Listen now | In this episode we begin our journey through the 10 Pillars of Autistic Culture, starting with Bottom-Up Processing — the foundation of how many autistic people experience and interpret the world.
Bottom up processing is definitely a dominant factor in how I experience the world. I sometimes try to explain it to people by saying that when learning something and other folks are putting together a ten piece puzzle, I’m putting together a thousand piece puzzle.
With me it can often come across as perfectionism even though once I thoroughly learn a process I’m actually pretty good at doing C or B work if there aren’t time or other resources constraints. But I have to understand what A+ work looks like - fully assembled from the bottom up before I can figure out what specific pieces I can discard for a B or C version without the whole thing collapsing Jenga style.
Holmes was on cocaine, not heroin. A 7% solution in “The Sign of the Four.” That’s the only story where he uses it “onstage,” but other stories refer to his ongoing use. He eventually gave it up. It’s a stimulant as opposed to the depressant effect of heroin. It mimicked the high Holmes got from the chase of a case.
REALLY? Am I remembering from a movie? I thought it was specifically opium. I believe you and just said that off the top of my head but I thought there was a whole opium plotline somewhere. Maybe the TV show Elementary?!
“The Man with a Twisted Lip” has Watson coming across Holmes in an opium den. But this time, he’s under cover on a case.
I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, “Walk past me, and then look back at me.” The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility.
“Holmes!” I whispered, “what on earth are you doing in this den?”
He uses cocaine in the “Sign of the Four,” the second novel.
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.
I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer.
“Which is it to-day?” I asked,—“morphine or cocaine?”
He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. “It is cocaine,” he said,—“a seven-per-cent. solution. Would you care to try it?”
But he seems to have also used morphine at times. He only used cocaine in this book—at the beginning and the end. I don’t think he used any drugs ‘on stage’ at any other time. The just refer back to it.
Exchanges like this feel like home to me. I’m imagining a world where sharing info and growing collective knowledge is this easy and welcomed by more folks. 🍻
Another excellent podcast which I have learned from. With that, I am, without a doubt, a bottom-up processor since as far back as I can remember. In addition, I’m not autistic nor do I have autism. I am an autist or neurodivergent. Lastly, I have always used the term “work-life integration” instead of work-life balance which doesn’t make sense.
Yes! This is such an important point. Autistic traits are human traits. Just like not everyone who dances Flamenco or eats dinner at 11pm is Spanish, not everyone who is a bottom-up processor is Autistic.
Oh and I hate work-life balance... it's so dumb! You can't balance something that is part of something else. Work-life integration is genius. I'm training my brain to memorize that right now!
I love your podcast, Angela! It’s extremely meaningful and insightful. I usually listen to it in different parts because there is so much to process and digest (so much that is reflected back to me) that it takes me on a roller coaster; mentally and emotionally—and I need time…but it’s an awesome ride! 🫶🏼
I always talking about how I had "poor depth perception" to explain why I always tripped and fell. I mean I don't think that is untrue but it's funny how we were basically walking lists of Autistic traits with no one to tell us what conclusions to draw from all our data points!
This episode blew my mind. So much in it. Thank you for these, they are so authenticating after decades of derision. Xxx
Thank you so much. This podcast is SO hugely insightful for me. Brilliantly communicated and explained.
I bet Taylor Swift would relate 😉
Bottom up processing is definitely a dominant factor in how I experience the world. I sometimes try to explain it to people by saying that when learning something and other folks are putting together a ten piece puzzle, I’m putting together a thousand piece puzzle.
With me it can often come across as perfectionism even though once I thoroughly learn a process I’m actually pretty good at doing C or B work if there aren’t time or other resources constraints. But I have to understand what A+ work looks like - fully assembled from the bottom up before I can figure out what specific pieces I can discard for a B or C version without the whole thing collapsing Jenga style.
Holmes was on cocaine, not heroin. A 7% solution in “The Sign of the Four.” That’s the only story where he uses it “onstage,” but other stories refer to his ongoing use. He eventually gave it up. It’s a stimulant as opposed to the depressant effect of heroin. It mimicked the high Holmes got from the chase of a case.
REALLY? Am I remembering from a movie? I thought it was specifically opium. I believe you and just said that off the top of my head but I thought there was a whole opium plotline somewhere. Maybe the TV show Elementary?!
And that, my friend, is an information dump!! 😆
Chef's Kiss. No notes. Read every word! THANK YOU!!!!
And finally, in the movie, “The Seven Percent Solution,” a desperate Watson takes Holmes to Dr. Freud to help him kick the cocaine habit.
In the series Elementary, Dr Joan Watson starts as his sobriety coach, helping him stay off the heroin. I thought it was an interesting premise.
“The Man with a Twisted Lip” has Watson coming across Holmes in an opium den. But this time, he’s under cover on a case.
I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my skirt, and a low voice whispered, “Walk past me, and then look back at me.” The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility.
“Holmes!” I whispered, “what on earth are you doing in this den?”
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1661/pg1661-images.html#chap06
He uses cocaine in the “Sign of the Four,” the second novel.
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.
I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer.
“Which is it to-day?” I asked,—“morphine or cocaine?”
He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. “It is cocaine,” he said,—“a seven-per-cent. solution. Would you care to try it?”
But he seems to have also used morphine at times. He only used cocaine in this book—at the beginning and the end. I don’t think he used any drugs ‘on stage’ at any other time. The just refer back to it.
https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2097/pg2097-images.html
Exchanges like this feel like home to me. I’m imagining a world where sharing info and growing collective knowledge is this easy and welcomed by more folks. 🍻
Another excellent podcast which I have learned from. With that, I am, without a doubt, a bottom-up processor since as far back as I can remember. In addition, I’m not autistic nor do I have autism. I am an autist or neurodivergent. Lastly, I have always used the term “work-life integration” instead of work-life balance which doesn’t make sense.
Yes! This is such an important point. Autistic traits are human traits. Just like not everyone who dances Flamenco or eats dinner at 11pm is Spanish, not everyone who is a bottom-up processor is Autistic.
Oh and I hate work-life balance... it's so dumb! You can't balance something that is part of something else. Work-life integration is genius. I'm training my brain to memorize that right now!
I love your podcast, Angela! It’s extremely meaningful and insightful. I usually listen to it in different parts because there is so much to process and digest (so much that is reflected back to me) that it takes me on a roller coaster; mentally and emotionally—and I need time…but it’s an awesome ride! 🫶🏼
I always talking about how I had "poor depth perception" to explain why I always tripped and fell. I mean I don't think that is untrue but it's funny how we were basically walking lists of Autistic traits with no one to tell us what conclusions to draw from all our data points!