Editor’s note: My earlier essay, Collapse: A Framework sets out the structural dynamics of ecological overshoot and collapse. Here, I explore why so many collapse-aware people appear to share traits associated with neurodivergence, particularly autism, and what that overlap might reveal.
This is neither a diagnostic argument, nor an attempt to romanticise or criticise any neurotype. This is a reflection grounded in research, lived experience, and the stories of people who message me privately saying, “I always felt that something was wrong.”
Chapter 1. A strange pattern
Earlier this year, I posted a thread on social media exploring the possible link between neurodivergent cognition and collapse awareness. It generated a great deal of interest and discussion. What stood out were the replies from many people who said the post made sense to them in a way other writing on collapse hadn’t.
Many added, in comments and direct messages, that they were autistic, awaiting assessment, or had ADHD with autistic traits. Some simply said they had always felt out of step with how other people seemed to think and view the world.
After the thread circulated, people asked me to take the idea further - a steady stream of messages from readers who wanted a more detailed account than a thread could offer. This essay grows out of that earlier exchange.
Revisiting the thread and subsequent comments, I decided to dig deeper into what felt like a challenging but important question:
Why are so many neurodivergent people collapse-aware?
And why are so many collapse-unaware people neurotypical?
I’m not making a universal claim. Plenty of neurodivergent people are not collapse-aware, and plenty of neurotypical people eventually get there. But patterns matter, especially in a civilisation shaped by socially reinforced blindness.
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