One of my favorite things about being autistic is that I actually love and respect what my brain has the capacity to do, when I am operating at my best. I am able to consume audio spoken word at 1.7x speed, at a minimum. I can actively listen to, and participate in, two conversations at once. I can hear recorded music of nearly any genre in a noisy atmosphere and be able to sing along when nobody else realizes there is music playing. And that’s JUST the stuff that relates to auditory processing.

That being said, I’m not sure I would curse anyone else with my brain, not even the most evil person I can think of: Ted Cruz! Our brains are our unique tools with which to bring forward our gifts to the world. And many of the gifts I have stem from the fact that I have always been interested in learning the things I don’t already know about the universe. I can be curious about anyone or anything at almost any time, which means, I have also been curious enough about MYSELF and how my brain works, that I have, with my diagnosis, been able to forgive myself for my deficits. They are not fun, but they are my own and I wouldn’t want to ruin the life of anyone who isn’t so experienced in the personal care and feeding of MY BRAIN.

That is, quite literally, the one superpower that EVERY SINGLE PERSON on earth has free and ready access to: self-knowledge. The better you know yourself, the easier you know how to work around your deficits and hone your strengths. And it is the only bit of knowledge that nobody else can have. It is the one gift you have to share with the universe. No one will ever be able to tell you HOW to use your brain to do whatever it is you’re doing precisely because they have a DIFFERENT BRAIN and they would undoubtedly DO IT DIFFERENTLY.

So, you’re saying that everyone has a superpower?

YES!

And you’re saying that everyone has THE SAME superpower?

YES!

Well, HOW THE FUCK DO YOU DO THAT?!?

I’m going to give you the secret.

Right now.

Wait for it…

Oh yeah, the secret to the universe is represented by the following equation.

CURIOSITY > JUDGMENT

That is it. Curiosity is greater than judgment.

In another post, I’ll explain what I mean, and how you can be more curious, to begin your journey to discover your superpower.