I should correct - I think it is my ability to automate visualization. Everything is manual and IU can do it with effort, but there is unlikely to ever be that automation again.
The best I can describe the energy it takes is something like, in your head work out what 137/4.7 = while doing your work tasks at the same time. And then once you get the answer, do 211/3.7= and so on and so forth until the end of the day. Then look at how productive you were at work :)
I see, as more like the fine-tuning of multi-tasking. But you know the example of the guy without a quarter of a brain, lost in an accident, still functioning normally, as years later the doctors said that the other parts of the brain got in and adapted to compensate for the missing one.
Made me think to the story from The Alchemist book about the meaning of life:
'Before Melchizedek leaves, he tells Santiago the story of a shopkeeper who sends his son to learn the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The boy finds the man in a beautiful castle in the desert. The wise man tells the boy to spend time looking around while balancing a spoonful of oil. When the boy returns, he says he didn’t pay attention to any of the castle’s splendor because he concentrated on the oil. The wise man sends him out again to see the castle, and the boy returns having seen the castle but having also spilled the oil. The wise man tells him he must admire the castle without forgetting the oil. The story reminds Santiago of a shepherd always needing to remember his flock.'
Meaning of life being to admire all the wonders without losing the oil from the spoon.
We have to be careful with what "normal" is in these cases. I still test average or above on cognitive tests, yet I am well below where I was in several aspects. This heavily affects my capabilities. I don't know what the people without parts of their brains do for work, but "functioning normally" can often be considered being able to make it through a normal day.
I have never read the Alchemist. I actually don't read much non-fiction anymore as it is not enjoyable, it is heavy work. If I don't manually create the images from the text, I get nothing from it, and if I do create the images, it is very tiring. Another thing that has been lost :)