Designing a neurodivergent civilization requires more than improving accessibility.
It requires understanding how cognition, environments, and institutions interact.
Stimpunks explores this through a layered design architecture.
Each layer builds on the one below it.
Forces↓Patterns↓Recipes↓Environments↓Institutions↓Culture↓CivilizationThis structure explains how small design decisions scale into large social systems.
Layer 1 — Forces
At the foundation are the core forces shaping neurodivergent experience.
Attention
How cognition flows and focuses.
Energy
How effort, regulation, and recovery work.
Environment
How spaces support or disrupt cognition.
Explore:
These forces interact continuously.
A mismatch between them often produces friction.
Layer 2 — Patterns
Patterns describe recurring structures of neurodivergent life.
Examples include:
- Pattern 01 — Monotropism
- Pattern 02 — Spiky Profiles
- Pattern 03 — Sensory Load
- Pattern 04 — Processing Time
- Pattern 06 — Social Energy
- Pattern 09 — Environment Fit
- Pattern 11 — Burnout Threshold
Patterns help explain why some environments work and others create friction.
Explore the full system:
Layer 3 — Recipes
Recipes translate patterns into practical design actions.
Examples include:
- Designing Attention Sanctuaries
- Designing Sensory-Safe Spaces
- Designing Flexible Participation
- Designing Recovery Cycles
- Designing Monotropic Workflows
- Designing Intermittent Collaboration
Recipes make the pattern language usable in real contexts.
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Layer 4 — Environments
Recipes shape environments.
Examples include:
- Neurodivergent Classrooms
- Neurodivergent Workplaces
- Neurodivergent Libraries
- Designing Cavendish Space
These environments intentionally align attention, energy, and environment.
Layer 5 — Institutions
When environments scale, institutions change.
Examples include redesigning:
Education
Learning systems that support diverse attention patterns.
Work
Workplaces built around flexible participation and asynchronous communication.
Collaboration
Systems that allow multiple forms of contribution.
Relevant ideas include:
Institutions built this way expect variation instead of forcing uniformity.
Layer 6 — Culture
Institutions shape culture.
A neurodivergent culture recognizes that:
- different minds contribute different strengths
- variation is expected
- participation does not require uniform behavior
Language plays a major role here.
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Layer 7 — Civilization
Civilization emerges from the interaction of all these layers.
ForcesPatternsRecipesEnvironmentsInstitutionsCultureCivilizationA neurodivergent civilization would expect cognitive diversity.
It would design environments that support attention, energy, and participation.
Explore related pages:
- A Pattern Language for Neurodivergent Civilization
- The Neurodivergent Civilization Stack
- The Neurodivergent Operating System
Mapping the System
Several pages help visualize the architecture.
Explore:
- The Three Maps of Stimpunks
- The Stimpunks Universe Map
- The Stimpunks Pattern Atlas
- The Stimpunks Pattern Graph
These maps help readers navigate the knowledge ecosystem.
A Living Architecture
The architecture described here is not fixed.
It evolves as people discover:
- new patterns
- new recipes
- new environments
- new participation systems
Stimpunks functions as a design commons where these discoveries accumulate.
