Autistic people seeing through nonsense

Post Reply New Topic

I don’t know if it’s me but I tend to see through a load of nonsense that neurotypical tend to accept. I read that it’s an autistic thing and I guess that is probably true. Probably due to the fact that our brains are wired differently. Anyone autistic individuals relate to this or am I just overthinking or imagining stuff?

Hmm, could you give an example of what you mean by seeing through nonsense?

Well I’m not great at explaining things but will try. At work for example something happened at work and even at school which I thought was really really wrong and everyone else accepted it. Can’t remember what. Or if I see something that I think is not right and shouldn’t be happening and NTs think is right. That’s the nearest I can do.

NTs use group think as a way to bond with their peers.

I don't know, I've seen plenty of autistic people who don't see through nonsense any better than NTs.

It's often the case that if NTs see through nonsense but think the group will dislike if they call it out they will keep quiet. In general it's very important for them that everyone in the group agree with each other. If someone has a different opinion they tend to take it personally.

Yes I can totally relate to that statement. Not only can I see through nonsensical ideas but I also easily see through people's BS facade.

Yeah, me too.

It would be interesting to see research on this topic. In general, I would expect autistics to be worse at seeing through nonsense than NTs, especially taking into account different levels, social impairments, and executive functioning difficulties.

There’s been no shortage of people on WP over the years who’ve fallen for scams, conspiracy theories, and culty religious and political ideologies.

In my case I did science as a career so I soon learned about skepticism and critical thinking. I think my study of the manipulative techniques used by the media and marketers probably happened because of the interest I had in left-wing politics.

There are strands of ASD underlying the reasons why I learned to see through nonsense, but I don't know how typical I am. It's a nonsense to try to persuade me of anything by trying to appeal to my emotions or presenting half the picture. If you want me to believe something is a fact, give me all the real information, not poetry. Is that down to my ASD or is it something else?

My anxiety can make me naive where I can sometimes find myself believing even the ridiculous of things if they're posted from a news article on social media. I then have to seek reassurance before I can unbelieve it.
But I think it's this left Vs right division in politics, where both ends of the political spectrum exaggerate greatly, scaremongering even, as a way of expressing extreme disdain for the opposite side. I'm trying to just stay in the middle now and look at things through a more realistic perspective. It helps with my anxiety, as my anxiety can run away with me a lot and make me look at things from a daft perspective.

I don't know, I heard people with asd can be very gullible and naive. Like when you're in school and you think some of the other kids are your friends when they're not and secretly enjoying your "cringy" behavior.

On the other hand, I was very resistant to peer pressure, and even now I see many grown NT adults making a huge fuss over virtually nothing and being brainwashed by the "cult of personality" of so-called strong leaders. I'm lucky I can still see from having rolled my eyes so far back into my head.

They won't listen to an adult autistic or even a real doctor and refuse to get their kids vaccinated because Mr. Wormbrain and others like him said kids will get the tism if they do.

They firmly believe a 50 foot tall man with a long white beard is gazing down at them from some cloud that will somehow protect them from everything, and anyone who disagrees is going to burn is fire for eternity.

I agree. It is an Autistic thing. We tend to see facts and reality and logic. Nts can tend to often think from their emotions or from a perspective of social placing. To us, making decisions based only on emotions or social implications can feel like complete nonsense because it is. It makes no sense because it's not based on logic, reality or the rules of the universe and because we tend to be very logical and rule driven, we see right through that. So yes, it is an Autism thing.

That is definitely the case sometimes I have noticed that the Autistic people whom I have encountered who can't see through the nonsense are not deep thinkers. They tend to be more shallow. But the Autistic people whom I have known who are extremely analytical, they are the ones who tend to see through the nonsense very well.

Yes there does seem to be more than one type of Aspie as judged by looking at analytical skills. Like a science-art division.

It fits well with something I read about why most Aspies don't do religion. It was an article that listed the ASD traits that they thought led to religionism and non-religionism. Religion doesn't appeal through the intellect, hence the biblical quote "lean not on thy reason." To a hardcore systematiser, that's anathema. And I suppose that's what I am. I have an emotional, artistic side and I value it greatly, but when push comes to shove I have to side with science. So I'm suspicious of the faintest whiff of emotionally-loaded attempts to persuade me of anything. The emotional thing is great for helping to fathom relationships and for having fun, but for serious matters I use reason. Of course relationships and fun are serious matters too, but hopefully you know what I mean.

It depends on what type of nonsense we are talking about and of course the autistic person.

As far as con men, smooth talkers that type of thing because of our poor non verbal skills and sometimes desperate need for companionship we do not get as much as NT’s we can be very vulnerable to scams. You also have the type of autistic having been burned so often they become cynical to paranoid assuming every interaction with other people is about them having a hidden agenda and trying to manipulate us. The above is probably too binary. Each autistic individual is probably too trusting at times, too paranoid at other times depending on the situation. The last sentence is also true for NT’s but probably less then us do to people reading skills.

I do think as a whole we are more naturally heterodox as to what we like and agree with.

My observation is that autistic people are better to see through nonsense like flattery, social proof, authority exploitation and are usually don't convinced by illogical argumentation. NTs on the other hand are more aware that people may have hidden motives for their actions or for giving them certain (correct) information. In that way autistic people are socially more gullible.