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AS, the next step in human evolution?

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John_Browning
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24 May 2012, 12:57 pm

Individuals talking about evolutionary changes and genetic mutations like as if they are the real-life X-men, b***hing about NTs on ASD forums, hiding behind a Xbox half their life, and download porn while fantasizing about being a autistic superhero does not constitute a new advancement in evolution!! ! The full picture of the autistic spectrum is not that pretty. By all means the middle and lower end of the spectrum deserve dignified treatment, but to have a evolutionary advantage, they need to have an advantage over the rest of the population. Most of the spectrum will be an evolutionary dead end.

On, the internet, you can be anyone you want. As long as you don't make too outlandish of a claim, it's almost impossible to disprove if you really are who you say or have the life and credentials you claim. Most here struggle with employment and independent living to some degree. Most here have problems with relationships. Some here with the most grand ideas for a radically overhauled society have the least real life experience. And some in that group of people occasionally turn out to be the subject of court ordered conservatorship or guardianship, and often live under some degree of supervision. If anyone wants to be a better person, they need to work on that from the inside out.


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enrico_dandolo
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24 May 2012, 1:43 pm

The only way to know if something was the next stage of evolution is to observe it. To answer this thread, we will need to wait a few millenia.



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24 May 2012, 2:49 pm

A very simple thought passed through my mind, do we have a higher reproductive success rate than other people? :P


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24 May 2012, 2:57 pm

The next step in human evolution is the rich 1% shaking off the low life 99%.


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ruveyn
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24 May 2012, 3:07 pm

snapcap wrote:
The next step in human evolution is the rich 1% shaking off the low life 99%.


That 1 and 99 crap is left wing pinko stinko propaganda.

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edgewaters
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24 May 2012, 3:08 pm

snapcap wrote:
The next step in human evolution is the rich 1% shaking off the low life 99%.


Not likely ... wealth is conferred according to human institutions and social processes, and has little to do with biological fitness in a natural context. The poor, especially in the developing world, are under far more selective pressure. It is not difficult for the rich to survive long enough to reproduce, barring major disability they can all do so regardless of fitness. The poor - especially those in particularly difficult environments - need to be smart and strong to stand a chance at producing viable offspring and having them survive to adulthood. That enhanced selective pressure means they are evolving more rapidly (especially in failed states and lawless areas).

There has always been a top tier in every society, but periodically, they change. Likely because nepotistic practices, lacking meritocracy, lead to decadence and ossification, and inevitably to reduced capability.



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24 May 2012, 3:15 pm

John_Browning wrote:
Individuals talking about evolutionary changes and genetic mutations like as if they are the real-life X-men, b***hing about NTs on ASD forums, hiding behind a Xbox half their life, and download porn while fantasizing about being a autistic superhero does not constitute a new advancement in evolution!! ! The full picture of the autistic spectrum is not that pretty. By all means the middle and lower end of the spectrum deserve dignified treatment, but to have a evolutionary advantage, they need to have an advantage over the rest of the population. Most of the spectrum will be an evolutionary dead end...


Yep, I'm sterile. But I am still X-Men.



Evinceo
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24 May 2012, 3:24 pm

soutthpaw wrote:
Nature has decided that we no longer need to be a pack animal for survival and will advance father if we move to being more solitary such as the animal in my Avatar.


Curious: Where's you get that idea? I would posit that specialization encourages pack behavior, because it allows each individual to focus on one thing, with others in the group handing other specializations.



naturalplastic
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24 May 2012, 9:00 pm

Shatbat wrote:
A very simple thought passed through my mind, do we have a higher reproductive success rate than other people? :P


Thats the right question to ask.

The answer is ofcourse is a resounding "no". In fact we have less reproductive success than nt's.
So obviously we cant be the "next step in evolution".



DentArthurDent
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24 May 2012, 10:14 pm

So now you have had the unanimous response from the denizens of PPR would you like to test your theory that those of us with AS need fact and logic to believe things, its a very simple experiment. Re-post your OP in the general section of this site. I am expecting that quite a few of the locals there will come out to great you, and with absolutely no facts and very warped logic, agree with and expand upon your hypothesis.


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25 May 2012, 4:59 am

visagrunt wrote:

And finally, let's bear in mind that the very title of this thread carries with it the romantic notion that we are somehow superior to our NT peers. Nothing could be further from a logical, factual, reasonable, common sense perspective.

We are people--different in kind, but no different in substance from every other person.


We are different, but not better. "Better" and "Human" do not sit well together in the same sentence.

