Would the world be better off if it was run by autistics?

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Because a surprisingly healthy number don't subscribe to the escapist, self-inflating delusion that Aspies are the "chosen people" to lead a Utopian world?

Honestly, you haven't provided an iota of evidence for how autistics would rule the world better. Even forgetting the sensory problems that would make daily living/administrating difficult for those at a lower-functioning end of the spectrum, having preservative interests and restricted cognitive empathy does not guarantee good governance.

Basically this.

Its up to you to explain WHY you think that elevating one percent of the human race (roughly the percent who are on the spectrum) into the position of governing the other 99 percent is a good idea. That would need to be argued for any group that only made up one percent of the population. But when that one percent have, as their defining characteristic, an inability to deal with people, then you REALLY need to explain why should that group in particular be should chosen to lead all people.

So...
Take the podium.
Make your case.

The wealthiest 1% of the population are in charge, and yet no one with any political sway is placing any sort of onus on them to justify their power. All we hear is the glibly cynical chorus from both sides of the contemporary political school ''it might not be perfect, but at least its better than communism"

As a technocrat i believe in the 'rule of the skilled'. I believe that society works better when the most proficient in their roles are in charge of how those industries are operated both at a ground and legislative level. In such a society i think its a given that autistics would have greater power. Whether or not you agree is down to the individual. Libertarians and conservatives seem to think the wealthy are better at running industry. I happen to disagree.

More often than not, autistics tend to excel at their field and have a more scientific and human approach when it comes to resolving problems.

Successful people take risks. They also endure sensory overload and other personal hardships to reach their goals. They rarely blame others for their own failures, or wallow in self-pity because they're not popular. They're not easily discouraged, and they rarely have "meltdowns".

Therefor, it is my considered opinion that putting Aspies and Auties in charge of everything would plunge the world into another Dark Ages.

NTs are generally successful in relationships and in business but to what end? If you look at the economic and industrial landscape of today you see that our economic basis circulates around the asinine and the arbitrary. I can't switch on the television without being bombarded by reality tv, pop singing contests, car insurance adverts, pay day loan adverts and other parasitic shite i dont need.

Its obvious that these people lack the long sightedness and logical planning to take us to a place where the collective need and scientific interest trumps individal wealth generation and short-term thinking.

If this is the path that our NT masters have planned for us I think this is the path we are heading down
[img][800:675]http://joseamartinez3d.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/aftermathmondays-1272245226.jpg[/img]

compared to this
[img][800:686]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mhgnX9gBgZI/T8bqVirWHVI/AAAAAAAAGss/VnO409cTYhE/s1600/New-World-Utopia-A-Utopian-Eath-Explained-Religion-Science-without-Life-Death-Afterlife-Heaven-Hell-Coexistence-Coexist-Bible-Future-Satan-God-Warfare-War.jpg[/img]

This has always been the case. From the time of the Ancient Egyptians, from Ancient China, Babylon, Sumer, Rome and Greece.

The riche few run the show. So why not say something new that we do not already know.

ruveyn

Our living memory is the first time in human history that we have the technological ability to wipe out mankind. Our predecessors may have done so in the past, only for not knowing the secrets of the atom.

Not only that human misery is being exported on an unprecedented scale. Borderline slavery is being re-introduced and envisited in poverty struck asian countries under the auspice of free trade and international development. This is all so NT corporate directors can sell us trainers with soles in the shoes and stars and stripes flags. Or other stuff to numb our minds over our mundane existances. At least aspie entrepreneurs like bill gates are heralding true innovation.

We need a sane captain in charge of the wheel now. The status quo has hit its peak.

Last edited by thomas81 on 01 Dec 2012, 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes. A Fearless Leader. All Hail Fearless Leader.

Sane captain would soon become as corrupt as any else who occupied the number one spot.

Human nature. That is the way we are.

ruveyn

i mean a figuritive captain.

Something better, something fairer and more balanced than we have now. It does not have to be an individual.

