Memes help people to not only make sense of their experiences but also to relate to one another. They serve as a universal language that contributes to a shared cultural experience, transcending our individual perspectives.
So in order to remind you that the universe isn't fixated on hurting just you but is, in fact, after all of us, we invite you to take a look at the Instagram account 'Neurodivergent Memes,' which tackles everyday problems with a healthy dose of humor.
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According to researchers looking at modern forms of communication, memes have the capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people.
These seemingly simple jokes can also be powerful tools for self-expression, social influence and even political subversion.
Sometimes I am reading and I completely zone out and think about other things and I have to reread the whole paragraph again
Internet memes "are one of the clearest manifestations of the fact there is such a thing as digital culture", said Paolo Gerbaudo, a reader in digital politics and director of the Centre for Digital Culture at Kings College London.
Gerbaudo describes memes as a "sort of a ready-made language with many kinds of stereotypes, symbols, situations. A palette that people can use, much like emojis, in a way, to convey a certain content."
I'm not a gifted kid, but I've always been a bookworm. I did have a period where I lost interest in reading and it made me so sad. Fortunately, I was able to overcome my slump and I've come to realise that I'll always go back to reading even if I take a lot detours with my other hobbies. Reading will always be my favourite thing in this world.
Memes tap into our collective online consciousness and because of that, they have also been referred to as digital folklore – or "Netlore."
"We can see not just the new ways people do things or the new ways people express themselves in public but also some of the themes, some of the anxieties or desires people have. All of these complex issues are reflected in things like memes," Gerbaudo added.
Not only do I get anxiety about that but I stress about not knowing if I’ll have to make a left turn without a traffic light, that I won’t know what lane I need to be in and which lanes end, wondering how many u-turns I’ll have to make when I screw up the GPS’s step by step directions, will there be a roundabout? I could go on.
I use Google maps on satellite view so I can learn the area before the final few turns first
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If I have to go anywhere, I google the parking situation. I need to know where I should be parking or I make an excuse to not go.
Haha, same. I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday, I know the parking lot is impractical for my vehicle so I've been googling the nearby streets.
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I think the other folks are the not-normal ones. o.o Cars are 2 ton deadly weapons, one OUGHT to be a little nervous about going somewhere they're not sure where the heck they're gonna holster the thing!
(To say nothing of potential fines and fees eating a chunk out of your wallet!!!!)
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Parking, always. Also stress about not knowing what's on the restaurant menu in advance because never know what I want and get all anxious under pressure to decide.🤦🏼♀️
I always look up the restaurant online to see if they have a menu online. Most do and it's less anxiety inducing when you get there.
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Google street view is great. You can literally drive there and pick out land marks, work out which lane you need to be in and where traffic lights are and speed cameras. I use it whenever I have to go somewhere even by public transport. Keeps my anxiety so I don’t have a bad time.
I used to have to do that every day, running truck deliveries in CA. That was before Google Maps and GPS too. Agonizing, driving round and round and finally parking in the middle of the street.
I will often make at least one "if the parking sucks then I will..."-solutions. It usually require me going to google maps and finding at least 2 or 3 other parking lots nearby to park in. I will convince myself that it is totally fine to walk those few hundred extra meters from the alternate parking lot. Before I leave the house I will feel light headed, probably have to go to the toilet because my stumach is going berzerk. If I can I will ask my bf to go instead. When I arrive I sometimes have a full blown panic attack incl. the fear of fainting/collapsing in public, crying, hyperventilating... all that.
Parking, bathrms, will it be hot or cold, left turns across traffic, can i avoid highways ect ect ect
If at all possible, I drive over the day before to see what it looks like. Last time I had a job interview, I arrived late and assumed that would be enough for them to reject me, but I was worried it would be rude to give up and go home. So I told the truth, I had only gotten the afternoon off work for the interview so I was coming in from work. I had driven over the night before to check out route, but on the day I came from a different direction and it looked different in day light, so I got confused. The pair interviewing said in almost unison 'not just me then'. Despite being about half hour late for interview, and showing how confused I get when anxious - I got the job. Much later, my manager told me they had agreed to discount me because of the late thing, so they had been more relaxed in the interview. I got they were unclear what they were looking for, so suggested they call my manager for advice. They did, and she suggested they employ me. So they did
Where do I stand, where do I walk? I feel so weird. Is everyone staring at me!?
I don't drive, but it absolutely freaks me out when I have to go somewhere I've never been before. I don't use busses as I don't know what stop to get off at, so I only use the train and have to walk wherever I need to be.
I rarely go anywhere unfamiliar anymore without first going into google maps. And I will go into the map so I'm on the street and just click through. We went on a five day road trip last year and I did this with all our major stops, including hotels. I like to know where I'm going. Went to an NHL game last month and was worried about parking--so, I went into the map. I had it all figured out before we went. If I can't figure out parking and be familiar with the route beforehand, it makes me not want to go.
I used to get anxiety at new places wondering where I could go and have a smoke - I no longer smoke so I now have anxiety about where all the toilts are .....in case I need to go
There used to be laws that a building had to have sufficient parking for full occupancy, recently they have used various lies as excuses to remove those laws, untrue claims about making housing more affordable or that forcing people to switch to public transport is efficient in non-japan countries.
I don't drive, but I'm always worried sick about not being able to find the entrance. Or the doorbell. Yeah, life is fun. Which reminds me, I have a horror story for you people: Once, when I had to go someplace new, I actually WAS unable to find the doorbell. O___O There was just a dashboard with lots of buttons and no instructions. The person I came for was on a higher floor, so I couldn't just knock on the door or a window either. I was already losing it when someone came out of the building and I could ask for help. Turns out, it was a hyper modern building, and you had to type in the house number and then push one of the buttons... WHY!?
