Reputation Management: In Autism, Generosity Is Its Own Rewa

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It seems that a research paper co-authored by Chris and Uta Frith in 2011 didn't get noticed at WrongPlanet.net. It is, however, somewhat interesting and encouraging.

In "Reputation Management: In Autism, Generosity Is Its Own Reward" ( http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abs ... %2901247-4 ), the Friths state that "[a] recent study has found that autistic people donate the same to charity regardless of whether they are observed. This is not because they are oblivious to others, but because they are free of hypocrisy." They consider the ramifications of reputation in the Theory of Mind.

This brief paper is worth the 10 minutes to read and enjoy.

Thanks, very interesting, especially the distinction between implicit (subconscious) and explicit (conscious) mentalising, which is often glossed over in discussions about theory of mind.

I suppose possibly I shouldn't be posting this...but over the years I've done a lot of voluntary work and have helped many people without them realising.

I remember as I was once reading from a magazine that some musician had bought a mansion and realized that I couldn't really get why would someone buy a huge mansion. Because even if you have 36 rooms in your house, you can only be present in one.

And this to me is the mental image of a man. You can be present only in one room, even if you are surrounded by hundreds of rooms. If you are in the room of hate, you can't be in the room of love. And similarly you don't automatically reside in the rooms other people attach to your mansion or would like you to reside in, whether that is a room of generosity or ugliness or self-hate or greatness and so on. You are present in the room you are.

Life is about giving. But if you are giving only to gain something like reputation, you are not in the room of giving. You are in the room of taking. Even if other people despite attach a room of a giver to your mansion, you never were in that room.

These observations are lost on those who own or buy a mansion. The purpose of such possessions is purely related to the affirmation and communication of social status.

Most neurotypical people are obsessed with one or more forms of social status. The extreme cases are those who no longer see or really care about specific attributes such as generosity, kindness etc. but are only interested in integrating all status indicators into an overall measure of status or power. The topology of the world of such people is constructed by social power gradients. In that world there is no such thing as a conversation at eye level – either you are higher on the ladder of power and therefore your wishes and your needs come before those of others, or you are lower on the ladder, and your wishes and needs are largely irrelevant.

Many mansions are completely unoccupied for large parts of the year. The price tag and the social status of the neighbours is all that matters.


I agree, if you have any real passion in life, life is about giving.

But then there are those who are not passionate about anything except gaining social status.

As a result, if you give more than you take, and engage with everyone at eye level, you are perceived as both naive and arrogant.

jbw, I didn't make any observations on the reasons people by mansions. But I very much agree with yours. Interesting points.

I was referring to a metaphorical, mental image of man. That is to say the reason people are generous in company only, is to become across as such - to metaphorically add a room of giving and generosity into your "house", without truly being in that room of giving. Social status is a similar construct of "rooms" you think exist even if you truly aren't residing in them. For example status doesn't automatically move people into the room, where right answers also reside, but many like to believe so.

And in a perverse sort of way in the NT world, it could also land you in danger.

My biggest problem in life is that no matter what I do, I want to do it invisibly. I don't care to let anybody know what I have done or not done for people. I don't even like pictures of myself and will not put up any profile picrues of myself no matter where it is. My bosses are not to happy with that since they wanted to put a pic of all instructors online. I requested to not have a picture of me.

My brain is what is important or my work. Not some old Santa guy type of face.

As for what I'm going to do, give or donate is because it is what I feel is right, not what other people think. They do not have my life and are in no position to make any judgement.