The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Tru

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ralphd
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24 Dec 2014, 2:01 am

The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About Autism
I rate it a 5 out of 10.
http://aspiebrain.blogspot.ca/2014/11/t ... e-and.html


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24 Dec 2014, 10:38 am

I started a thread the other day about another Simon Baron Cohen Book 'Autism and Aspergers: the facts'.
viewtopic.php?t=273114

I agree that I don't think he understand aspergers well, and seems to put forward a cold controlling anti social stereotype. I agree that he doesn't understand empathy, but don't think it is mistaking the drive to empathise with the ability, I think the bit he misses out is just the simple ability to feel bad for others. I know I don't pick up on what others are feeling, and I don't know how to appropriately comfort people, but I know I am able to feel for other people, I tend to express that by being helpful rather than directly deal with the emotions. From what I have read of SBC his conception of empathy is just about recognising, and acting, not the basic feeling.

It is weird how he is considered such an expert. I don't doubt many people with aspergers fit his profile, but it doesn't represent the amount of variation. I wonder if it is because the type of people he describes are likely to be the ones that are most problematic, and therefore most likely to come under clinical observation.



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24 Dec 2014, 10:48 am

the bit at the end is interesting, about the unanswered question of why if men are more aggressive and aspergers is supposed to by hyper male, then why aren't we more aggressive. I find the gender aspect really interesting, lots of links between aspergers and androgyny which doesn't really make sense



ralphd
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24 Dec 2014, 11:02 am

Thanks for the discussion link about his other book.
SBC still deserves credit for his work on ASD tests, just not his simplistic theory on what makes people on the spectrum tick.
I think Tony Attwood has a much better understanding of ASD.


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ralphd
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24 Dec 2014, 11:15 am

something_ wrote:
I find the gender aspect really interesting, lots of links between aspergers and androgyny which doesn't really make sense

I think very few Aspies have no interest in relationships, it's just that many lack the innate ability of flirting most NTs have.
When I separated from wife 1.0, I found 'The Game' by Neil Strauss very helpful to understand the social dynamics of dating.


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RhodyStruggle
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24 Dec 2014, 11:49 am

ralphd wrote:
I think very few Aspies have no interest in relationships, it's just that many lack the innate ability of flirting most NTs have.


I wonder if the Aspie interest in relationships is qualitatively different than the NT interest though.

Speaking only for myself, while I'm happily married in a monogamous heterosexual relationship, my own sexuality is entirely an affectation; there's no 'there' there. If I hadn't been raised in a culture which forbade male-assigned children knowledge and experience of the feminine, I would never have seen a need to emulate sexuality and so probably would have lived a celibate life.


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ralphd
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24 Dec 2014, 12:02 pm

RhodyStruggle wrote:
ralphd wrote:
I think very few Aspies have no interest in relationships, it's just that many lack the innate ability of flirting most NTs have.


I wonder if the Aspie interest in relationships is qualitatively different than the NT interest though.


That's quite plausible. In my case I was interested in girls from a young age but didn't develop sexual urges in puberty. My interest in sex became a conditioned response after my first girlfriend introduced me to the pleasure of sex.


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olympiadis
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24 Dec 2014, 4:42 pm

ralphd wrote:
The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About Autism
I rate it a 5 out of 10.
http://aspiebrain.blogspot.ca/2014/11/t ... e-and.html


Quote:
I also think it is unfair to characterize AS individuals as "often controlling". Uncontrollable perhaps, but rarely controlling. I find neuro-typicals to be the controlling ones; often using manipulation, threats, and punishment to get others to do what they want. Aspies may be argumentative and persistent when trying to convince others, but most of them are not even capable of the devious manipulation and veiled threats commonly used by NTs.


I agree with you here. If you think about this in depth and imagine that you are the person with the true wish to control another person, then the other person's defensiveness or lack of cooperation could easily come across to you as them having a controlling nature. Since we agree, you probably already get this completely.



Quote:
I'll finish with a quote from the book that I do agree with, taken from page 139, describing people with autism:
Phenomena that are unpredictable and/or uncontrollable (like people) typically leave them anxious our disinterested, but the more predicable the phenomenon, the more they are attracted to.


I agree with this too. I think the issue is centered around uncertainty, which is one of the primary tools of the hive mind.
The hive mind algorithms inject as much uncertainty into any behavior or communication as possible, because the harder it is to draw certain conclusions quickly, the MORE social interaction is required to share information.
One example is the use of vague conceptual language.

In general predictability comes from specifically discernible patterns.


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