If you're still scrolling this list, chances are, you are part of the meme subculture.
Gerbaudo thinks that if you're looking at a meme and "you get through the kind of enigma or mystery around that at face value" you are probably part of the group it is aimed at.
"You understand [the] language, you understand the assumptions of the group," he added.
People say I am smart, then I look around at my life and think "prove it"
Or... you start it in private and tell NO ONE because she raised you to believe that no matter how well you did, that it was a failure anyhow - so now you're in constant paralyzing fear of 'failing', and that NOTHING you do is good enough. Then ... you see random-others on the internet posting/selling/advertising ridiculously sub-par garbage... and you wonder "I can NOT possibly be that bad. How are these people getting away with it?"
Oftentimes the most viral, most loved memes are memes that are about things that are very recent in public memory. However, there's something timeless about 'Neurodivergent Memes.'
If I say I am in Paris and you see me in the local market next day, you're in Paris too. No need to make it complicated.
I got misophonia (Idk, self diag'ed maybe) and I can't watch anything on phone with sound. If it ain't have subtitles I am not watching it however if it's on TV or big screen and the sound volume is just enough I don't get that mad. I tried to work on it and normalize after being married but couldn't pretend to be okay so my wife understands it and doesn't play videos without headfones or going to other room. I sometimes feel bad for her :( I read people getting irritated by other people's loud phones in public all the time but that makes me extramad and I have picked multiple fights for this very reason because asking nicely didn't help.
Yes! I rarely ever ask for help and then get completely overwhelmed and stressed out trying to do everything on my own.
You can always fall back on "I pulled Excalibur from the stone", because everyone will start making Monty Python jokes and forget you exist.
I get very comfortable around people when I am tired, listen to me then.
The mortifying embarrassment of knowing that other people know how you really feel is terrifying. I always know this and yet still do it randomly for some unknown reason.
Its not you oversharing, society just wants to underlisten.
I am obsessed with new skills until I am good at them, then they are mind numbingly boring. I have a hard time in interviews explaining I am good at everything I have done but only want to do what I haven't done so I can be good at that too and move on.
Note: this post originally had 98 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Did we not literally just have a post about people hijacking phrases like mania which totally diminishes what actual mania is? Some of these are very relatable but not because I'm nuerodivergent. Come on BP do better
A lot of these had to do with depression and anxiety. I've heard and read of people including depression and anxiety as a type of neurodivergence now. I'm a person with depression and anxiety, and my kids are all neurodivergent, and I don't agree with this emerging theory, but it is it there.
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I don't get the 'neurodivergent' point, and how any of the memes are representative of it
Yeah, disappointing. I don't find these that relatable, or mostly it bugs me that they are super unspecific.
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Yet another bunch of stereotypes from BoredPanda.Stop posting harmful c**p like this BoredPanda. Not every neurodivergent person hates people, is antisocial, and doesn’t like doing things. These sound more like stereotypes about depression and agoraphobia than neurodivergence. I honestly don’t even think BoredPanda reads the crud they post anymore.
Here is another example of how social media does more harm than good. People latch onto a word (nuerodivergent, genocide and antisemitism are popular right now) and use it because they think it makes them sound cool or better informed and they're too lazy to take the time to learn what the words actually mean and how/when they are properly used.
I can relate to some of these, but was hoping for more that deal with autism
sometimes i make up scenarios in my head and end up hurting my own feelings
Somebody has been spying on me and just told the world about what they saw!!
Being autistic and depressed and anxious, these hit quite close to home
I think it's time we move on from bp? The "writers" don't seem to understand the words they are using.
Can we stop using neurodivergent about every little thing people think they're the only ones doing? Absolutely insufferable the desperate reach to be unique.
These are not a sign of neurodivergence, just a sign of being alive and a human.
Did we not literally just have a post about people hijacking phrases like mania which totally diminishes what actual mania is? Some of these are very relatable but not because I'm nuerodivergent. Come on BP do better
A lot of these had to do with depression and anxiety. I've heard and read of people including depression and anxiety as a type of neurodivergence now. I'm a person with depression and anxiety, and my kids are all neurodivergent, and I don't agree with this emerging theory, but it is it there.
Load More Replies... I don't get the 'neurodivergent' point, and how any of the memes are representative of it
Yeah, disappointing. I don't find these that relatable, or mostly it bugs me that they are super unspecific.
Load More Replies... Yet another bunch of stereotypes from BoredPanda.Stop posting harmful c**p like this BoredPanda. Not every neurodivergent person hates people, is antisocial, and doesn’t like doing things. These sound more like stereotypes about depression and agoraphobia than neurodivergence. I honestly don’t even think BoredPanda reads the crud they post anymore.
Here is another example of how social media does more harm than good. People latch onto a word (nuerodivergent, genocide and antisemitism are popular right now) and use it because they think it makes them sound cool or better informed and they're too lazy to take the time to learn what the words actually mean and how/when they are properly used.
I can relate to some of these, but was hoping for more that deal with autism
sometimes i make up scenarios in my head and end up hurting my own feelings
Somebody has been spying on me and just told the world about what they saw!!
Being autistic and depressed and anxious, these hit quite close to home
I think it's time we move on from bp? The "writers" don't seem to understand the words they are using.
Can we stop using neurodivergent about every little thing people think they're the only ones doing? Absolutely insufferable the desperate reach to be unique.
These are not a sign of neurodivergence, just a sign of being alive and a human.
