How ADHD curiosity can save us all
ADHD/neurodivergent folks tend to be hyper-curious - an essential skill in volatile times.
No skill has been more useful to me in my life than curiosity. I certainly have never been promoted in my career because of my amazing organizational skills (which I do not have). The technical skills I have developed in my field have been less important to my career progression than the fact that I am curious and am constantly trying to figure out how things can be done better. I’m often surprised at how quickly others jump to conclusions, or how much people are inclined to defend processes or policies because it’s just “always been that way.” I can’t help but ask “why can’t we do it another way?”
While I don’t think someone has to have ADHD to be curious, I do think that curiosity is often a beneficial trait of having ADHD or other forms of neurodivergence (and there is research to back this up). An article published earlier this year in the journal Evolutionary Psychology Science advances the argument that ADHD curiosity has been an essential trait throughout human evolution that “may have been adaptive in ancestral environments characterized by scarce resources and unpredictable risk.”1 The aspects of ADHD that seem to make life harder in our modern world may be linked to characteristics like curiosity, creativity, and energy that have enabled survival of ADHD ancestors.
There are very valid criticisms of characterizing ADHD and related symptoms as a “superpower.” ADHD is a disability in our world as it is now and it absolutely does make daily life harder. I can also imagine that some ADHD traits would be disadvantageous to the survival of our ancestors. I do however very much identify with the “hunter in a farmer’s world” argument that ADHD is not a defect and was essential to the survival of humanity, but that our world today is not designed for - or welcoming of - ADHD folks.
In light of our recent election in the US - and generally a lot of upheaval that’s occurred in the last several years (it honestly feels like my entire adult life has been upheaval) - I’m finding a lot of comfort in my curiosity.
Things aren’t working
Regardless of where you land on the political spectrum, I think many would agree that the world generally feels like a dumpster fire and has been feeling that way for a while.
I’m starting to really think we’re trying to cram the challenges of our current reality into a paradigm of the past that makes zero sense.
Just a few examples:
In a world where workers today are at least 59% more productive than they were in 1979, most of us are still working a 40-hour (at least) week.
We know that teaching strategies designed to support neurodivergent students in schools also support neurotypical students, but many schools still treat neurodivergent students as needing special accommodations while everyone else gets the “normal” instruction experience (despite this apparently not working so well overall)2
Social media spreads misinformation, but people still think they’re accessing the “news” rather than simply being manipulated.
We are still buying too much stuff despite the fact that we desperately need to stop buying too much stuff
I’m not saying I have answers to all of these problems (or even that these are anywhere near the worst problems our world is facing), but I like many ADHD folks I know, I do have an aversion to doing things because they’ve always been done a certain way.
To me the number one lesson for anyone who is upset about how the election turned out is that we all need a lot more curiosity. We also need really good ideas that are really different from what we’ve been doing, and neurodivergent people often come up with transformative ideas that genuinely do change the world. Is it hyperbole to say that human civilization depends on ADHD and neurodivergent folks to find our way out of our current mess? (no pressure everybody). While yes obviously I am being hyperbolic; but I’ll just point out that there are many neurodivergent folks that have improved our world through their divergent thinking.3
Finding Comfort in Curiosity
Maybe I’m just a relentless optimist, but I don’t think we are doomed. I am honestly deeply comforted by the knowledge that myself and other neurodivergent people will not give up on finding innovative ways to make the world a better place. I am hoping that people - not just neurodivergent folks obviously - can embrace curiosity (rather than animosity) about the shared problems we all have and what could be new ways to solve those problems.
Curiosity can make us resilient. It can fuel empathy. It makes us voracious consumers of information that then makes us more adaptable to changing conditions. Do folks with ADHD have problems keeping track of their keys? Often yes (at least I do, shout out to my Tile that I couldn’t live without). But we may also be the ones asking the right questions at a moment in history when it feels like transformative ideas are needed more than ever.
Le Cunff, AL. Distractibility and Impulsivity in ADHD as an Evolutionary Mismatch of High Trait Curiosity. Evolutionary Psychological Science 10, 282–297 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-024-00400-8
I do not blame teachers for systemic problems with K-12 education, nor do I think adapting classrooms to work better for neurodivergent students would even come close to solving all of the problems that K-12 education faces today.
Of course, not all neurodivergent ideas are good ideas, and not all neurodivergent people would agree on the best way to improve our society. I don’t, however, think it is a coincidence that many people suspect that Donald Trump has ADHD (and I actually think his ADHD traits are a key element of his popularity amongst his supporters), and Elon Musk’s neurodivergence is well-known (and I think key to his rise in prominence as a public figure as well).