Theory of Mind - NT vs Aspie/Autistic

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This man has a very good point.

https://youtu.be/IjiXczbbd10

NT’s ALSO have theory of mind and empathy issues. That’s why they can be such bozos to us.

However they assume the other (majority) NT person feels similarly to them— and they are correct. So there is no disconnect.

With ASD, we AlSO assume the other person (NT majority) is feeling or thinking like us.
But we are wrong (minority).

So there is a disconnect and that becomes the false idea of ‘empathy deficit’ etc.

To a degree, I agree with it. NTs absolutely do tend to assume that people around them have brains that work the same way as theirs do, which does suggest some level of theory of mind issues for almost everyone.

However, I also think that we do have it worse in this area. I hate arguing, but I do it an awful lot. I think a large part of this is because I have trouble seeing the other person's point of view.

Thanks for the link - I enjoyed hearing what he had to say!

I tend to suspect the same thing, that since NT brains are similar to each other, they're more likely to be accurate in guessing how another NT feels. Whereas ASD brains are all different from each other, so we can't even guess accurately how other people with ASD feel.

(I'm basing that on research showing that NT brain scans all look relatively similar, and ASD brain scans all look very different from each other... If I'm wrong about that I apologize - I don't want to be spreading misinformation here!)

Some people may like to think that their perspective is all-seeing, but there simply isn't enough time to see everyone's perspective on things, so we pick and choose. Humans learn by observation, and gain a concept of what is normal/ expected.

Normal simply means the most common, and it can vary depending on individual groups. If you grow up in a group where a certain kind of behaviour is considered normal, then chances are you'll consider it normal unless you stumble upon something that challenges that perspective (such as another group outside your social circle, which could lead to an identity crisis of "But that behaviour is normal in my group, why not theirs? Is it only us that do that? Am I weird?").

However, although normality varies, there are some fairly universal rules that people go by, and assume that others follow. Which makes sense considering that most people will follow these rules, so most of the time their assumptions will be correct. It is only when something opposes that view that people alter their perspective and realise that doesn't apply to that those rules don't seem to apply to that particular individual.

This opposing evidence sometimes shows itself early on, someone who is clearly different to what is expected by society tends to stick out (however this is not always the case, and people who stick out may try to hide their differences or they aren't as noticeable), and people are often at a loss because although they know that they don't follow the expected rules, that's all they know- as they don't know what rules they follow exactly, and may desire to discover which rules they follow in order to better understand the person in question.

Learning new rules to understand that person doesn't come naturally, it's like if people all came with instruction manuals and most manuals were in the same language, but some manuals are in a different language, a language that quite a few people are not well-versed in.

Which gives people a choice, they either try to learn the language, or they don't. Some may simply be unaware of people with different manuals, because they've only come across manuals similar to their own, so they don't understand people with different manuals.

Others may only understand half of the different manual, as they seem to connect with the diagrams and lists in those manuals, but not the entirety of the manual, and may also relate to the more common manual. So they may feel unsure how they feel about manuals at that time, and which manual they should use to best understand themselves. Perhaps they'll try and make their own manual.

Eh, maybe I went a bit overboard with that analogy.

No humans in general are just idiots. They actually believe their belief systems mean something....when in reality its all f*****g BS.

They have similar ways of thinking because they have similar belief systems and have been taught to think the same. They have been taught stupid ideas such as making a mistake makes them a bad person when in actual fact making a mistake is nothing more than a learning curve.

They believe that if they fail at something they are a failure as a human being, when in actual fact all it means if you fail is that the method you used didn't work...you could always just try another one, but instead they just beat up on themsleves and become obsessed with their own egos. They lack focus, they can't focus on a problem and the solution because they get distracted by themselves and their own specialness. Watch them in action...the ones ive met cant do anything for beating themselves up and worrying about their worthiness every time they make a boo boo. They think its all about loving yourself. Not enough money..you just need to love yourself got forbid you may want to find a way to earn more, your house burnt down, you just need to love yourself (nevermind contacting the insurance), yoru head drops off you just need to love yourself but medical treatment is out of the question...

That last reason is why the world is in such a mess...if only they would get their head out of their own arse for 5 f*****g minutes and focus on something other than their own egos, we would have so much more understanding and progress in the world we are living in.

As it stands nt or otherwise its all about how special and precisous you are. And all humans of all ranks seem to do is hate themselves or think you should hate yourself becuase you are not what they think you should be. Or you are not special enough, or perfect enough, or thin enough, or fat enough, or tall enough, or pretty enough, or smart enough, or interesting enough or what the f**k ever enough....

Self absorption central with a complete lack of understanding of diversity.

Either way is f*****g uneccessary and sick....but we live in a sick society right now.

On saying that I favour aspies for interesting conversation due to similarities i have to them.

NTs are too obsessed with each others social lives, at least aspies can know interesting stuff about fascinating things..