"Can The World Afford Autistic Spectrum Disorder?"

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"Can The World Afford Autistic Spectrum Disorder?" - A Book by Dr. Digby Tantam:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc7b_5xexkc[/youtube]

it's really interesting. i hope people don't judge it from the title: he's being ironic, as it turns out---his position is yes, the world needs those on the spectrum. :)

i think many scientists and outside observers are coming to the same conclusions about those with autism as we often reach when we discuss our own perceptions, behavior. i find that kind of ironic too, but in a pleasant way.

this may seem disconnected (and it is a little anecdotal), but one AS blog had an enneagram posted (a form of personality test.) the respondents---most self-reported as having AS---tended to score very high in both intellectual independence and in hypersensitivity. that may be no surprise to most on the spectrum---but it is good that science is getting around to this too.

i think that independence is a very necessary balance to the mob thought and behavior often seen off the spectrum. yes--i think the world does need that. :)

I quote: "We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfil their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers." - Hans Asperger.

This is a very good video. The things that the guy in the video said, is right on the money. We need more people like him, in the world.

If they get rid of the autism gene, they are also going to be rid of the "visionary gene". If it wasn't for people with autism we would still be living in caves. All of the modern conviences NT's take for granted, were invented by those with autism. If the world somehow magicaly eliminates autism, humanity would take a nose dive to the dark ages.

Interesting.. I definitely want to read the book.

Good content. Terrible Equipment.
I might give this book a look.

A nobel sentiment, and I hate to disagree with things like this, but...

There is no possible way you can prove that. I'm sure plenty of advancements were created by those with ASD, but we can't really prove it at all. It's a real stretch to say that all modern conveniences were invented by those on the spectrum.

I'll give the rest of your post a +1.

Maybe not ALL, but enough important ones have been. Nikola Tesla was an aspie who invented the brushless alternator, and thus invented AC electrical current. This single invention is almost singlehandedly responsible for the world we live in. Without it, we wouldn't have radio, TV, or the internet (because there would be no computers), we would not have cars, we wouldn't have running water because the pumps run on AC. We'd be stuck somewhere in the 1880s, and likely have severely declined by now due to stagnation.

While the Victorian era had gorgeous architecture, I'd much rather enjoy it with the things that AC makes possible. It's possible that the brushless alternator has PERMANENTLY changed human civilization, making a return to another Dark Age unlikely. If Mogadishu can have electricity, albeit unreliable, anything is possible. Anytime Autism Speaks says they want an "end to autism", they really want an end to modern civilization, along with all the goodies their tax free salaries buys them.

The alternator so significantly changed human civilization in such a short time that older houses had to be significantly modified to accommodate it. I live in Sacramento, California, which has a significant stock of older houses. Sacramento has never seen war or earthquake, and fires and floods stopped after the early colonization period (due to the building of a massive levee system). So there's still a lot of old buildings around. What you see in the older Victorian houses is bathrooms tacked onto houses like back porches, ad-hoc electrical wiring (although it's mostly been replaced now), significant gutting and remodeling all the way around. I was inside one of the few Victorians that HASN'T been gutted, and it had a kitchen meant for a servant cook, and a stairway to a large attic for servant quarters.

There was an economic crash in 1893, and new construction stopped. It didn't start up again until 1908. The new houses had no servant quarters, kitchens that were meant for occupant cooking, the two parlors in the front were gone, replaced with a single living room like modern houses. They had electrical wiring, piped water, sewer systems. What happened to shake apart society? The brushless alternator, invented by an aspie, Tesla. That's how autistics have changed the world.

While i do believe NT society capable of minor increments to science and technology, like computers getting better and faster, cellphones getting smaller, and producing sequels to video games and movies, the real major earthquakes in science come from a loner, a genius, one who spends his time thinking instead of chatting. I believe the autism gene is a requirement to be a genius. And without a genius, mankind does stagnate, things go chaotic, no one knows which way is forward. Take string theory for example. That's the kind of crap humanity produces when left without a genius to point them the right way. The search for quantum gravity, same thing, only a genius can settle the issue, left alone, scientists are just wasting man-hours and billions of dollars. Alchemy, same thing. Psychology, same thing, it's an unscientific mess.

Thomas Edison is a good example of NT capacity for invention. He changed the world a lot, but he had no impact in sciences, that's the realm of geniuses, loners, thinkers. He said: "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration", which basically means he was a hard worker, not a deep thinker.

The above poster exemplifies this very well, he added a graphic that says "citation needed". Hidden within lies the implication that no person is capable of discovery, all conversations should be limited to quoting what others have said before. No technological advances are possible in a world where citations are a requirement, where your own thoughts are not worth a penny. Modern society is such a world. There, your ideas are worth nothing if you didn't get them from the Discovery channel. Say something new and they will ask you for your sources. To be a parrot or to be ignored. Only one who knows how to enjoy life alone will choose the later.

Can you imagine a world where ideas are encouraged? Where instead "citation needed" people replied to you with "that makes sense, i've been thinking of something similar, let's share ideas"? Where people prided themselves of having spent ten thousand hours thinking, instead of ten thousand hours reading.

By the way, some things get discovered by luck. It didn't take a genius to convince the world that we live on a sphere, it only took a sailor.