Another idea for the cause of autism - this one my own

Post Reply New Topic

I'm beginning to think it's all caused by how much you actually think about what you're doing. Total Enties don't think about everything they say or do - they delegate it to a subroutine - so much of it is irrational as a result. In effect, they're mainly running on autopilot. People with severe Autism, on the other hand, think about everything they do or say, and the human mind isn't designed to do that, so it's a total information overload. That's why a lot of Enties are shallow; you're not actually interacting with a person at all., rather their non-sapient subroutines.

Does anyone have anything to prove or disprove this theory? Comments would be appreciated.

My theory for a long time has been that it's just the natural evolution of the species.

As the world becomes overpopulated and everyone is boxed into little compartments - apartments, cubicles, cars - we learn to communicate with assisted devices more than with people. As the world becomes more technically dependant, a person's survival is not based on how well they get along with neighbours, but on how well they can communicate with machines.

Basically, farmers are broke and computer network analysts are rich.

It would stand to reason then, that as soon as they dispense with personal interviews to determine the final selection for hiring people, those who are able to produce more with less human interaction will rule the world.

Total world dominance is in our grasp!! WoOt

No "proof", as such, but I suspect all the thinking is more of a symptom or manifestation than a cause even though being less intense can at times be helpful.

When I first got sober many years ago, someone asked me why I used to drink so much ... and I told him I had to do that to try to come down to a level where I could interact with other people. He laughed at me quite loudly, of course, but that is how it was for me and I had been born that way.

Well, I don't know what causes the cause, but that doesn't mean it can't be a cause that is caused by another cause...

It's similar, in some ways, to the Makrams 'overactive brain' theory, but not very much so.

For quite some time I thought that my only problem was thinking too much, and in everything else I was more or less the same as NT people. For example I remember having a theory that everyone is just imitating their actions in social situations, they just don't realize it, but my thinking and analyzing disturbs me and doesn't allow to do so.

I'm not sure, but for me an over-active/over-analytical brain seems like the consequence more than the cause of autism. If some areas of the brain are affected, and other areas need to step in and perform roles they weren't originally designed for, then many situations, especially social ones, will require a lot of conscious "thinking about". That's just my perspective though.

I was thinking more along the lines of being aware of what you're doing/thinking If you're aware of everything you're doing/thinking... brain overload.

Definitely agree with this. All the overthinking and second-guessing, combined with perfectionist and workaholic ideologies lead many of us on the spectrum to become developmentally stalled, instead of moving on and learning from experience. ASD results in the overthinking and overanalytical behavior, which in turn leads to a lot of the other stuff people on the spectrum suffer from. Just seems to make more sense that (for the sake of simplicity):

ASD --> overanalyzing --> other stuff
+
ASD --> energized by being alone

rather than

Overanalyzing --> ASD --> other stuff
+
ASD --> energized by being alone

because even NTs who second-guess (i.e. overanalyze) at times can have many of the same issues folks on the spectrum have (e.g. indecisiveness, developmental stalling), but are still energized by being with people. The logic would therefore support the former model that ASD causes overanalyzing, rather than the latter model of overanalyzing causing ASD.


I for one don't think that all of the technological advancement is really all that healthy, neither for the species nor for the environment. The problem I think is not the intrinsic capabilities of technology, it's that humans allow themselves to become so dependent on technology, to the point that they can no longer function without it. We will as a species eventually lose our intrinsic biologically-derived capabilities through lack of use, just as species living in dark caves eventually lose visible light perception (i.e. eyes). Poorer three-dimensional spatial awareness through reliance on GPS units. Higher rates of obesity from overuse of motor vehicles... then we give the obese people with consequent health problems motorized scooters so they stay mobile... and still with little exercise. Heh, eventually humans won't have legs because we wouldn't walk anywhere! That's how nature and evolution works: use it or lose it. Once we become totally dependent on technology (if we haven't already), then the day the technology comes crashing down for whatever reason at all, we as a species are screwed.

In the first instance networking is more important to peoples' employment prospects, and work success than it ever was in previous generations. In the second instance adaptive evolution follows changes to the environment, it does not occur simultaneously and the technological changes you refer to are simply too new to be the cause ASDs in the overwhelming majority of people characterized by an ASD who are currently alive right now.

While there is an apparent genetic link to ASDs, I am reluctant to ascribe the term, "evolution" to the emergence of autistic brains.

To my way of thinking, an evolutionary development must create a significant environmental advantage to those individuals who hold the development that it supplants those who do not. Characteristics like autism, handedness, immunity to certain pathogens, etc. are part of the genetic diversity of the species, out of which may be expected to emerge evolutionary developments, over much longer periods of time.

Your theory seems to be based off of a stereotype. That being that people who are autistic are detail oriented.

I don't agree with that. While I tend to be detail oriented myself, and do think far too much, I don't believe that every person with an ASD is like me in that respect.

I see a lot of patterns. Patterns I can't quite understand or put a name to, and don't require much thought to recognize. It is truly a wonderful thing.

One pattern I've noticed is that many individuals here remind me a lot of people without an ASD. The main difference seems to merely be that they have their own set of problems, different from those without an ASD.

So, the fact that most people here remind me of those without an ASD, I am very much inclined to believe that there are at least some people who have an ASD and do not think too much.

Seems more like a lot of autistics have the same problem of information overload, but deal with it in different ways--some become very detail-oriented; others become hyposensitive by throwing out most of the information or not taking it in to begin with; yet others slow down to process it all systematically.

Whew! That is a lot to think about!