autism gives you biblical superpowers

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http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/1 ... owers.html

Sunday, 21 November 2010
Autism Gives You Biblical Superpowers
We've all heard about autistic "savants" with amazing mathematical, memory or artistic abilities. But could autism give you the power to kill 1,000 men armed only with a donkey bone?

Samson was the original Chuck Norris. Granted mighty strength by God so long as he didn't cut his hair or shave, Samson's first act of heroism was ripping a lion to shreds with his bare hands. Then he moved onto people. According to the Book of Judges:

"And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men." - Judges 15:16

Samson later bested even this achievement. Finding himself trapped in a building with over 3,000 enemies who were about to sacrifice him to their pagan god, Samson single-handedly demolished the building by smashing some pillars, killing everyone including himself.

What does this have to do with autism? Well, according to Indian neurologists Mathew and Pandian in a new paper, it shows that Samson had it. No, really.

One of the earliest incidents recorded from Samson's adult life is the journey to Timnath with his parents where he tears a lion with his bare hands. On his return, he finds a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion, which he eats, and offers his parents (Judges 14:8-9). Abnormal eating is one of the atypical behaviors noted among children with autism [ref].

Throughout Samson's life, it is seen that he performed extraordinary physical feats... It is possible that Samson was able to perform these feats as he may have been insensitive to pain, which is occasionally seen among autistics [ref]. A study of hospitalized individuals carried out in Sweden had reached the conclusion that individuals with autism or autism spectrum disorders are prone to acts of violence [ref].

Hmm. Fair to say this falls into the "speculative" category. They also diagnose other Biblical characters with various disorders ranging from strokes to acromegaly but Samson's autism is certainly the most "interesting" of the bunch.

Link: This study also blogged at Autism Jabberwocky, an extremely good blog I only found out about yesterday. I've subscribed, you should too.

ResearchBlogging.orgMathew SK, & Pandian JD (2010). Newer insights to the neurological diseases among biblical characters of old testament. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 13 (3), 164-166 PMID: 21085524

I may be unworldly, but I don't think I possess such powers.

It's an interesting theory; I want to know what their explanation is for his fondness for, erm, intimate relationships with the opposite sex with this theory, knowing that I haven't really found an Aspie or autistic that happened to be a player, in fact, it's normally the exact opposite.

I thought it was satire, like that paper diagnosing all of the characters in Winnie the Pooh, but I could be wrong.

I actually once saw a report in a Swedish scientific newspaper about how Samson suffered from some kind psychotic disorder. Sounds slightly more likely, I think.

Well, you can't believe everything you hear. Samson got his super strength from God after an angel appeared to his mother and told her about it. It's less likely that Autism might have something to do with it even though he did some unusual things.

If we were all like this, we'd have much less trouble from bullies

Well, think about it:
*He never bothered to get a haircut.
*He dated Philistine women, despite his parents disapproval.
*I took him time to reveal his secret and open up even to his lover.
*He loved her anyway, meaning he didn't understand she fooled him - probably was easy for her.
*He acted alone, and not in a group, or even as a leader of such.
The man obviously didn't give a damn about social norms and conventions!
Plus, spoke in riddles, and no one could make sense out of it, so people wanted to kill him.
Could one be more autistic?

Disclaimer: I don't claim he was autistic. I just think it's a bit funny, like someone said about diagnosing Winnie the Pooh and things like that, so I looked up his story to find anecdotes.

Come on - give me more mythical and biblical figures to diagnose! I'm on fire!