The "cargo cult" analogy for masking

[Angular Chap]

I've been thinking about this metaphor, and I think it works as an analogy for some of the mimicry/imitation aspects of masking.

The term/idea of a "cargo cult" has a long history, but the most well known stories come from around World War 2 in the Pacific. Local Melanesians would see American forces receiving supplies via airdrop and believed this was a ritual to summon food, water and medicine. So they attempted to mimic the ritual. They made highly accurate replicas of runways, control towers, radios and aircraft. Made replica rifles from branches. Marched in the same formations as American troops. Even going as far as using coconut shells to mimic the headsets worn by radio operators, all in the hope of receiving their own cargo. But no supplies came. They mimicked everything they could as accurately as possible, but without understanding what was really happening.

Of course, the term "cargo cult" isn't really accurate and just feels a bit condescending to the Melanesians. There was no actual worshipping of cargo. These were clearly some skilled and dedicated people, making a full scale replica of an aircraft using straw takes some real talent. They copied what they observed to the best of their ability with the resources they had available.

But I like the analogy: imitating behaviours without understanding how they work in the hope of achieving the same result. Just like some elements of masking.

Sometimes we can actually get our own cargo of acceptance by copying what other people do. Sometimes it doesn't work and people just laugh or get angry at our beautifully constructed straw aeroplane that we spend weeks building and we go home burnt out and humiliated without our cargo.

 

[tazz]

Nice analogy.

In my field we have "cargo cult programming" where a software developer might copy and paste a slab of code without really understanding what it does. It'll work, but they don't realise it also contains bits of code that are entirely irrelevant to their project.

 

[MildredHubble]

I've often referred to masking as my ability to "Ersatz" what I observed in others. This metaphor actually perfectly demonstrates what I've been trying to get across to people for years!

 

[tazz]

Ersatz

Today I learnt a new word

 

[The Pandector]

I never got proficient at masking; maybe this is why. One of my big failures/hangups in life is that I find myself unable to do things that make no sense to me. Worse, it offends me deeply that people, in general, expect me to do nonsensical things. Expect all they want. Somewhere along the line at an early age I made up my mind that I wasn't going to do stupid stuff, and the world was full of people that wanted you to do stupid stuff.

Nowadays, I realize that those things actually work for NTs, and I'm not one of them.

Your analogy is right on target, and I intend to steal it. Here's an inferior analogy, from a guy that grew up in the burbs. Being autistic is like being in slow-moving freeway traffic. The responsible driver attempts to even out the flow of traffic; simply choose a speed that allows you to maintain forward motion. Notice, if you do it for yourself, you are also doing it for the guys behind you as well. Way better for inner and outer environments.

However, most of the drivers on life's highway will take advantage of what they see as your weakness. You start slowly, as is responsible, to build a small buffer for when the accordion player in front of you hits his brakes... only to have a guy in the next lane think that coopting that space will serve his future well.

Of course, the people behind you see that you are 'letting people get ahead' of us, and toot an angry horn or pass you when they can. Viola! You are the jerk that is messing up traffic.

 

[Nervous Rex]

I think Cargo Cult is a very nice illustration of copying without understanding, which makes it a good analogy for masking.

Copying without understanding has backfired way too many times for me. To try to fit in, I would copy other people without knowing why they are doing what they are doing. A few examples:

A) I would overhear someone's reference to an inside joke and try to use it, only to get angry glares because I'm not in on the inside joke.

B) Once in grade school, I copied the behavior of kids who turned out to be troublemakers and bullies, and got in a lot of trouble for it.

C) I would see the "boys insulting each other in fun" interactions and say something hurtful because I didn't know where the line was between playful fun and taking things too far.

Now I have some rules to avoid those situations:

1) Don't copy someone else's behavior unless you understand why they are behaving like that. This is a general rule, and it's hard to follow, but I try to be aware of it when I feel the urge to mimic others to try to fit in.

2) Don't use humor at someone else's expense. If it hurts someone else, it isn't funny. This helps me avoid the "you took it too far" situations. Since I still don't understand the line between "kidding around" and "too far", avoiding it altogether is the only safe strategy for me.

3) Be kind. This is the only social rule that I've found that works without fail in all situations.

I have lots more rules, like not trying to get in on other people's inside jokes. Each rule is based on some situation where I messed up and then days, weeks, months, or years later, understood why.

 

[Kayla55]

Nice analogy.

In my field we have "cargo cult programming" where a software developer might copy and paste a slab of code without really understanding what it does. It'll work, but they don't realise it also contains bits of code that are entirely irrelevant to their project.

Compiled code as in a component or ocx or just plain lack understanding what script does? A script can be disabled by browsers and one can always see called dependency scripts to see what those do.
So always be specific

 

[Kayla55]

Local would see American forces receiving supplies via airdrop and believed this was a ritual to summon food, water and medicine. So they attempted to mimic the ritual. They made highly accurate replicas

I do understand you're down to earth and say your masking is like straw aeroplane but the concept of flying lanterns is kinda accepted term by now. Also know Leonardo not only painted and researched medicine but had designs for flying machines. Perhaps it isn't masking as Melanesians were ahead but it's nice idea!!

 

[tazz]

Compiled code as in a component or ocx or just plain lack understanding what script does? A script can be disabled by browsers and one can always see called dependency scripts to see what those do.
So always be specific

Obviously, you're not a golfer.

 

[The Pandector]

Compiled code as in a component or ocx or just plain lack understanding what script does? A script can be disabled by browsers and one can always see called dependency scripts to see what those do.
So always be specific

Not a programmer, but a hardware guy who worked with programmers and I also wrote my own low or machine level diagnostics. Worked with guys who regularly used chunks of prewritten code rather than start fresh. They called their private collection of general purpose chunks their bag. The best programmers came to you with a Hefty bag and could cobble together a working project quickly by using lots of their own prewritten pieces. Lots of arguments were passed but never read, so to speak. Ghost Code: you could make a movie out of it.

But, that was Silicon Valley in the early 80’s. No doubt things have changed.

 

[tazz]

But, that was Silicon Valley in the early 80’s. No doubt things have changed.

It hadn't changed much in the early 2010's when I was there.

 

[Kayla55]

It hadn't changed much in the early 2010's when I was there.

And I thought he just walked into the shop and stole a computer with built in dos, and then added chunks of reusable data and then it crashed.
Now where's the logic in that!