The Neurodivergent Professor chris burcher

Do you ever think about your comfort zone? I’m sure most people are at least aware of the concept.To me, our comfort zone is like an invisible egg that surrounds our physical body. Near the center, we are, well, comfortable. As we near the edges we become less comfortable. Our comfort zone is like a sixth sense. It is more a bodily feeling or awareness than an identifiable sensation. Approaching our comfort zone is unlike hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, or seeing.Why do we experien...

Does science play a role in your life? Do you value hard data and evidence? Do you think humans are good at proving things? Or maybe you defer to religion or culture to decide what is real?I talk a lot about how science is over or undervalued. Some folks think science proves reality. Others think scientists are full of crap.Regardless of how you feel about science, the scientific method is regarded as one of the best tools we have to help us answer questions. One of my favorite questions...

Do other people ever make you angry?I’d be worried about you if you said no. Or assume you are the Dalai Lama. Many of us struggle to find connections to people we disagree with. Or people who act out, are annoying, or mean.I preach a lot about how we are all connected, and how we need to love one another and participate in our communities. But it is so very hard, sometimes, to love everyone or to want to connect.If you struggle with truly feeling connected to people, this article is for...

Have you ever wondered how any two people can have a conversation and walk away feeling both like they were heard and believing they heard the other person?It blows my mind how limiting conversation can be. As magical as language is, it leaves so much room for error. Words mean different things to different people. We hear one thing when they mean another. Context matters. We have different life experiences. There are so many layers that make it easy to misunderstand.Language, like any techno...

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”― Charles BukowskiDo you ever think about this? Can you think of an example from your life?Sometimes, it seems we’re surrounded by idiots. And they’re loud. We worship confidence, arrogance, and status. Why are we surprised when the greedy become gluttonous?Why do we not honor traits like kindness, empathy, and connection? A lot of this is fear. We worry abou...

What went right?Do you ever wonder how we got here? Do you ever think about what has changed over hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution?The past few decades have seen exponential growth in technology. Smartphones. Passenger trips to space. Electric vehicles. Lots of crazy new tech. In most of our lifetimes, technological advances have dominated the changes we experience.Science changed the world. Medical advances like germ theory and surgical techniques have arguably improved our ...