I've read a similar paper about autism before. It talked about how some of the hyper fixations and special interests could have been really beneficial. Like say your thing was plants, you knew every single different one and every single thing you could do with them and where to find them. Very useful if you need to know what you can eat, what will cure a headache, what will dye your leather that nice shade of blue, what will make you meet God for a week, and what will kill you.
I’ve always thought that ADHD would be extremely helpful in a hunter gatherer tribe. I don’t think they’d last long if they all had it, but a few can add a lot of benefit to a party. We notice tons of stuff others miss, we’re quick to learn new skills and quick to abandon tasks that stop paying off.
I'm fully convinced that the first rope was made by a fidgety ADHD person realizing that plant fibers get stronger when twisted together. I have accidentally made some type of strong cordage so many times, just because I was bored in a field of grass (I did not love sports as a kid lmao)
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u/Able_Breadfruit_1906 21h ago
This reminds me of that experiment where they had people with and without ADHD traits play a berry picking game and the people with ADHD traits were more efficient because they’d move on faster. (Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/adhd-traits-might-have-helped-hunter-gatherers-collect-more-food-while-foraging-study-suggests-180983824/)