Pedantic: an insulting word used to describe someone who annoys others by correcting small errors, caring too much about minor details, or emphasising their own expertise, especially in some narrow or boring subject matter. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Slang: Nit-picker
Phrase: “No one likes a smartass!”
I’ve been shamed many times for focusing in on details in conversations or for asking too many questions in order to iron out the details of a conversational topic, or questioning the veracity of things said and wanting to challenge and ask what research has been done to verify what is being said.
I pick up on every crease in conversation. It’s almost like a visceral bodily reaction to what is being said, and then I just want to get my iron and iron out all the creases.
To know something well and clearly, to know it in all its depth, in all its truth feels reassuring and important to me. Does that make me pedantic? If it does then I feel the need to reclaim the word and be proud of it!
The opposite of ‘knowing something can feel unnerving, frustrating, disorientating and uncomfortable, it feels like shaky ground. I don’t have any problem with curiosity and exploration, that is rich territory for exploration. But I do struggle with sweeping statements and quick conclusions.
Pedantic instead could be described as diligent, thorough, precise and detail-oriented, without any of the pejorative tone its original meaning.
I’ve been digging around in autistic literature to find out more about why (some) autistic brains are this way inclined, diligently researching and looking for the details (how ironic!).
This is what I discovered.
Autistic minds seem to have a preference for local versus a global processing style.
Global processing refers to attending to the gestalt (an organised whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts) i.e. processing information in a more general and big-picture way. A local-processing style attends more to the specific details of a stimulus.
I was really intrigued to note that in reading a blogpost on the Embrace Autism website, that it stated that many people who are autistic would have N as part of their profile in the Myers Briggs personality profiling test. ‘N’s are systemisers – they pay most attention to the impressions or the meanings and patterns in the information they receive.
So it’s not just that autistic people have a local processing style – there are able to connect the local and the global processing. Embrace Autism sum this up beautifully:
If you relate to what is being said here, and notice memories of being shamed for ‘pointing out the truth’ or spotting details and saying it out loud, can I just say to you ‘guess what – you actually have enhanced perception!’. Just take that in for a moment. You have bottom-up processing. You have an incredible brain.
You are not a smartass. You are not a nit-picker. You are not hair-splitting.
The next time you feel that sting of shame, reflect on this bit I’m going to say next. Quite a number of people who are autistic, if they were to do a Myers Briggs personality test would come out with the letter N in their profile. This is what 16personalities.com says about N in Myers Briggs:
“Eyes on the Horizon: People with the intuitive trait prefer to exercise their imaginations as they seek new ideas and possibilities. They live their day-to-day lives just like any other personality type. But while that’s happening, their minds tend to point inward while at the same time gently focusing somewhere beyond the horizon. Their lives are ones of questioning, wondering and connecting the dots in the ‘bigger picture’, and they love the theoretical. They often ask, ‘what if?’ and ponder the possibilities the future may hold.”
Autistic people shine in colouring outside the lines. Maybe it's time we reclaimed the word 'pedantic'. What do you think?
#autistic #autism #autismpride #neurodivergent #neurodivergentpride #autisticcounsellor #autistictherapist #neurodiversitymovement
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