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The book is at least ten years old, and was set on a planet where everyone was neurodiverse or could assume neurodiverse characteristics. There was an agreed-upon face-painting convention that told people you encountered what type of neurodiverse you were that day.

Kind of like recent conventions about flowers and earrings, except that everyone on the planet participated.

If anyone has read this book and can point me in its direction, please advise!

Thanks,

Claudia

What do you mean by neurodiverse?

In the Vorkosigan series by Lois Bujold the residents of one planet indicate their sexual and marital status via earrings.

Brenda wrote: "What do you mean by neurodiverse?

In the Vorkosigan series by Lois Bujold the residents of one planet indicate their sexual and marital status via earrings."

Claudia wrote: "The book is at least ten years old, and was set on a planet where everyone was neurodiverse or could assume neurodiverse characteristics. There was an agreed-upon face-painting convention that told..."

Absolutely, Bujold's earring convention on Beta is an example of the kind of thing in the book I'm looking for. I think the gay world on our Earth :) does something like that with earrings, too.

I believe that "neurodiverse" is the emerging PC term for people who perceive and think differently from those only a couple of standard deviations from the mode on the bell curve for whatever cognitive or conative trait or cluster of traits is at issue. It is typically associated with exclusion from social power, like any other current social "minority."

On Bujold's Barrayar, and most other planets, Miles is most certainly neurodiverse, as is Mark, though in a different way since Mark was not poisoned in utero. I don't know whether the psychological traits resulting from Mark's horrendous upbringing constitute "neurodiversity" or the related "neurodivergency."

On Barrayar, Aral's being bi is neurodiverse, though he probably would NOT be considered neurodiverse on Beta. I think Cordelia is neurodiverse on both planets because of her genius.

Commonly (with today's science), being neurodiverse is a result of a different brain structure and/or chemical balance in the brain resulting from gene expression in the womb and early childhood. With genetic editing and future techs, one may be able to choose one's mental/perceptual phenotype, in the future trying out different ones. Today, meditation has been found to alter brain structure and accompanying traits.

Post industrial revolution, psychologists, psychiatrists and neurologists pick out clusters of those cognitive and conative traits and give them names. Typically, those names label the bearers of that trait cluster as someone who should be treated differently than "normal" people.

Current technical names are found in DSM-IV. At least I think psychiatrists and neurologists are still on version "IV". Could be "V".
Non-technical samples of labels for those clusters are PMS, crazy, eccentric, genius and retarded, savant and autistic, creative and schizophrenic, gay and trans. In the not so old days, "female" was a popular label to describe one disenfranchised cluster of traits that "normal" males could keep out of power because they were "weak."

Sorry for the long definition, but I'm new to the field. :)

In the book for which I search, you can paint yourself whatever type of cluster of brain traits you feel you are that day, and the painting tells everyone you meet how you're perceiving and feeling, and they can respect the conventions for dealing with that type of brain state. They can also expect certain social responses from you according to your face paint. Lying about your mental state through face paint is a social crime.

I read the darn book, or at least skimmed it, around a decade ago, but its subject matter didn't interest me at the time.

I have a possible answer from an acquaintance. This Alien Shore, by C. S. Friedman.

Stephen wrote: "I have a possible answer from an acquaintance. This Alien Shore, by C. S. Friedman."

Thank you so much! I did read this, but don't remember it, so it might well be the book I'm thinking of. If not, it is certainly worth re-reading anyhow!

If it's not at the library, it looks good enough to buy.

Thanks again.

Stephen wrote: "I have a possible answer from an acquaintance. This Alien Shore, by C. S. Friedman."

Yes! This is it!

There was enough on Amazon's "Look Inside" for me to confirm!

Glad we got it right. I'll let my acquaintance know.