I just learned that Jonathan Sterne died of cancer this March. Really sorry to hear that; his book is really worth reading. I guess this post is something of a tribute now.
Very interesting. I gradually realized over the last ten or fifteen years that I'm neurodivergent, though much less so now than when I was a child. As a toddler I'd rock in my crib so vigorously that its legs had to be anchored to the floor. As a child I fixated on clocks, and later, radios. (I was born in the 1940s, when clocks and radios were things you could take apart). And I became a computer programmer, enjoying the company of others like me.
What you said about bullies: “It’s like autism went out and tapped some other third grader on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, get your friends together and jump that kid.’ People reacted to something in me that I didn’t know about, but which they recognized as vulnerable, as off-putting, or (in the case of people who told me they knew I was neurodivergent before I came out, to them or myself), just as familiar.” Exactly.
I suspect what's going on with babies and mirrors is simply that their delight is surprise at discovering that the person in the mirror is echoing their own movements. so must be THEM. OMG. (Learning is coming to be understood as a process for modifying the brain when reality doesn't coincide with what the brain was predicting.) Babies love surprises. I'm skeptical of deeper interpretations.
I really like your vision of loosening the demand for coherence and consistency of self-presentation. The culture of capitalism seems to amplify the imperative to "produce" an understandable identity. My own neurodivergence (and the wildly varying ways it is received) has made me question at times whether I am a "real person," but also whether anyone else is, either.
The demand for self branding is certainly one way in which you’re supposed to make yourself consistent—which I think can be more difficult for ND ppl but is also a strain on anyone; we’re not brands!
i love phenomenology, which i guess i would describe as a boundless narrative of a somewhat organized and essentially clear description of something the author think about the world. i got that from Bert Dreyfus's heidegger classes and other places, back when i was struggling to understand Husserl. (I've given up.) I will order Jonathan Sterne's book, and i regret that he has died. I can already see how his memory is a blessing. His book.
I just learned that Jonathan Sterne died of cancer this March. Really sorry to hear that; his book is really worth reading. I guess this post is something of a tribute now.
Very interesting. I gradually realized over the last ten or fifteen years that I'm neurodivergent, though much less so now than when I was a child. As a toddler I'd rock in my crib so vigorously that its legs had to be anchored to the floor. As a child I fixated on clocks, and later, radios. (I was born in the 1940s, when clocks and radios were things you could take apart). And I became a computer programmer, enjoying the company of others like me.
What you said about bullies: “It’s like autism went out and tapped some other third grader on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, get your friends together and jump that kid.’ People reacted to something in me that I didn’t know about, but which they recognized as vulnerable, as off-putting, or (in the case of people who told me they knew I was neurodivergent before I came out, to them or myself), just as familiar.” Exactly.
I suspect what's going on with babies and mirrors is simply that their delight is surprise at discovering that the person in the mirror is echoing their own movements. so must be THEM. OMG. (Learning is coming to be understood as a process for modifying the brain when reality doesn't coincide with what the brain was predicting.) Babies love surprises. I'm skeptical of deeper interpretations.
I mean...I would very much not take Lacan's account of anything! I'd guess babies react in different ways to mirrors.
He's interesting/evocative/profound the way poetry is or parables or something. Like Freud; not to be treated as actual portrait of development!
I think the mirror experience is the baby finding what is called agency.
I can make something happen!
When a grown-up mirrors the baby’s smile, or wave, it gives the baby a similar sense of agency.
I can make something happen!
That situation hopefully leads to attachment with the parent. The baby’s attachment system triggers, the adults caretaking system.
From the baby’s point of view, this desirable connection means safety.
A.k.a. Baby heaven.
Fantastic - lots to think about here.
I really like your vision of loosening the demand for coherence and consistency of self-presentation. The culture of capitalism seems to amplify the imperative to "produce" an understandable identity. My own neurodivergence (and the wildly varying ways it is received) has made me question at times whether I am a "real person," but also whether anyone else is, either.
The demand for self branding is certainly one way in which you’re supposed to make yourself consistent—which I think can be more difficult for ND ppl but is also a strain on anyone; we’re not brands!
i love phenomenology, which i guess i would describe as a boundless narrative of a somewhat organized and essentially clear description of something the author think about the world. i got that from Bert Dreyfus's heidegger classes and other places, back when i was struggling to understand Husserl. (I've given up.) I will order Jonathan Sterne's book, and i regret that he has died. I can already see how his memory is a blessing. His book.
he’s got a book on the history of the mp3 which also sounds pretty amazing…