An Odd but Interesting Idea

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Hey y'all. So, in my researches I came across an idea which I find quite interesting, despite it sounding rather "woo".

Essentially, it states that autistic people are not "fully phased" with the physical world.

That is, autistic minds tend to have difficulty with the physical and social simply because autistic consciousness is not as closely connected to the 3/4 Dimensional space-time universe we all share, but more closely connected to other, more expansive dimensions. This might also explain sensory sensitivities and inhibitions, if we suppose that the brain is primarily a filter for information, and that autistic brains, being wired a little differently, have different "settings" for their mental and perceptual filters. Some people get information others don't, and vice-versa, including intellectual information in the form of skills, ideas, and interests.

Another way of looking at it is that autistic people have a stronger connection to the apparently infinite inner "universe" inside each one of us. "Neurotypical" people also have such a connection, but because their attention and cognition is focused primarily on the social and physical worlds in which we are all immersed, such interactions come more easily than inner explorations.

Of course, I have no way of proving or disproving this idea, but it is intriguing to me. It would seem to explain why autistic consciousness is withdrawn from the external world to various degrees, yet usually very active and deeply connected to the internal world. It may also explain where the gifts, interests, and savant-level abilities of some autistic people come from, if we suppose that these are somehow connected to perception and cognition relating to higher dimensions and/or the inner aspects of existence.

Anyway, again, I'm not advocating an opinion, but simply offering some food for thought.

Thoughts?

That is an interesting idea. While I don't know if there is any truth to it whatsoever, I do like it, if for no other reason than I find it enjoyable to mull over odd ideas.

Me neither, but me too!

There's a theory floating around which states that autistic people only see faces in a "general" sense--hence, they are not INSPIRED to socialize.

They don't see their mothers; they only see a generalized face, the theory states.

Hmmn. This may be a matter of semantics, but I think autistic people are actually be more fully phased with physical reality than other neurotypes. We have more sensory connections in our neural pathways, and we can have sharper, more sensitive and detailed perceptions of the physical world.

We take in so much raw sensory information that it can be very overwhelming. Some autistic brains may process sensory information in a fragmented way, and/or very slowly, simply because there is such a traffic jam of information coming through those neural pathways.

However, the autistic brain is strongly, firmly, extensively connected to concrete sensory data about the physical world. I mean, generally speaking, autistics do not hallucinate.

Schizophrenics or others who tend to have hallucinations are the ones I would describe as not being fully phased with the physical world. They can superimpose their own internal imagery, and/or other-dimensional information onto sensory data and confuse which is which.

I think some autistic people are definitely connected to other-dimensional information. But I wouldn't say that this is true for autistic people in general. From what I've read here and what I sense about people here, I don't think so. I get the sense that many here are very closed off to other-dimensional connections and other kinds of "unofficial" information.

Autistic brains are not all wired the same. In some, heightened sensory connectivity may facilitate extra-sensory perception.

But in other autistic people, physical sensory data may take absolute precedence over any other kind of information. Their mindset is that reality is only what is perceived through the normal physical senses, and there is nothing else. They simply do not believe in psychic or metaphysical information.

I don't know if that is fundamentally a matter of neurological wiring or not. Many people, of all neurotypes, learn to shut down or reject psychic and other-dimensional information due to their social conditioning.

However, some autistic people may be more open to psychic information and experiences, because they may find it easier to reject the very social conditioning that would inhibit those connections.

NTs are much more deeply receptive to social conditioning. What NTs think of as the "real world" is not actually the physical world. It's a mental construct of social conditioning and social awareness.

What autistic people withdraw from is not the physical world, but the NT social construct of the world.

That sounds very much like what I would say as well.
Especially the parts I quoted and made bold.

I process information from two different worlds, the world of what is and the world of what is not.
I recognize the world of what is not and process it differently.
What exists only in the human mind is not real, yet still exists and has real effects on real things. I don't say that just because it isn't real that it doesn't exist. My distinction is how it is processed, because I don't think the same logic can be applied to each consistently.

One thing I have always observed is that my perceptions of physical reality is far less distorted by schema than those around me. This is something easily tested by both logical and scientific consistency. Inconsistencies I observe always stand out to me, and seemingly go unnoticed by others. This seems to make it clear that the information is being processed quite differently between they and I.

I am open to psychic experiences because I reject the limitations that currently accepted models impose upon reality. There are just too many exceptions that cannot be explained within current limited models, so obviously other possibilities must be considered for the model to ever improve. I normally ignore the social conditioning and pressures, and feel it is a significant hinderance to the progress of science.

That is very much true that I withdraw from the construct and not the real world.

I think that is what people sometimes get confused about here in discussions.

I would add that "imaginary" also doesn't mean that something doesn't exist. Imagination is creative. It has effects on real things, and is used to create real things.

Paper or coin money for instance is a real physical thing. But the idea that those papers and coins have specific values is entirely imaginary and based on social agreements. Money didn't exist before someone imagined the concept, in other words it didn't "grow on trees" as the saying goes. People began to manufacture money because they first imagined it.

Nowadays, banks, governments and treasuries can just punch some numbers into a computer to create more money. It doesn't need to have a concrete physical representation at all.

It's interesting that the word "imaginary" took on a connotation of meaning that something doesn't exist, or only exists in ONE person's mind alone. But I digress.

Very good points all around!

Perhaps rather than "not fully phased" a better phrase would be "differently phased".

That is, information from the physical world is obviously still perceived by those with autism, and often much more intensely than by NT people. However, it is also sometimes less so. I know in my own case I have problems with hearing and proprioception in particular. So perhaps it would be more accurate to say that autistic brains are "calibrated" differently in terms of connection to the physical senses. Not a matter of more or less on a linear scale, but a variety of sensitivities across a variety of senses.

I think the point about being less attuned and attached to social structures and schema / cultural assumptions and constructs is also very apt. It can be hard to parse out the physical from the socio-cultural because they're so bound up with one another (especially these days when we're surrounded by cultural artifacts pretty much 24/7). But I definitely agree that while I often withdraw from the social sphere I do still feel very connected to the "real" physical, sensory world. Some days more than others, especially when I spend most of my time staring at a screen, but I digress...

Point being, I still think there may be some merit to the idea that autistic folks may have a deeper or at least different style of connection to the "inner/higher" worlds/dimensions, which may be related to a withdrawal (or escape) from socio-cultural conditioning. But sensory "difference" rather than "disconnect" seems to be much more accurate.