> Almost immediately, they had some difficulty prioritizing, as David Barron noted of Strachey, “It was characteristic of him to insist on minor points of difference with the same force that he insisted on major points.”
The lack of ability to prioritize is because every single detail is consider important. Which is why he gain the reputation of writing perfect programs.
Choosing your battles is good in the interpersonal relationships; but Mother nature does not choose battles when enforcing its laws, it doesn't say "well... right now we should suspend gravity because there are bigger fish to fry".
From that perspective there are not major or minor points, there are only points. So, what might seem petulant for neurotypical people, for Asperger's people is much more black and white; which is a blessing and a curse. but you will thank me later.
I tend to either care entirely about something or not at all, and the only standard is "perfect" (there are no visible ways something can be improved) – "good enough" doesn't really make sense emotionally. And even though I'm completely self-aware and I recognize this as it's happening, it's difficult to control what I feel.
It's very frustrating. I sometimes wonder at how much more I'd enjoy things and how much more progress I'd make at work and with my hobbies if there weren't these... unbidden demands that take time to satisfy, the stress that the demands cause, and the constant internal battle between what I want to do or know I ought to do and the arbitrary need for something to be a certain way.
Far be it from me to armchair diagnose someone, but the "Strachey had always displayed a talent for the sciences but rarely applied himself" is a story told over and over again for those with undiagnosed neurodivergence.
I hate them and communist in general, but please war of position or war based on position is key to the dark side winning.
For the china example, Mao has instructed and except one disobedient general never fought the war against japan. And said thank you then of invading china afterward.
Back to this I posted. I think that early pioneer many of these have issue of fighting all or select whatever he thought important. That is why they did this in the first place I think. Some ok some not. And you hope the idea or company spread around enough (mouse-windows to Steve) that someone did it and fight the right strategy war. Free source to open source is another example.
I have worked with very smart people who had no ability to prioritize. It's always fascinated me and I wonder what is at the root of this problem.
Someone struggling with an exam might first prioritize the questions they're confident in answering quickly to improve their grade. Someone who will ace the exam regardless of order can simply power through without needing to waste time "prioritizing" that could instead be spent on answering the questions.
Someone who is smart/driven/competent enough to generally complete their projects in time and under budget has no need to prioritize features based on need - if they do prioritize, they may prioritize based on ease of overal implementation. That might mean prioritizing the "less important" / less defined items before the more important / more fleshed out aspects. Eliminating unknowns and variables up front in this way might lead to less time "wasted" on refactoring and redesigning.
Procrastination is the biggest one for otherwise well-meaning/smart people in my opinion.
I’m not sure we’re disagreeing about anything. What you wrote is good advice to someone who’s too argumentative.
I try to ignore the tone and insults and reply as if nothing was happening. Easier to do through text than through voice or in person. It's smart to move any discussion to a written medium in order to reply calmly and create a paper trail.
I think I used to fit something like this description. I was very blunt about disagreements but I was always well intentioned and forgiving. Sometimes people took the bluntness too seriously and couldn't see that I was trying to help them.
I've since softened up somewhat. In retrospect I think some of the bluntness was a symptom of externally imposed stress.