The Curious Case of ADHD

ADHD is a superpower. ADHD is a burden.

Yes, it’s both. While labeled a disorder and legally recognized as a disability, it’s also not exactly clear whether ADHD is all bad.

It’s also possible that AI will change the balance of ADHD benefits vs downsides.

Eye of the Beholder

Aarron Walter of Design Better noted that ADHD was a common theme amongst the creatives he’s interviewed - artists, creators, architects:

“A mind like this, forced to march in time with operational thinkers who thrive in an economic environment shaped by industrialization, is bound to struggle. Though the struggle is real for ADHD thinkers, there are upsides we should acknowledge.”

He may as well have added ‘founder’ to that list, given its prevalence amongst entrepreneurs. Having upsides helps to explain why some of the most successful people on the planet have ADHD:

Bill Gates, Simone Biles, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein (suspected).

Everyone’s mileage varies. The fact it can vary so wildly just adds even more to the complexity of the condition.

Think Different (?)

The description of a mind being forced to march in time echoes the thoughts of geneticist Idit Hazan, who describes ADHD as a wild type instead of a disorder. A wild type is considered a normal variant in the gene pool, albeit less common.

In genetics, anything above 1% is considered normal (anything under is a mutation). For context, the prevalence of schizophrenia and related disorders is between 0.25 - 0.64% (source: NIMH).

Defining ADHD as a normal wild type helps to explain why up to 11% of the population has ADHD traits, and why it has persisted in the gene pool for so long.

The challenges experienced by those with ADHD could be explained by a theory in evolution:

“There’s something called mismatch theory - that we are living in times that our genome doesn’t match the surrounding.”

“If you think about hunter’s gatherers, it makes sense - you always need somebody who is hyper-vigilant, always aware of their surrounding, notices everything. Our circumstances, at least in the last hundred years or even a thousand years, have changed much faster than DNA. So basically we’re living in a world that doesn’t match our genetics. (ADHD) used to be an advantage.”

It used to be an advantage, until our surroundings changed.

With the accelerated progress we’re seeing with AI, those surroundings may change again.

What If

If today’s economic environment is shaped by industrialization, then what kind of environment and incentives does AI create for the future?

AI automates and predicts. The things that are easy to automate are things that that humans find hard - large-scale data analysis, rote and repetitive skills, high volumes of complex calculations at inhuman speeds.

Even AI art feels rote and repetitive - there’s a reason they teach techniques in art schools. No matter how creative the discipline is, there are best practices and skills one can hone over years of repetition and practice.

These technical skills across all disciplines are now easily accessible to anyone who can prompt an AI to create something. What work is left for humans may be our imagination and ability to envision something, our sense of experience and understanding of people.

The ability to think different.

References

Design Better: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/what-do-many-creative-people-have

ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka: EP. 307: Not a Disorder, But a Wildtype: Dr. Idit Hazan on ADHD as a Natural Human Variation, Nov 20, 2024. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adhd-for-smart-ass-women-with-tracy-otsuka/id1443678424?i=1000677628740&r=1429

ADHD Statistics - NIMH. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd