on one compilation and not being able to include all of them because of licensing would "make his autism get going". 

if you google neurodivergent there's a lot of information. 

i know people who are on the spectrum or have Asperger's and are high functioning, funny, engaging and appreciate life, have relationships etc... but are also highly technical and have obsessions to varying degrees... so, someone can be on the spectrum of autism and still have "neurotypical" behaviors. also, sometimes, people are still able to learn new social skills etc.

Thanks, that's really helpful. Of course I don't know how literal Sean was being either, but what you said (and further research) will be helpful, because I see certain traits in myself and others and don't know what they mean. And I had a friend with what seemed to be really annoying tendency to not really listen to what was said in conversation - along with certain obsessions that seemed odd to me (beyond technical or creative stuff.) Once he learned he was OCPD it helped him a lot, and people like me to operate in more understanding. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Lianne

[dcom]

It was good to hear Sean share so much for so long, and even going to very personal things. Masterclass in fan management.

I'm also hard on the spectrum, but I'm high functional and unless you know me very well and/or have a lot of experience of and can decode ASD behavioral traits, you wouldn't even notice - unless I'm under the influence of something or have been pummeled with more social interaction than I can handle. I'm a masking (behaviour models for making noticeable/explicit ASD traits unnoticeable) expert and can even simulate a wide range of well-nigh normal human emotional responses I naturally lack. I've always been very upfront about being neurodivergent, because that helps people to respond properly when I'm not able to contain myself and go off on tangents in excruciating depth, hijack conversations, seem to be rude to people without reason etc. I've taught myself how to read speech patterns (prosody, intonation, semantics, idioms, figurative expressions...), body language (poses, movement, and other conscious and unconscious kinetic expressions), and facial expressions (Paul Ekman's my go-to on these). There's an OCD component to my ASD, so I'm very particular about things, but you've probably noticed that from what and how I post here. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by dcom

[jaderpansen]

no expert on the matter, but 2 AMAs in 35 years don't exactly scream "extraversion" to me.

[President Squidward]

10 hours ago, ignatius said:

autism is a spectrum. i think neurodivergent has a wide range as well and can mean many things.  he says stuff like "that's when my autism gets going/shows up" which i took to mean like OCD a bit when wanting things to be a certain way and leaving them unfinished/incomplete rubs someone the wrong way.. i think he was talking about the idea of all the autechre remixes being on one compilation and not being able to include all of them because of licensing would "make his autism get going". 

if you google neurodivergent there's a lot of information. 

i know people who are on the spectrum or have Asperger's and are high functioning, funny, engaging and appreciate life, have relationships etc... but are also highly technical and have obsessions to varying degrees... so, someone can be on the spectrum of autism and still have "neurotypical" behaviors. also, sometimes, people are still able to learn new social skills etc.

perfect way of explaining it! I'm on the spectrum and deal with massive OCD, tourettes but still engage in neurotypical behaviors. It's cool seeing Sean be a relatable person in a way and just how awesome he is as a person and a musician.

[xox]

 sometimes i have a feeling that the only sane person on watmm is @brian trageskin

Spoiler

 

[hello spiral]

[Adamovich]

4 minutes ago, hello spiral said:

What is this ai generator? link pls

[hello spiral]

2 minutes ago, Adamovich said:

What is this ai generator? link pls

https://hf.space/static/dalle-mini/dalle-mini/index.html

[jaderpansen]

24 minutes ago, hello spiral said:

aw.

[Satans Little Helper]

7 hours ago, dcom said:

I'm a masking (behaviour models for making noticeable/explicit ASD traits unnoticeable) expert and can even simulate a wide range of well-nigh normal human emotional responses I naturally lack. I've always been very upfront about being neurodivergent, because that helps people to respond properly when I'm not able to contain myself and go off on tangents in excruciating depth, hijack conversations, seem to be rude to people without reason etc. I've taught myself how to read speech patterns (prosody, intonation, semantics, idioms, figurative expressions...), body language (poses, movement, and other conscious and unconscious kinetic expressions), and facial expressions (Paul Ekman's my go-to on these). There's an OCD component to my ASD, so I'm very particular about things, but you've probably noticed that from what and how I post here. 

To me this is kinda "funny". (Funny is the wrong word, perhaps.) The thing is, I can see plenty people masking, being socially awkward and using some (acquired) tools/techniques in all kinds of social contexts in daily life. And as far as I'm concerned, these people are completely normal. Or neurotypical if you will. Or put differently, neurotypical people would do these things too. Hell, they can have complete conversations about this. 

