History is one long war between autistics & schizophreni

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If you're looking for an appropriate nemesis for aspies to anchor the other end of a hypothetical power spectrum, perhaps a combination like bipolar schizoid sociopathy with high intelligence might be a better choice (kicking them into power during mania, then inducing them to lead their followers to ruin during depression).

We tested a phenomenological hypothesis about theoretical and practical rationality in people with schizophrenia. This hypothesis states that in schizophrenia there is an enhancement of theoretical rationality. Our case–control experiment supported this hypothesis. Philosophical models of rationality that prioritise theoretical over practical rationality may thereby apply more in schizophrenic than in healthy states. The study is an example of how experimental psychopathology can illuminate areas of philosophical dispute that are difficult to settle by thought alone.

There has been renewed interest in the phenomenological tradition in psychiatry (Owen & Harland, 2007) which offers a range of hypotheses about different psychopathological states. One notable hypothesis is that schizophrenia is an impairment of commonsense knowing (practical reason), with a preservation – or even accentuation – of systematic cognition (theoretical reason). This concept was made famous by the psychiatrist Minkowski (1927) and can even be found in the anthropological writings of Kant (1798) but has never been experimentally tested. Previous experimental work on rationality in schizophrenia has aimed to explain delusions in schizophrenia in terms of impairments of formal reasoning (Garety & Hemsley, 1995; Kemp et al, 1997). Results do not generally confirm this model (Cutting, 1997).

In line with the phenomenological hypothesis, we tested whether tasks that are correct from a theoretical (or formal logical) point of view but depart from practical knowledge (common sense) would be performed better by people with schizophrenia than by healthy controls.

DISCUSSION
Our main results show that under conditions where common sense and logic conflict, people with schizophrenia reason more logically than healthy individuals. On a straightforward interpretation this is either because people with schizophrenia are better at logic or because they are worse at common sense. We present some exploratory evidence that it is because they are worse at common sense, but the question remains open.

I believe in the theory that autism and schizophrenia fall at opposite ends of the neurological spectrum with neurotypicals in the middle:

http://classic.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55599/

On many mental traits we find the pattern:

autistics > neurotypicals > schizophrenics

Or

autistics < neurotypicals < schizophrenics.

Neurotypicals are in the middle with autistics and schizophrenics at opposite extremes.

When autistics and schizophrenics have high IQ's they can figure out a way to use their extreme neurology to make original contributions to society, however because they are polar opposites, they are constantly at war pulling the culture in opposite directions with neurotypicals caught in the middle. Schizophrenics or borderline schizophrenics use their superior social ability to get millions of neurotypicals to believe their strange delusions, thus giving rise to art and religion. Meanwhile autistics and borderline autistics use their logical ability to advance our understanding of science and technology.

Even though autistics contribute truth, and schizophrenics contribute fiction, more people follow the schizophrenics in becoming religious because the schizophrenics have superior social skills and the autistics have inferior social skills.

However over thousands of years, people eventually realize the autistics were right and science slowly triumphs over religion.

Charles Manson was more on the lines of a narcissist and sociopath.

I was under the impression that when it comes to schizophrenia, high intelligence is actually a drawback in terms of lifelong happiness. Basically, low-intelligence schizophrenics become hyper-religious, get viewed by society as charming-but-nutty, and tend to live in relative (if weird) happiness.

Low IQ schizophrenics get diagnosed with schizophrenia. High IQ schizophrenics have the processing power to juggle all the strange associations their brains make and combine them into something creative:

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/10 ... ivity.html

Indeed high IQ schizophrenics would often not even be recognized as schizophrenic, but rather just viewed as creative geniuses.

I believe in the theory that autism and schizophrenia fall at opposite ends of the neurological spectrum with neurotypicals in the middle:

http://classic.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55599/

On many mental traits we find the pattern:

autistics > neurotypicals > schizophrenics

Or

autistics < neurotypicals < schizophrenics.

Neurotypicals are in the middle with autistics and schizophrenics at opposite extremes.

When autistics and schizophrenics have high IQ's they can figure out a way to use their extreme neurology to make original contributions to society, however because they are polar opposites, they are constantly at war pulling the culture in opposite directions with neurotypicals caught in the middle. Schizophrenics or borderline schizophrenics use their superior social ability to get millions of neurotypicals to believe their strange delusions, thus giving rise to art and religion. Meanwhile autistics and borderline autistics use their logical ability to advance our understanding of science and technology.

Even though autistics contribute truth, and schizophrenics contribute fiction, more people follow the schizophrenics in becoming religious because the schizophrenics have superior social skills and the autistics have inferior social skills.

However over thousands of years, people eventually realize the autistics were right and science slowly triumphs over religion.

"Autism" is a part of Schizophrenia. Other than the delusions and hallucinations, autism is the most noticeable symptom.

Kanner and Asperger both got the various manifestations of the word "autism", from Bleuler, one of the schizophrenic pioneers. He described the aloof behavior and social withdrawal seen in schizophrenia as "autism".

My dad is a diagnosed schizophrenic, but sometimes he reminds more of an autistic. For awhile I thought he might have been misdiagnosed but he has hallucinations and very severe delusions (along with his capacity to see facts over fiction), so it's a curious combination.

I think the reason for all the confusion is that opposites often resemble each other.

It is not a "curious" combination - if you take away the "positve symptoms" (hallucinations and delusions) of a schizophrenic, you will end up with something very close to autism. Note that this forum is full of threads style "I am Asperger's or Schizoid PD?" (schizoid pd is the negative symptoms without the positives).

What condition shall we ascribe to people who happen upon a simplistic idea that kinda sorta seems to make sense to them and then turn around and claim that it provides a complete description of the fundamental mechanism of the progress of civilization?

It's just a hypothesis. It could be completely wrong and if proven wrong I will move on, but to me it has a lot of explanatory power and a lot of the rebuttals against it are inconclusive. I certainly didn't mean to imply it was a "complete description" but I suspect it's an important and overlooked one.