Surely for the love of all that is sacred we can do better than this...

Free advice: Don't hold your breath until such a one comes along. And if some one looks like the peachy keen leader you seek, give him five years and he will break you heart.

Trust not in princes and heros.

ruveyn

I'm not waiting for a hero, but once upon a time I was just waiting for people to waken from their collective slumber.

I used to believe that the issue was the common man is being duped by the media, the financeers, the corporocrats, the hawk politicians and the people who pull the strings; rather than he is a willing partner in his own subjucation. Im starting to think there might be a diagnosis for this malignant and persistent apathy. Its called neurotypicalism.

Bigotry does not become you.

The problem is just plain old human nature and Aspies are just as likely to go astray as Normals.

ruveyn

I don't think it's that much of a given though. The # of NTs who are good at their jobs is significantly higher than the # of autistics. And it's not even that clear that we should expect autistics to be better on average than the NTs who get selected.

So, autistics are at a very very strong disadvantage at the social skills aspects of many jobs, but these are often very important for the running of an industry. Bosses need to be people who are good at social skills. Political figures also need the same trait, as often part of doing the job is creating the impression that you're good at doing the job, as people respond to those impressions.

Additionally, autistics are not magically skilled, many of them have interests that are not useful. Having their persevering interests may even conflict with the need for generalists, and it may also drive them towards more radical solutions than justified. I mean, sure there may be autistic geniuses, but there are also autistic crackpots, and the existence of the latter would offset the former.


I'm not sure where you get this information on "more often than not". Autistics are not generally considered a high-performing community like Jews, Mormons or Asians are in many of the respective societies that they reside in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority Instead, autistics are probably a low-performing community on average.

Also.... for saying this, you're not taking a very scientific approach to this question. I mean, I think the opposition isn't self-hating, but it is willing to admit that while neurodiversity may be legitimate where autistics can legitimately have power and success within the societies they reside in, that autistic superiority is probably a false approach to the issue.

Autistics are the superhumans.

No, it circulates around things you don't value, but a lot of what we see is very valued to the people within society. So, restaurants for people to eat at are valuable. TV shows for people to watch are valuable.

Technically the adverts are the justification for the TV in the first place, and they allow for a functioning model to discriminate between what viewers will and will not watch without forcing anybody to pay for the service. I mean, maybe this isn't the most socially efficient model, but it's not a terrible model either, and there are ways around having to watch advertisements if you don't want to see them.


Well, honestly, I'm not sure you've really put a lot of thought into how a society ends up working. The biggest issues are incentive structures, and short-term feedback based upon personal gain is very very easy to give, so we can get some very good results using it when applicable.

Now, for tragedy of the commons situations like the environment, good incentive structures are actually really hard to create, and a tendency to forget the future for the struggles of the present is actually very common human behavior, especially since the feedback structures we create usually seek to be responsive to present demands, and present power issues. And power issues probably likely even if autistics had power, simply because autistics will have different visions for how to implement their ideas.

I'm not sure autistics will create the incentive structures right though, and the only way we're likely to is by scrapping the current society and building a new one. This, however, is probably not a great idea, as it creates significant political, social, and economic instability, for gains that may or may not be enacted by switching(creating new systems is very unstable and can result in very problematic outcomes, and usually does, and the desired incentives are particularly hard to set), and that I think the potential gains are probably being overstated to some degree. I don't think mankind is going to kill itself due to our poor attention to the environment. Our biggest threat is probably running out of energy, and everything else is probably manageable because mankind can do a lot of clever things for it's agricultural needs. And I'm not really convinced that we're

Probably not. Autistics are people. Many of them are more inclined than average to have strengths that NTs are less inclined towards. However, they are not superior in all metrics. The areas where they tend to be superior, may not encompass all relevant things. So, I don't think this is a reasonable conclusion. There are many NTs worth admiring, and who many autistics can learn from and be mentored by, but this isn't reasonable if autistics are superhumans.