So the things you list don't necessarily imply neurodivergent, to me. And I don't say this to get into some kind of argument. I believe you're being completely upfront and honest, like you mentioned. It's just that a lot of these so-called atypical behaviours, I personally tend to consider typical when looked at in a vacuum. Those behaviours do become atypical if they become stuck patterns that happen often. And also in circumstances where they shouldn't/needn't. But the fact you say you can mask those traits to the point people wouldn't even notice, makes it "funny". Because, in a way, you've made yourself to be able to succesfully do the Turing test (for neurotypical people). And perhaps we could even say that people who can train themselves to behave more neurotypical actually are neurotypical. Perhaps that's the defining thing neurotypical people would and could do? given your neurodivergent kind of intelligence, you can probably see the contradiction currently exploding in my face...

We did have an old thread here where someone posted a test where neurotypical/divergence was measured. Was interesting to read all the various scores from different posters.

 

 

[thefxbip]

1 hour ago, Satans Little Helper said:

To me this is kinda "funny". (Funny is the wrong word, perhaps.) The thing is, I can see plenty people masking, being socially awkward and using some (acquired) tools/techniques in all kinds of social contexts in daily life. And as far as I'm concerned, these people are completely normal. Or neurotypical if you will. Or put differently, neurotypical people would do these things too. Hell, they can have complete conversations about this. 

So the things you list don't necessarily imply neurodivergent, to me. And I don't say this to get into some kind of argument. I believe you're being completely upfront and honest, like you mentioned. It's just that a lot of these so-called atypical behaviours, I personally tend to consider typical when looked at in a vacuum. Those behaviours do become atypical if they become stuck patterns that happen often. And also in circumstances where they shouldn't/needn't. But the fact you say you can mask those traits to the point people wouldn't even notice, makes it "funny". Because, in a way, you've made yourself to be able to succesfully do the Turing test (for neurotypical people). And perhaps we could even say that people who can train themselves to behave more neurotypical actually are neurotypical. Perhaps that's the defining thing neurotypical people would and could do? given your neurodivergent kind of intelligence, you can probably see the contradiction currently exploding in my face...

We did have an old thread here where someone posted a test where neurotypical/divergence was measured. Was interesting to read all the various scores from different posters.

 

 

Ive never met a neurotypical person that NEEDS to read books or do extensive training in reading people behaviours, body languages and expressions and certainly doesnt feel neurotypical to me at all.

Everybody adapts and use different social adaptation skills sure, but most people dont have to do a conscious, meticulous training in it to be able to do it. It just switch instantly, almost automatically. It's not an intellectual deliberate training process in most cases. Doesnt seem like it to me anyway.

So even if from the outside someone might look completely neurotypical by how they successfully replicate neurotypical behaviour the actual internal process might completely different.

The amount of effort needed by a neurotypical person to adapt like this seems to be far less than the amount of effort needed by a neurodivergent.

But im no expert. Dcom correct me if im wrong.

Edited June 9, 2022 by thefxbip

[dcom]

1 hour ago, thefxbip said:

The amount of effort needed by a neurotypical person to adapt like this seems to be far less than the amount of effort needed by a neurodivergent.

Superficially it might seem to be the same thing, but it's not. Neurotypicals are born and raised into social beings and the overwhelming majority has the neurological and emotional machinery to support natural, instinctual socialization and interpersonal workings. Neurodivergents like myself (and I can only speak of myself) lack most of the automated, non-cognitive observational and interactive responses to various social cues like non-explicit or covert emotional markers. Although I'm rather well versed in social protocol, it doesn't come easy or cheap, I have to actively seek, detect, interpret, understand and collate a myriad of variable signals, and the more people there are, the more difficult and taxing it gets, and it depletes energy really fast. Besides keeping tabs on others, I have to observe myself as well, because I might not catch myself behaving out of whack. It's more a rule than an exception that every now and then I lose focus and respond to something in a way that makes the situation screech to a halt, and I see the WTFs per minute rise sharply. Neurotypicals make social faux pas all the time, but it's different. They mask things, but it's very different. I'm really good as a lie detector, because I know where to look for the tells (the things that people unconsciously do when they lie). Some people find me extremely creepy because of the way I observe people and social situations, and I understand that. Some people appreciate that I notice things others don't, and that has made me the very few but extremely close friends that I have.

Spoiler

Here I go again, hijacking the conversation talking about myself.

