[alasdair_]

> ADHD isn't a discrete trait, it simply means that "you are in the lower x percentile of the population in the ability to concentrate".

This is an oversimplification to the point of being misleading.

Scott links to several sources to support his claims and most of them are quite clear that ADHD is a whole bunch of symptoms, a lack of concentration being just one of them. For example:

“DSM-IV field trials used a C-GAS score of ≤60 (which implies impairment requiring specific treatment) and determined that five ADHD symptoms were required to be present to reach this cut-off. To avoid false positives the number was increased to six or more symptoms of inattention or hyperactivity/impulsivity.‘

As an example, some people with ADHD have symptoms where their biggest detrimental issue is hyperfocus - their problem is literally that they concentrate too much rather than too little. Simplifying the condition as “ lower x percentile of the population in the ability to concentrate" discounts these people, as it does the people whose principal problem is hyperactivity or other aspects.

[wnkrshm]

I just want to add to that, that hyperfocus isn't directed, it just happens. That's why it can mess up the lives of people with the issue - directing attention to a problem that is currently important, from a rational perspective, is almost impossible.

[anonymoushn]

I think this is a problem with GP's comment, not with the original SSC article. It really does seem like ADHD is just "lowest x percent of the population by conscientiousness" which isn't exactly what GP wrote, and a bunch of people replied to GP explaining the differences between conscientiousness and what he wrote.

[pseudalopex]

No. ADHD criteria and low conscientiousness behaviors overlap. Conscientiousness tests combine effort and outcomes usually. Many ADHD criteria are about difficulty.

[anonymoushn]

I don't understand. Is "difficulty" some axis that's independent of "effort" and "outcomes"? Is conscientiousness defined to be the result a person achieves on a particular test, and can you provide a link to that test?

Do you often leave comments like "No. PCR-covid and pulse-oximiter-covid are different diseases. One of them involves having virus genomes in your body and the other one involves having low blood oxygen?"

[pseudalopex]

Difficulty and effort are independent. Some people try to do hard things. Some people don't try to do easy things. Outcomes depend on difficulty, effort, and other factors.

Talking about measuring conscientiousness means part of the Big 5 model usually. Did you have in mind a different system for assigning people conscientiousness percentiles?

Do you often say COVID-19 really does seem like the lowest x percent of the population by SpO2?