BillyTree wrote:
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.
I like this explanation, personally. To that I would add the following: some observations from Dr. Asperger in the book "Neurotribes" (by Steve Silberman)
Quote:
Among the things he learned was that trying to leverage peer pressure in the classroom didn't work with these children, because they were already alienated from their peers. Flattery was equally ineffective, as they were curiously immune to it. What kids like Harro [who was autistic] did care passionately about, however, was logic. They had an innate desire - almost a compulsion - to seek out universal laws and objective principles.
...
The primary motivation for learning in typical [NT] children was their emotional ("affective") identification with the teacher. But autistic children sought learning for its own sake in the course of pursuing their passionate interests. They didn't care how their teachers felt about them; they just wanted to know the facts. The best teachers for these children, Asperger observed, were willing to meet the children halfway, instead of insisting that they act like everybody else.
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"The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it." - Terry Pratchett