Could autistics become the majority in the distant future?

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If Autistics were the majority(which they're never going to be)society would suffer very greatly.

Umm, I'm not a psychologist, but through the rhetoric I suspect there may be some validity to the statement "NTs lie more". I mean, in terms of social maneuvering, I am entirely willing to bet that for evolutionarily good reasons people are highly prone to distort, and I've noticed that many of the social rituals I despise seem to I think maybe make sense when viewed as ways of finding more costly signaling making deception more difficult.

Well I don't see any obvious reason in principle why an aspie might be strictly honest (aside from moralistic tendancies), the inability to handle complicated manipulation of other people's perceptions necessitates a more frank communication style.

I mean, NTs v ASDs very likely do have very different approaches to socialization quite naturally, and I don't think it's productive to say that it's all BS to posit differences (whether or not you attach a moral value to one style; of course, one man's honesty is another's "being a jerk").

Maybe once you've learned what it's like to be constantly manipulated by others without even realizing it, you'll understand what I mean. It took 4 months of watching Jon Stewart every week just to understand the basic concepts behind sarcasm. (and no, I wasn't kidding with that statement either...)

Granted, the percentage of NT's that have made outright attempts to manipulate me are relatively low (something around 5%)... However, when compared to the fact that not once has an aspie tried to manipulate me for their own gain, that 5% starts looking very big...


All I want to do is be able to take a person at face value, regardless of the circumstances... it would save me a lot of headache trying to figure out what the hell they actually mean...

Devils advocate:

There may prove to be an advantage for aspies to meet, marry and mate other aspies that is somewhat easier than NTs doing the same with other NTs. There is also great anecdotal evidence that the mating game is getting trickier for average people

While it hasnt shown yet, we are still less than 15 years into recognizing Aspergers and HFA as being part of the autism spectrum.

In nature, when a mutation allows two individuals to find each other more easily, that counts as an advantage. It is not sufficient that the make just gains alternate brighter plumage; the female should mutate to recognise that. So it may be with aspies: we are better communicating with our own kind, and we are, by our traits, more attractive to each other.

As well, ASD people breed out of NT/NT couplings, and also NT/ASD.

One thing I have noticed is a strong ASD tenancy to rationalize past ideological differences: for instance, WP is less quarrelsome than many other forums. Its entirely possible that ASD people are better at sustaining online relationships than average people. This bridges cultural and locational differences, and it remains to be seen if we can step past that into physical meets.

I can speak from experience that I understand and bond with ASD people better than average folks. I dont think I am unique in that way.


And thats my devils advocate argument.

It would require separating the general population into two subgroups in such a way that auties would tend to mate with auties.

ruveyn

who told you about the secret plans?

are you trying to suggest that an aspies mind is tailored to technology?

ye a bunch of socially awkward ppl running a world isnt the best idea

On top of which, people on the Spectrum are not the most successful at mating and having offspring. NTs seem to have an advantage in getting the ladies to join them in the sack.

ruveyn

Damned grave robber.

Not going to happen a disorder which inhibits the ability to adapt will not dominate a society of six plus billion people.

Not to mention one that makes breeding less likely.

Unless you believe that it's more of a social condition than it is a genetic condition.

Well, the latest indications are that autism is related to changes in more than 200 genes. Any select portion said changes of which may exhibit as autism. That somewhat indicates that autism is not just one disorder, but potentially hundreds or thousands. It also suggests that it is lurking just beneath notice in a lot of otherwise normal people, one generation away from expression.

Its probably too big to breed out.

That doesn't necessarily mean that autistics will become the majority in the near future.

Not directly. But the idea of a irrevocable toe hold suggests that it will become more widespread.