What might it be like being part of the NT collective?

Post Reply New Topic

I regaled a story to my therapist how once in the 1990's, when I got hooked up to the internet it felt amazing, connected to all these people all over the world, experiencing this great new tech, all of us enjoying each others company.
In the late 90's/early 2000's I became a part of the goth/alternative scene at the time, and although not as prominently as with the young internet I felt this feeling of belonging again.
I have not felt this feeling before or since, which leads me to my question, is this a feeling many NT's feel all the time? Do they feel like they are in some kind of society where all the other people have things in common with them and they are a part of something bigger?

I happen to find much of the "Goth/Alternative" lifestyle to be preeminently "NT."

I was exposed to it even before it was called "Goth" or "Alternative." It was called "Punk" back in the late 1970s. I found them to be intolerant of difference, very conformist, and not at all tolerant of people who have communication/social challenges.

The internet was way better in 1999/2000 when it was mostly Autistics, the very smart and assorted nerds on it. NTs ruined the internet, it became more and more negative and boring since they all got on it. And only got worse as smartphones took off.

Maybe the Internet was mostly made up of "nerds and geeks" (not necessarily "autistic") in the 1980s-----but, by 1999-2000, the Internet was already in millions of homes.

The major difference between the Internet of 20 year ago, and today's Internet----is how we get on it. It was "dial-up" 20 year ago. Now, it's DSL at the very least.

Dial-up in 2019 is like having to call the operator on a phone in the 1950s (like they had in Lassie).

I've tried to be part of it and succeeded at times, failed at others.

When I've succeeded, it feels like the outgroup is easily identifiable, things are all peachy and make sense, and we must as a group maintain common behavior and suppress our individuality. The world is generally stable but is being threatened. The group moves sporadically and unintelligibly. You become part of a blob of thoughts and emotions rather than an individual.

Of course, with AS, I cannot feel emotional connections in the same way, so I can only remain part of one of these groups superficially, and it is taxing to remain part of. Real friendships have become rarer due to the influence of some kind of mass-collective culture, as you said. This was fortunately not always the case and can return to how it was, where behavior was determined by the cultural norms of a region and not millions upon millions of people staring at each other all day through text, expecting rigidly conforming behavior.

I had it once with my main female friend between 16-mid 20s. We were just intertwined and communicated non-stop. I struggled as soon as there were additional people but with just her I was in a cocoon of friendship.

I also had it to a lesser extent when diving with the same diving group. That was more based on shared interest.

Now, what I have are a few very select deep friendships that I can only interact with very seldom because of the geographical distances between us but when we do interact it is great and like no time has passed at all. It is no longer the cocoon of the in/out group sensation wrongcitizen describes or the finding it easy to socialise around a shared interest.... it is more that these few people are constant unchanging stars to realign with from time to time.

In my country (UK) the net was still niche in 1999. It cost a fortune before then and very few were online. I was partly joking about it being more Autistic dominated then, but I do remember lots of amateur websites about people's special interests and people on the spectrum in IRC and the newsgroups.

To me it was better and less corporate then. Now it's just a few massive websites that dominate. You don't really get so many interesting personal home pages like before. I also miss all the chat rooms like Yahoo Chat which were lots of fun, moreso than the likes of Twitter.

Plus I think the Web was more intelligent then and less mob like.

Just my opinion.

Nts draw lines. A former friend from college who I lost on FB saw all liberals as bad, all conservatives as good. Capitalism as flawlessly shining. All gays are going to Hell unless forced to change. All Muslims are terrorists. Everyone who receives government aid is a deadbeat. You have to follow the rules to fit in with everybody, and everybody must be White, rich, American, Republican, Protestant, and speak only one language, English. Otherwise, NTs are just one big happy family.

You mean what belonging means? In a different sense of attachment that had something to do with a certain cause or concept or as plain as a name?

Well, yes. Sort of.


Once upon a time, in a gaming server, heck yes. A popular guild, then there's me, who just being herself, finds that I became the company that most people would like to be with. I was only 15 or so, but I can remember it clearly.

Sure mostly yes, the friendships, the bonds.. Found some people who actually understands ND perspectives. Many of these people still remembers me to this day.
Best of all? I can actually do networking online. Let this person meet that person, this group meets this group and see how'd they get along, etc... It was fun watching them find themselves another friend, another enemy, another ally or rival, etc.

At certain points, the deeper I went into a certain concept of 'group', the more 'close minded' I could become. The more participative I became, the worse it gets. I tried my best to be neutral -- to see all points.
Didn't noticed that until the leaders and the greats literally gave me their trusts. Seriously. That's also where I end up getting enemies.
Of course I tried to resist this by being curious and honor whatever I'd find at best to 'oppositions' or the 'them' -- keep their secrets, protect them, etc.
At worst? I spied on them, find their dirt and justify whatever crap, and actually outright manipulate them.

I even wielded 'power' of 'us'. I admit, there was a point I ended up sort of relying on it -- then the thought of expectations out of people due to my 'status'. Then gets prone to shock -- maybe the feeling of 'offended' if said expectation isn't met by people who would disregard 'status'.
The only way for me to resist this is actual humility at best, selling my self short at worst.
That's not all -- the responsibilities that comes with it. People also expects back from me. That's mostly how some didn't end up getting along with me.
It's where I don't like the idea of managing people or being a representative, and that was online.

Imagine if that happens in real life... No social life's already chaotic as it is, let alone with it.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

Basically how I feel around other Celtic fans.

On Reddit at the moment on /r Scottish football I'm heavily downvoted for saying ICT are crap. Um, they're in the league below.

On /r Celtic I'm heavily upvoted for saying only crap teams have stars for domestic leagues.

These are both my genuine opinions.

Also amongst writers/artists or anyone else who thinks deeply and unusually. Often autistic people are the second of those, sometimes the first as well.

I find my political and or football opponents twist what I say a lot. That bothers me but it's normal, NTs get it too. It's a dishonest political tactic. What annoys me is when my fellow leftists choose to do the same because they're SJW and want to cry over something. You're not 'meant' to provide devil's advocate or to explain how the other side is feeling. I find it happens more online where I'm assumed to have 'white privilege'.

My feelings are so much a mix of what a Celtic fan would say a Celtic fan felt and what a Rangers fan would say a Celtic fan felt that sometimes I wonder how much of me exists outside of football... But by football I mean politics, football, love, art, heritage, general world views. I'm essentially a left wing, social libertarian who isn't allowed to get a job because of mental illness but has done charity work for Oxfam. I don't think in England that would be so heavily stereotyped as one team or another.

My parents ignore me and twist things but that's partly because they're deaf and partly because they use 'I'm deaf' as a strategy not to listen to full sentences. I find that annoying.