Neurocomplexity: A Metamodernist Take on Neurodivergence & Neurodiversity?
An essay on the concepts of Neurodiversity, Neurodivergence and Neurocomplexity through the frameworks of Modern, Postmodern and Metamodern movements.
Exploring the emergences of the concepts of neurodiversity, neurodivergence and Neurocomplexity through the frameworks of Modernist, Postmodernist and Metamodernist movements can illustrate the reciprocity between all of these terms. In other words, it helps to highlight the iterative and interdependent nature of these terms, as they are movements that require the previous movement to serve as a solid, tangible platform from which to grow and reform in tangent with the evolution of human awareness of the collective unconscious (or insert your ideology here on the “why” behind iteration of cultural movements).
[NOTE: The linear dates of these origins of the modernist, postmodernist and meta modernist movements are not aligned with the dates of term origin for neurodiversity, neurodivergence and neurocomplexity. Yet, all movements are alive in contemporary society and I’m using these ideologies as a framework to explore and understand the interconnected and iterative nature of these terms as they have unfolded.]
Modernist Ideology
In my understanding, the Modernist movement was a broad cultural, artistic, and literary phenomenon that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that was characterized by a deliberate break from traditional forms and conventions, embracing new ideas, experimentation, and a focus on the individual's experience in a rapidly changing world. Some key features of Modernist ideology include subjectivity, rejection of tradition, stream of consciousness, ambiguity, paradox, and industrialization.
In short, Modernism reflects a response to the uncertainties of modern existence, encapsulating a spirit of experimentation and a quest for meaning in a fragmented world.
Neurodiversity Through the Modernist Ideology
Neurodiversity is a concept, coined by Judy Singer in 1998, emphasizing that neurological differences are natural variations of the human genome. This perspective advocates for understanding and accepting these differences as part of the holistic diversity of human experience. Key aspect of neurodiversity include: inclusivity, strength-based approach, advocacy, awareness, and a cultural shift of cognitive differences
Singer’s concept of neurodiversity was the first distinct term to highlight the universality of neurocognitive differences in the human species, and ultimately aimed to create a society that values all forms of neurological functioning and subjectivity. This aligns with Modernist concepts including:
Subjectivity: each individual has a different lived experience due to naturally occurring neuro-wiring differences
Ambiguity: there is no universal human experience due to the reality that all of us are uniquely wired
Paradox: the universality of difference—our differences connect us
Rejection of Tradition: neurodiversity defies the dated general assumptions of the time that all humans have the same lived experience