I saw a long post about dyslexia/dyscalculia, and I want to say the struggle is real. I know a guy who can barely do algebra because the numbers don't stay put. He could do all the steps correctly and still come out with the wrong answer every time, just because he accidentally transposed a couple numbers somewhere and didn't notice.
Same dude can do doctorate-level modal logic because it's written in symbols instead of numbers. The notation looks like this:
The same dude, again, is also really good at coding in LaTeX (a markup language for typesetting). I don't have much of a basis for comparison, but a programmer friend of mine told me once that he "looked into it once, and then ran screaming into the forest." So it's pretty fiddly. This is a basic example of what it looks like:
So, point number one of this post is:
1. Dyscalculia doesn't say anything about your intelligence or technical skill.
In contrast, I do great with numbers. I aced Calc 3. But logic notation, to me, is barely readable. It's visually baffling. Same with any kind of code. It's hard to describe, but it hits me as like... visual noise. I can't tell how anything is grouped, or what's operating on what. It looks like chickenscratch. Even when I understand the concept, the notation still looks like an infuriating mess.
I can't read music, either. I did music lessons for years as a kid, and I've tried again multiple times as an adult after finally getting ADHD meds. Sheet music, no matter how many times I've read it, is dots that look like all the other dots. I still count the lines. The only things I can play are things I've memorized.
I can't read maps or navigation apps very well unless they're oriented in the same way my body is oriented in space. To tell right from left, I have to tilt my head so I'm kind of facing the same way as the little car. Same with copying motions--when I was in dance classes, I couldn't copy anything unless I was facing the same direction as the instructor. If they were facing me, I could do the mirror image of the motion but couldn't do it on the other side. VR also fucks me up really bad if the motion of my avatar doesn't match the motion I can feel in my body--so far, the only thing that doesn't make me seasick is Beat Saber.
I also have spatial sequence synesthesia, which means that I perceive certain concepts and sequences as having a position in physical space. The most common kind of SSS is calendar synesthesia, which for me looks like this:
In my head, most concepts are organized spatially. I visualize parts of my mind as wings of a library. I study by organizing information, moving pieces around. I pick up kinesthetic skills like dancing or swordfighting really fast because I know exactly where my body is in space, but I can't catch a ball to save my life.
And now I'm wondering if my spatial weirdness is connected to the difficulties I have with certain kinds of notation. I have a really good visual memory for certain things--for example, I can usually remember which side of the page something is on, how far up or down the page it is, and how far into the book it is. I navigate textbooks like this, which makes the digital versions really hard to use. I also remember equations by... the shape? And I do math that way, too. Working out a differential feels like taking apart a physical thing and reassembling it out of the parts.
I'm not sure what I'm getting at here. I guess I'm curious to see if anyone else has similar experiences with regards to odd spatial perception.
