Burzum wrote:
Ichinin wrote:
This thread deals with social isolation from spending too much time behind the keyboard
Yes, as a possible cause of autism. Which is a thousand times more farfetched than the claim that autism is purely genetic.
i see genetic as a contributing factor.
here's how i see the cause of autism:
1. difficulty activating a specific group of mirror neurons are genetically passed down, particularly if both parents have aspie qualities. some people are more prone to this than others
2. if more prone, and combined with social isolation due to internet, special interest, etc, means emotional development may freeze at a certain age, causing autism. this age/emotional development can depend on the sensitivity of the mirror neurons. in severe cases the person is non verbal. in less severe cases the person is very functional but still has emotional problems.
3. alternatively, if the person has major sensory issues, or GFCF allergy, etc, this can also pause the activation of the mirror neurons since hebbian learning won't take place. if you can barely go outside because its so bright for your eyes, its pretty hard to follow what is happening in the world.
men are more likely than women to be on the spectrum because we are less motivated to activate these mirror neurons. the mirror neurons are activated via hebbian learning and require ACTIVE MOTIVATION to turn them on. in fact, what we have is actually somewhat similar to psychopaths and sociopaths, i suspect its just a different group of mirror neurons that are the cause. and i'm speculating that if we are able to solve for autism, we can solve for those guys too.
i've done a whole interview series with world experts on this topic, it will all be published fairly soon on wrong planet.
I am going to guess you don't spend large amounts of time around a diversity of toddlers and preschoolers. This is the sort of theory that is most likely to arise when all your data comes from asking adults about their childhood memories. But if you spend a lot of time around diverse toddlers and preschoolers, you see differences that are innate. This isn't the chicken-and-egg conundrum that you are making it out to be. You can't create an autistic child out of an NT one by giving him access to a computer. NT little kids like computers and technology too. But they use them in a very social way, passing the consoles back and forth between each other. These differences become apparent when you spend a lot of time around a diversity of kids.
15 Oct 2011, 12:39 pm