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25 May 2012, 8:01 am

visagrunt wrote:
No.

The idea is based on false premises (religion is not destroying the human race, even if it is a fellow traveller in some parts of the world)

Aspies do not depend on logic, facts, reason or common sense. We are just as emotional as any other human being. We get just as frustrated, angry, sad or elated as anyone else about the things that frustrate, anger, sadden or elate us.

Aspies do not, as a class, reject superstition. Look at the number of threads on matters religious and spiritual here and you will find plenty of people who willingly adhere to superstitious belief, because it provides them with a framework within which to understand the world and the societies that they live in.

And finally, let's bear in mind that the very title of this thread carries with it the romantic notion that we are somehow superior to our NT peers. Nothing could be further from a logical, factual, reasonable, common sense perspective.

We are people--different in kind, but no different in substance from every other person.

John_Browning wrote:
Individuals talking about evolutionary changes and genetic mutations like as if they are the real-life X-men, b***hing about NTs on ASD forums, hiding behind a Xbox half their life, and download porn while fantasizing about being a autistic superhero does not constitute a new advancement in evolution!! ! The full picture of the autistic spectrum is not that pretty. By all means the middle and lower end of the spectrum deserve dignified treatment, but to have a evolutionary advantage, they need to have an advantage over the rest of the population. Most of the spectrum will be an evolutionary dead end.

On, the internet, you can be anyone you want. As long as you don't make too outlandish of a claim, it's almost impossible to disprove if you really are who you say or have the life and credentials you claim. Most here struggle with employment and independent living to some degree. Most here have problems with relationships. Some here with the most grand ideas for a radically overhauled society have the least real life experience. And some in that group of people occasionally turn out to be the subject of court ordered conservatorship or guardianship, and often live under some degree of supervision. If anyone wants to be a better person, they need to work on that from the inside out.
:wtg:

Especially the part about how people who have extreme views here tend to have the least experience with life in general. They can read all sorts of crazy s**t into things since their lack of experience fails to keep their imagination in check.



ruveyn
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25 May 2012, 8:42 am

naturalplastic wrote:
Shatbat wrote:
A very simple thought passed through my mind, do we have a higher reproductive success rate than other people? :P


Thats the right question to ask.

The answer is ofcourse is a resounding "no". In fact we have less reproductive success than nt's.
So obviously we cant be the "next step in evolution".


If there were a large enough population of people on the spectrum isolated geographically from the rest of the human races, a variant species of human might arise out of that isolation. Sort of like chimpanzees who live on one side of an African river and bonobos who lived on the other side and they could not get across to mate.

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26 May 2012, 1:33 am

Next step in evolution?
If we Aspies were left to our own devices, I fear we'd all starve or die from exposure in no time.
But I do believe there is a reason why a certain percentage of humans - as small as it may be - have high functioning autism. Despite being perpetual misfits and slackers, there will be some of us who will lead the way in science and the arts - a trait more common found among us, I believe, than among NT's. So rather than the next homo superiors, we probably have always been with the human race. When prehistoric NT's were hunting reindeer and mammoth, I suspect it was the tribal Aspies who were painting on the cave walls.

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26 May 2012, 1:41 am

ruveyn wrote:
visagrunt wrote:

And finally, let's bear in mind that the very title of this thread carries with it the romantic notion that we are somehow superior to our NT peers. Nothing could be further from a logical, factual, reasonable, common sense perspective.

We are people--different in kind, but no different in substance from every other person.


We are different, but not better. "Better" and "Human" do not sit well together in the same sentence.

ruveyn


this


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ruveyn
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26 May 2012, 12:23 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:
Next step in evolution?
If we Aspies were left to our own devices, I fear we'd all starve or die from exposure in no time.
But I do believe there is a reason why a certain percentage of humans - as small as it may be - have high functioning autism. Despite being perpetual misfits and slackers, there will be some of us who will lead the way in science and the arts - a trait more common found among us, I believe, than among NT's. So rather than the next homo superiors, we probably have always been with the human race. When prehistoric NT's were hunting reindeer and mammoth, I suspect it was the tribal Aspies who were painting on the cave walls.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer


The Autism Spectrum, especially high functioning autism is a stable variation. Rather like sickle cell anemia. In a tropical place where malaria abounds the advantage of the condition offsets its mostly debilitating aspects by a little bit. So that genetic variation does not go away. A similar thing happens with high functioning autism. Which is why (I suspect) we the genetic "one percent" do not disappear. Enough HFs are attractive enough mates to keep our germ line in circulation.

ruveyn