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by dcom

[xox]

2 hours ago, dcom said:

Superficially it might seem to be the same thing, but it's not. Neurotypicals are born and raised into social beings and the overwhelming majority has the neurological and emotional machinery to support natural, instinctual socialization and interpersonal workings. Neurodivergents like myself (and I can only speak of myself) lack most of the automated, non-cognitive observational and interactive responses to various social cues like non-explicit or covert emotional markers. Although I'm rather well versed in social protocol, it doesn't come easy or cheap, I have to actively seek, detect, interpret, understand and collate a myriad of variable signals, and the more people there are, the more difficult and taxing it gets, and it depletes energy really fast. Besides keeping tabs on others, I have to observe myself as well, because I might not catch myself behaving out of whack. It's more a rule than an exception that every now and then I lose focus and respond to something in a way that makes the situation screech to a halt, and I see the WTFs per minute rise sharply. Neurotypicals make social faux pas all the time, but it's different. They mask things, but it's very different. I'm really good as a lie detector, because I know where to look for the tells (the things that people unconsciously do when they lie). Some people find me extremely creepy because of the way I observe people and social situations, and I understand that. Some people appreciate that I notice things others don't, and that has made me the very few but extremely close friends that I have.

  Reveal hidden contents

Here I go again, hijacking the conversation talking about myself.

 

Have you talked to an expert in human beings about this? 

[thefxbip]

No worry about hijacking the convo mate, i pretty much asked for you to do exactly that hahaha

It's great to have a good explanation from someone who's neurodivergent themselves, to have a description of what it feels like from the inside.

[zaizai]

Rob, look at this stunning Martian rock !

 

[Satans Little Helper]

10 hours ago, thefxbip said:

Ive never met a neurotypical person that NEEDS to read books or do extensive training in reading people behaviours, body languages and expressions and certainly doesnt feel neurotypical to me at all.

everyone needs it.

Fxbip, walk into a typical bookstore and look for sections like “selfhelp” and “psychology” or anything of that sort. Can’t remember a bookstore that hasnt one. Theres a whole self help industry out there. Do you really think theres an entire self help industry (lets also look beyond books) for just a tiny group of people? 

Just google “popular self help books” and enjoy the vastness of what it out there.

Now, you also placed importance on the NEED. I guess you’re assuming there are people who don’t need this. I’m going to tell you everybody NEEDS this. Whether they know it or not. Or like to admit it. Sure, not everyone does so to the same degree.

Also note that everyone learns differently. Some by just going out there and making mistakes. Others like to read up first. Some learn by being amongst other people as often as possible. And if you’re not the center of the party, you can learn by reading or watching youtubes or tv/movies.

There’s a lot of variation in how people learn this stuff. But the constant is that people learn. Or rather, they need to learn. Social behavior is to a large extent an acquired skill. Think of how people learn a language and read and write. I’m oversimplifying, but odds are that if you can read/write/speak on a normal level, you are a normal human being. You’ve got the skills needed to become a normal socially adapted human being. With the ability of being (acting) social. (Note: being social is an act)

Also, I’m sure you’ve heard sayings like ‘never to old to learn’ or ‘you always keep on learning’. This stuff is literally everywhere.

To illustrate, a link to a page with quotes on learning: https://www.dashe.com/blog/motivation/inspiring-learning-quotes/

In short: it is normal that people need to learn this stuff. But theres a lot of variation in how they do it. 

[thefxbip]

19 minutes ago, Satans Little Helper said:

everyone needs it.

Fxbip, walk into a typical bookstore and look for sections like “selfhelp” and “psychology” or anything of that sort. Can’t remember a bookstore that hasnt one. Theres a whole self help industry out there. Do you really think theres an entire self help industry (lets also look beyond books) for just a tiny group of people? 

Just google “popular self help books” and enjoy the vastness of what it out there.

Now, you also placed importance on the NEED. I guess you’re assuming there are people who don’t need this. I’m going to tell you everybody NEEDS this. Whether they know it or not. Or like to admit it. Sure, not everyone does so to the same degree.

Also note that everyone learns differently. Some by just going out there and making mistakes. Others like to read up first. Some learn by being amongst other people as often as possible. And if you’re not the center of the party, you can learn by reading or watching youtubes or tv/movies.

There’s a lot of variation in how people learn this stuff. But the constant is that people learn. Or rather, they need to learn. Social behavior is to a large extent an acquired skill. Think of how people learn a language and read and write. I’m oversimplifying, but odds are that if you can read/write/speak on a normal level, you are a normal human being. You’ve got the skills needed to become a normal socially adapted human being. With the ability of being (acting) social. (Note: being social is an act)

Also, I’m sure you’ve heard sayings like ‘never to old to learn’ or ‘you always keep on learning’. This stuff is literally everywhere.

To illustrate, a link to a page with quotes on learning: https://www.dashe.com/blog/motivation/inspiring-learning-quotes/

In short: it is normal that people need to learn this stuff. But theres a lot of variation in how they do it. 

Like DCOM mentioned, not in the same way that an autistic person would need it. The brain functions differently.

Autism and Self-Help are two very different things.

But i mean DCOM explained it very well. See his comment.

Edited June 10, 2022 by thefxbip