Autism supremacy and evolution

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Nope. That is also natural selection. The environment has simply changed. In an environment that includes medicine, people who have illnesses which can be treated by that medicine will survive, because they are suited to that environment. And that means that now we as a society can take advantage of their skills. For example, a friend of mine is a developmentally delayed music savant who would not have survived infancy if doctors had not had the ability to treat her hydrocephalus. We would not have her music if she had not survived. There are many cases like that. And with a society based on specialization, the disabled contribute very nearly as much as the non-disabled do. Very few of the ~20% of the US population who are disabled are disabled in all possible areas in which they might contribute. All they have to do is to contribute to society in some way unrelated to their disability, or even related to their disability in a positive way (for example: Paraplegic who invents a new wheelchair sport). What we're seeing is a broadening of our gene pool related to our ability to support people who would otherwise not survive--and that is a normal part of natural selection.

That's the general idea of learning social functioning. You acquire a library of stock responses. I can't function either under certain social pressures and my brain will often freeze up, but it's possible for aspies to learn courtesy. We are all verbal, and we are capable of learning things, even if they're not intuitive. That's really what I mean by learning social functioning skills. At the worst, you'll come off as really polite but awkward. I learned to embrace that in myself.

The OP seems to equate not learning social functioning skills with aspie elitism. I don't understand how these two items are supposed to correlate.

Meh. Was about to go into a kneejerk rant in response to this, but then caught myself and realized you were actually being pretty civil, and it was unfair to lump you in with others who'd reached the same conclusion.

Regardless, there are only two rules in nature: Survive, and reproduce. The details don't matter. If you survive by profiting off the labor of others, then your ability to solicit empathy is an evolutionary advantage. If you reproduce by raping strangers, then your lack of conscience is also an evolutionary advantage (incidentally, the notion that everything natural should be lauded irks me because nature is not nice, but that's another post). I'm pretty sure the Albert Einstein quote about fish and trees has been posted at least once already in this thread, but it definitely applies here.

For you, perhaps, the only part that is a disability is the impaired social skills. For me, it's the sensory overload and the shutdowns. Not to say that the social part isn't a problem, but it's not nearly the same. Routines are a big deal. Also, difficulties with starting, combining, transitioning, stopping activities or tasks, making it difficult to get things done in general. Really, I could have just quoted pensieve here and agreed with her.

As for learning to transcend those difficulties, good luck with that. I've made and lost progress in that regard over the years, but I still function in basically the same way now as I did 20 years ago.

Actually you are wrong. In ancient times people with autism were seen as spiritual and political leaders of a tribe. This is because while their social skills weren't entirely the best their other skills with regards to natural patterns, understanding animal behavior, and overall observational insight such as pattern recognition has made them the ideal leaders of a tribal society and were borderline worshipped because their skills were crucial to the tribe's survival. In fact most people with autism I know possess skills and traits that would give them an upper hand in any position be it politics, business, or otherwise. I have friends with autism whom are hackers and military tactical officers. I for one am an excellent strategist and problem solver because I notice all the things NT's miss or skip over. I also love old architecture because I revel in all of it's detailed beauty. I am an Autism Supremecist and see the growing birthrate of autism as a sign that we are needed to rule the world once again, another great filter is coming and we are the key to the world's survival. For instance I once worked for a non profit organization and was reviewing state bills that were proposed and which ones we should back up or lobby to reject. I found one law that slipped in something in the fine print which would have drastically and negatively affected those Autistics employed by companies and how they were paid. And this same bill was reviewed by other workers and they did not see it. I was the only one whom caught that detail, if it weren't for me millions of my fellow Autistics could have been unjustly fired with no severance pay or unemployment available. I am also against finding a cure because autism is not an illness its not a disorder, its another genetic variance in our species in regards to Neurodiversity. Dont see it as a weakness, don't use it as a crutch, take pride in it because it is our strength it is our power, do not reject it, nurture it, it is a trait that makes you who you are. I full well know that if my autism was somehow "cured" I would not be the same person I am, my personality would never be the same, to me "curing" my autism is the same as death, the person I am now would be gone, dead, never to return. Keep that in mind, if you develop a so called "cure" that is essentially genocide, and while I am an autism supremecist, I do not condone genocide, I merely believe we are the only ones truly fit to be the ruling class in this new age, I do not believe in the slightest that we should go out and kill every NT.

I would post a link to an article but apparently as a new user I am not allowed to. However if anyone is interested PM me and i will send the article link to you in regards to this topic.

There is no proof that aspies were leaders in the past is suspicion based on Autistic traits documented. The documentation is based on language of the time which often has different context and meaning. There is no proof there are more autistics born today, it is suspicion based on more autism diagnosis.

Highly social people and creative thinking prople are not mutually exclusive. The socially typical has a better chance of getting their genius recognized then the socially different.

A lot depends on how one defines autism. If autistics are people “with Autism”, it includes Autistics with LOW to genius intelligence. If one defines autism as savant or genius of course you are going to have a over representation of autistics inventing things and moving the world forward.

I most certainly believe autistics are a varient, that we would be on the whole much better off if society would stop punishing us for our differences. Different does not necessarily equate to superior.

This IS a seven year old thread.

Aspies may well have found roles, and status, in tribal society. Shamans, seers, or had specific roles in hunting, or trapping. But I doubt that aspies were any more predominant as actual "leaders" of the tribe than aspies are as politicians or as CEOs of today.

Interesting ... on camping trips where we are "roughing it", I'm usually the guy who goes off by himself to scout out the area; finding fresh water, berries, animal signs, and other campers. Then I come back, build the campfire, cook the meals, and generally keep the camp running so that it doesn't become indistinguishable from a "hobo jungle" or "fugitive encampment".

Maybe that's what paleo-aspies might have been -- the people who contributed to society by doing the work that required solitude, focus, and observational skills.