
It's Boredom Sensitivity, Not AD/HD - KentBeck
https://www.facebook.com/notes/kent-beck/the-gift-of-boredom-sensitivity/1072598679439662
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closed
I think phrasing AD/HD as boredom sensitive vs boredom tolerant doesn't
reflect cases under which the constellation of behaviors / emotions would
constitute a disorder. Boredom tolerant makes it sound like these people have
a disposition for boring tasks, but it seems like the critical component here
is whether people can complete boring tasks regardless of their feelings about
them. Whether or not someone is sensitive to boredom isn't sufficient to have
a disorder, experiencing distress because they have great difficulty doing
boring things, or being at a disability because they need to listen to loud
music and pump themselves up to do boring things is.

AD/HD is phrased negatively because part of its definition is that it causes
distress or impairment. If it doesn't do this, then it's not AD/HD. I do
research, and I get bored easily, but to the degree that this boredom impairs
my ability to do things I'd like to do I'm in trouble.

The idea of boredom sensitivity is interesting, and I like the idea that a
researcher might have an advantage by getting bored easily, but it seems like
the article doesn't quite answer the question, "In what context is AD/HD a
blessing?". (I definitely believe there are contexts where it is a blessing).

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dplgk
There's a lot of wishful thinking via anecdotes here. Is there any real
research to look at?

