The A.D.D.er Can Not Understand Life Because the A.D.D.er Can Not Understand Time
To make sense out of life, one must also be able to make sense of time, that is, understanding one requires understanding the other. In our everyday world they are inseparable. Life requires time and time has meaning because of life. The life of the human being is understood to be “a life” because it occurs in time over time.1
If time and life are so entwined, so ontologically inseparable that the existence of one requires the existence of the other and, furthermore, if the fundamental problem of A.D.D. is an inability to understand time, then the only conclusion is that the A.D.D.er can not understand life. After all, to understand life requires one to understand time and time is exactly the concept that eludes the A.D.D.er. It is this inability to understand time that is the source of the A.D.D.ers’ problems with finances.2 It is this inability to understand time that makes the A.D.D.er see life as a series of “do-overs”3 where every life change is seen as an attempt to get it right this one time.4 The A.D.D.er has enormous difficulty understanding that life is a linear progression that starts with a birth and ends with a death. The A.D.D.er is trapped in an infinity of “nows” and can not, except with great difficulty and much artifice, comprehend the linear nature of life. It is only based on observation of “the past” and continual repetition of the past (that repetition may be little more than a mantra spoken over and over again) that the A.D.D.er trusts5 that there is causal link (however tenuous) between an action occurring now and an action in the future. But the A.D.D.er does not truly know this and, therefore, does not truly understand the progression of life.
- It is not possible to conceive of life without time since our understanding of life is that it is something that exists over time. And as we know, whatever has life also has its opposite, death. One might ask, what does it mean to die? Perhaps it means to no longer exist in our time. Can the dead exist in a time that we can not comprehend because we do not live it? The living will never know.↩
- To do well with finances requires one to understand how “now” translates into something that is “later,” in essence, a “now” that is in the future. But the A.D.D.er has great difficulty escaping the current “now” and therefore has great difficulty both imagining and, most importantly, ACTING ON a “now” that will occur in the future. Now…have I lost you?
↩ - “The do-over was one of childhood’s most powerful rites, for it exerted our dominion over the laws of space and time. The clock was rolled back, the game was restored to its exact status as before the contested event and play was resumed.” See: Do-Over ↩
- This is reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day in the sense that each day is lived as if this were yet another chance to get things right yet, biology and chronology make the A.D.D.er painfully aware that there is a finite number of chances to get it right. Eventually one runs out of “nows” because one is simply too old.↩
- Trust: Now there is a concept that eludes the A.D.D.er. I will try to examine this concept at another time. However, let me say now that trust requires a belief of something “over time,” a reliance on events occurring at some future time. However the A.D.D.er does not understand the concept of time and therefore does not understand, and therefore often misplaces, trust. ↩
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You’re freaking me out Jeff… but I know you’re right.
Andrew,
I’ll be writing much more about this in the near future. Unbeknownst to me…I was actually channeling Dr. Barkley. For a sort of sneak preview, see this: http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/02/23/self-regulation-and-barkleys-theory-of-adhd/
This sparks a memory of something I saw on tv years ago.It may have been a “Twilight Zone”episode..not sure but…A man was dealing with alot of stress about his life,and his wife’s never ending yelling at him about his actions or his non-action in getting things done.
One day while she was yelling at him, he said:”STOP!”..And the whole world stopped,time froze,ppl froze,..etc,exept for he was free to walk around and do whatever he wanted. ..Go to the bank and get his account squared away,change directions frozen ppl in the street were walking,..etc..then say:”GO!” and time started again.
Life was good,because he was able to stop time anytime he wanted,and fix what he had messed up, before anyone would see his mistake.,,Then one day sirens blaired and nuclear warheads were moments away from hitting the ground, there was panic in the streets,and as he looked out the window, He said:”STOP!”…and there he saw the warheads inches from the ground..frozen,along with ppl frozen,with horror on they’re faces.
This has stuck in my mind for years,being able to control time.
Scott.
Scott,
That sounds like a GREAT episode of Twilight Zone. I’m going to have to track it down!
Jeff,
I’m not sure if was Twilight Zone, but it would be the the short lived series of TZ,that tried to get back to tv after the original black an white….maybe in the late 70’s-80’s,..not sure. You are much better at computer navigation,and so forth,than I am.
It’s in color,and I have a very clear picture of it,in my mind.And yes, it was a great episode..Maybe Ray Bradbury…
Scott.
Jeff,
The speed of light. I thought about this a few nights ago while sitting on my porch after sundown and gazing at the stars……Someone told me, or I learned this in elementry school, but I can’t stop thinking about this every night when I go out on the porch after sundown(every night) by myself, to relax(I try to anyway.. lol…relax).
When I see the light of a star, I assume that I see the star as it exists at this moment. But in reality, that star may have exploded or fizzeld out many yrs ago, and I am just seeing the light of what happened many yrs ago.
This thought could many subjects about my own ADD way of dealing(or not sometimes) with it. Do you see any relevence to ADD in this way of thinking?
Scott.
I know this is an old post but I am new to this site. I am sure this discribes me. I always wondered why I had trouble with visualizing some math concepts. I can always find a way to figure out the problem. I’m just not able to visualize it. I always thought it was just me. I’m excellent in Math with the exception of matrices. (And satistics. Because whatever else I am, I am always a realist.) I can always get the right answer but I don’t know how it’s right. I thank you for this site and I am happy I stumbled upon it. The only problem is it makes me a little sad to know that I can’t just find a cure all. I don’t have the mind capacity to keep trying all the time. Sad thing about ADD. Time has always been my enemy. I sometimes feel like Miss Scarlet, “After all, tomorrow is another day.” I would love to know how you keep youself focused on the site and keep it mantained. I know I wouldn’t. God I hope my inner optimist shows up soon.
Never let the age of a post stop you from commenting. The down side of a blog is that good stuff gets buried so…keep digging…hopefully you will find other things of interest. (You may want to sign up for my newsletter.)
I too wish there was an “off” button for ADHD but, unfortunately, there isn’t. And there are days when I just can’t stand it that I am ADHD. (I have a little poem called “Not A.D.D.” on this page: http://jeffsaddmind.com/about ) When I’m fed up with it. I’m having fewer of those days..but…they still occur. Those are the days when I think, “Ok…not going to get much work done today.”
Here’s the secret on how to be focused. You ready? Don’t be focused. Not joking (sorta). I have one hundred posts in draft format. Many will get deleted and never see the light of day. Others may get combined into another post which eventually goes live. There are days when I can sit and write and write and write…and other days when I cannot. So what I really do is work on a post for a bit…take a break…come back to it at another time…basically let my natural rhythms take control. From the outside it may seem like I’m doing this daily but, in fact, I may write several posts at once and just schedule them to appear on various days. In fact, the next four ADHD-related posts have already been written. So…focus is more a matter of going back to it again and again over a period of time as opposed to sitting in a seat for 8 hours at a clip. I’m focused, sort of…but in only little bits of time.
Don’t worry…your inner optimist will make an appearance. Excercise and vitamins may help the optimist to come out.