Is Being Uber Rational a symptom of AS ?.

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Hi,

I'm 51 yrs old and recently come to the realisation I have AS. I'm uber rational, it forms the bedrock on which my view of the world is built. Regardless of the topic, (religion, economics, drugs, abortion, the death penalty) it is thought about and rationalised, emotions and morals/beliefs don't come into it. Is this a symptom of my AS or just a personality trait ?.

Opinions Please.

I think it's a personality trait because there are even NTs out there who act rational. I have seen aspies get heated over topics like in religion or politics.

Hi GetBusy,

Welcome! I'm new here too.

I'm not sure I'm the best person to provide a perspective, but I thought your post was interesting. My thoughts:

I'm here because I have recently realized both of my parents may have AS. (not sure if I do) I was on the phone with my mother today talking about a choice to make and I said to her "Do you understand that I feel emotionally torn about this decision?"

She replied. "No. I don't put emotions into any decision that I make- I logically assess my priorities and choose accordingly." This surprised me because I always make choices at least partially based on emotion.

I share this with you because it does fit with what you said about looking at things "uber-rationally." Whether or not it's part of AS, I would think that in some situations it's quite beneficial to be that objective.

Is your rational-decision making the only reason you think you have AS, or are there other reasons? I look forward to hearing your thoughts as well as others' opinions on this.

I think that it is a personality trait. Some NTs have this trait strongly. So do some autistic people.

I'm the complete opposite to one of my brothers in this regard. He is all emotion when it comes to the topics the OP mentioned. He finds it near difficult to deep with 'heavy' situations because he can't separate his emotions from what needs to be done. I'm as cut and dry as they come.

It may well be both in your case: a personality trait that's being augmented by your AS.

From what I've seen here on the forum, and what I can tell you about myself, it appears that many people on the autistic spectrum do prefer a more rational angle when approaching a situation or a discussion. In my case, it's because rationalising things makes things less complicated, and easier to grasp. Not that I need to simplify things, mind you, but rather to get rid of all the white noise and static and get to the bare bones of anything I might be dealing with.

I am not certain how rationally-inclined I'd be had it not been for my autism. I've been mindful of not leaning toward the rational TOO far in recent years, because I acknowledged that I could go overboard with it in the past. So, maybe I'm not that much of a fan of being über-rational anymore, at least not like I used to be.

To answer your original post, yes, males with Asperger's do tend to be me rational and logical than the average NT.

(Yes, some NTs are rational, some AS are emotional, etc., etc., ad nauseam)

Now, this isn't to say you don't have emotions or that emotions don't factor in to your decision making. When you make the logical decision to buy ice cream on a hot day you use your emotion to determine what flavor you're "in the mood for," so it's not either-or.

I think the problem comes in because NTs give more preference to their emotions as opposed to rationale. Because of this, NTs often feel completely justified in their mistreatment of others because they "feel" it's the right thing to do. Rather than examine the situation, they often go on their gut instinct. Almost like "shoot first, ask questions later." Other NTs seem to applaud or even accept such emotional behavior from others, no matter how illogical or destructive, probably because they know they'd behave them same way themselves.

I think all aspies are "researchers". And that usually involves rationality.
Everybody here I'd think is researching on him/herself. And about other stuff here and there.

I don't know what you all would include into rationality,
but I would be tempted to say that rationality is a common aspie trait.

If everything goes actually rational is a second question.
However, I think that everybody here tries to be rational.

or logical, understandable, consistent.

what do you guys think?