Sustainability and neurodiversity go hand in hand.
Perhaps, the over-representation of atypical mental states in sustainability fields shouldn’t be that surprising. It’s been well documented that neurodiverse people -particularly those with ADHD and/or autism – are associated with a strong sense of justice and fairness. The world’s most influential climate campaigner, Greta Thunberg, is autistic. World-changing figures like Albert Einstein, Carl Jung, and Mother Teresa are all thought to have been dyslexic.
Even the World Economic Forum have explored the topic, quoting recently published scientific theories that humans have actually evolved to specialise in different but complementary ways of processing information. People with dyslexia, scientists suggest, are specialised in exploring the unknown. This is the consequence of having ancestors that experienced major environmental instability. The ability to adapt became paramount. And what group of human beings is more adaptable than one that includes a range of different thinking styles, working interdependently to solve problems together?
If neurodiverse people evolved in response to environmental crisis, could we help solve our current one?