One reason I don’t like your graph is that I have no idea how to suffer both X and Y at the same time, for the same action.
Imagine an audience with non-overlapping preferences. Suppose you have control over the thermometer, and someone likes the temperature above 20 degrees C, and another likes it below 15 degrees C. There’s no way to get less than 1 person complaining about your choice.
This is true, but then Adam and Edgar both face those same overlapping punishments. Of course, it’s possible for the audience to treat the two characters differently due to some prejudice, but I don’t think that’s a significant factor in e.g. autism.
but I don’t think that’s a significant factor in e.g. autism.
I think this is actually pretty much the case with autism – although you can frame it as prejudice, or as radically different preferences about how to communicate, or what sort of communication skills you possess.
“Prejudice” and “what sort of communication skills you possess” are on the exact opposite ends of the spectrum I want to talk about. Both cases may feel the same from the first person view, but they are not just interchangeable framings.
The difference is in who controls the affordance width. In the case of prejudice, society determines that Adam’s width will be x and Edgar’s width will be y, and neither of them can do much about it. In the case of lacking skills, Edgar has a lot of agency and practices of self-awareness, introspection, observation and imitation are useful to him, even if it is impossible to learn the skills to the same extent as Adam.
E.g. the deaf man, with enough observation, can figure out in what contexts it’s better for him to be completely silent and in in what contexts it’s okay to be too loud, even if he never learns to produce the appropriate volume.
Imagine an audience with non-overlapping preferences. Suppose you have control over the thermometer, and someone likes the temperature above 20 degrees C, and another likes it below 15 degrees C. There’s no way to get less than 1 person complaining about your choice.
This is true, but then Adam and Edgar both face those same overlapping punishments. Of course, it’s possible for the audience to treat the two characters differently due to some prejudice, but I don’t think that’s a significant factor in e.g. autism.
I think this is actually pretty much the case with autism – although you can frame it as prejudice, or as radically different preferences about how to communicate, or what sort of communication skills you possess.
“Prejudice” and “what sort of communication skills you possess” are on the exact opposite ends of the spectrum I want to talk about. Both cases may feel the same from the first person view, but they are not just interchangeable framings.
The difference is in who controls the affordance width. In the case of prejudice, society determines that Adam’s width will be x and Edgar’s width will be y, and neither of them can do much about it. In the case of lacking skills, Edgar has a lot of agency and practices of self-awareness, introspection, observation and imitation are useful to him, even if it is impossible to learn the skills to the same extent as Adam.
E.g. the deaf man, with enough observation, can figure out in what contexts it’s better for him to be completely silent and in in what contexts it’s okay to be too loud, even if he never learns to produce the appropriate volume.