Autistic people seeing through nonsense

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Tamaya
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16 Jun 2025, 3:29 pm

It seems some discussions suggest that autistic people are too naive so will believe everything while NTs are able to understand the logical truth in everything, but then another discussion suggests that autistic people are too clever and logical to be taken in by things while the NTs are the ones who are naive and believe everything that's said to them at face value.

So really I think it just depends on the individual, not an NT or autistic trait. Some autistics think that only autistic children believe in Santa while NTs know the truth by 2 years old and are socially adult enough to just play along, while other times many autistics think that autistic children are more capable of figuring out that Santa isn't real while NT children naively believe in him for the first 10 years of their lives.

So...which is it? :scratch:
I mean I know I believed in Santa up until I was 9 and never even thought about questioning the logic, and I'm sure it just went the same way with NT kids too; their parents told them the fantasy and they just believed it without questioning logic or even really talking about it much to their classmates, and then they just find out the truth as they get older.


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autisticoder
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16 Jun 2025, 4:28 pm

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


true; no joke, I'm an example


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ToughDiamond
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16 Jun 2025, 5:02 pm

I'm wondering whether there's a better word than nonsense for the stuff we're talking about seeing through.



CapedOwl
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17 Jun 2025, 12:13 am

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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kadanuumuu
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17 Jun 2025, 3:30 am

My 2cents here:

ASD peers often exhibit a form of "monotropic" attention—deep, focused interest in specific topics.
Which, when combined with reduced social conformity pressures, can lead to novel, high-fidelity problem-solving approaches.
This means they are not only thinking outside the box but are often unaware or unconcerned that a "box" exists
in the first place. This detachment from conventional frameworks allows them to explore solution spaces that neurotypical (NT) peers might overlook due to implicit social or cognitive constraints.

Darker implication of this:
There’s a risk of instrumentalizing neurodivergent individuals—valuing them only for their utility in innovation. It's important to balance appreciation for their unique contributions with respect for their full humanity, including support for their well-being and autonomy.

Funier Sidenote on this:
The way ASD peers approach problems—rule-based, detail-oriented, and less socially biased—can resemble certain AI systems. Studying ASD cognition might offer insights into designing better human-AI interfaces or hybrid problem-solving teams.



Tamaya
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17 Jun 2025, 5:08 am

Quote:
The way ASD peers approach problems—rule-based, detail-oriented, and less socially biased—can resemble certain AI systems. Studying ASD cognition might offer insights into designing better human-AI interfaces or hybrid problem-solving teams.


Not all of us, thankfully. I don't want to be comparable to robots, I hate robots.


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kadanuumuu
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17 Jun 2025, 6:02 am

@Tamaya
Thank you Tamaya indeed not all of us, and I was not comparing us to robots, mainly pointing out similarities in algorithm's of approach to problem solving/analysis.



Tamaya
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17 Jun 2025, 6:07 am

kadanuumuu wrote:
@Tamaya
Thank you Tamaya indeed not all of us, and I was not comparing us to robots, mainly pointing out similarities in algorithm's of approach to problem solving/analysis.


I know. It wasn't you, it's just facts sometimes, apparently autistic people are known to be emotionless and more logical or something. Not me though. I'm really emotional and illogical. In fact I find logic difficult to alter my thinking style too, which is why my therapy for emetophobia didn't really work.


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Last edited by Tamaya on 17 Jun 2025, 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

kadanuumuu
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17 Jun 2025, 9:04 am

@Tamaya,

Thank you for your feedback, it lead me down an internet rabbit hole on the relationship between ASD and emetophobia, and yes: Anecdotal and Clinical Observations show a higher prevalence of emetophobia among autistic peers (href: https://www.amandamosespsychology.com.a ... -to-autism ) which you probably already knew ;)

So yes it makes sense that interoception combined with higher limbic sensitivities equal a bad time.
I know it does not help you but my feeling go out to you and I wish you all the best, truly. I've not had similar issues as you but had for ASD unrelated cancer to undergo chemo and I fully empathize.

And don't worry logic/intelligence and wisdom are not as related as people think.
Your humility and wisdom do shine trough in your responses and posts.

Kind regards,
Kada



Tamaya
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17 Jun 2025, 9:10 am

Emetophobia isn't related to autism, anyone can get it. I have R-CPD so it makes vomiting so much more difficult. My NT mum had emetophobia, even though she didn't have R-CPD.


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kadanuumuu
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17 Jun 2025, 9:19 am

Thanks for the clarification.