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

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Hard to say. Autism is usually considered to involve theory of mind issues. If autism involves theory of mind issues, and social success intrinsically involves game-theoretic evaluations using theory of mind, then autistics having lower social success on average is the expected outcome.

Would the world be doing better if it were run by autistics? Probably not, people on the spectrum are way more predisposed to emotional acts than most people realize. We have good traits that neurotypicals tend to lack, but we also have our own flaws.

I worked at a hospital and I proposed turning all of the handicapped patients who were in wheelchairs into robot cyborgs. For a while I became the lady's man until the women thought I was crazy.

Try harder. 99 percent of the human race are not like us nor will they decrease in their relative numbers. It is our burden to learn how to live with them and still be ourselves. I am an Aspie (I do not give a crap what DSM-V says!) but I have learned to adapt to the NT world. I am married to an NT and I have 4 children and 5 grandchildren only one of which shows any indication that he is on the Spectrum. I have learned to regulate my external behavior so that I can pass for human quite well. It took me a long time to do this, but I did it.. I am as literal minded as I ever was, but I learned a simple truth --- silence is golden ---. So when I am asked what color is my coat I refrain from saying things like: my coat is blue on the side facing me.... I still think that way but I have learned to keep my peace.

The world is not quite ready a The Fair Winess (see wiki article and R.A. Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land")

ruveyn

It depends on the autistics if its the LFAs it would be like the Flintstones but if it were all HFAs it would be a highly technologicly advanced society where everyone is at peace with one another.

We are not special.
We are not better than NTs.
We are not superior beings.
We are not the "next step on the evolutionary ladder."
We are not the future of humanity.

We are people. We are no less complex, no less flawed, no less extraordinary than any other people.

We are different, to be sure. But that difference does not entitle us to any belief in our superiority.

It'd be peaceful until the first disagreement, people on the spectrum can be just as opinionated as a neurotypical. While we can be effective leaders, people on the spectrum have a harder time getting along with people that have different opinions than many neurotypicals do (when they choose to behave maturely).

Yes, it would. Only if it's the nonverbal ones though.

Very well said.

And that's coming from the boy who lied about the German pirates.

Highly doubtful. Be we NT or On the Spectrum we are still primates.

ruveyn

I was going to comment but that sums it up

A world run by autistics?

If the OP means LFA's, who by definition cant run their own lives, clearly the answer is no. Folks who cant dress themeselves cant run the world.

If he means HFA's or aspies- who's ranks may include famous talented people, thats something else.. But its still not obvious how a world run by even the finest high functioning spectrumites would be an improvement over a world run by nt's-even for people on the spectrum itsself.

It is not clear that Einstein was on the Spectrum, whereas Dirac was an Aspie for sure.

ruveyn

Of course neurotypicals will say that Einstein was not autistic.

If the world was run by HFAs every city would be futuristic like this [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU_mXe0AChk[/youtube]If the world is run by LFAs every cityi would be like this [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Aby1zEHVBo[/youtube]but since it is run by NTs you have a mixture of both!