Insensitivity to social reputation in autism. So how is it?

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I think I know what you mean, to some extent. That's something I aspire to be when I grow up, so to speak

But I don't really care, more like I am very interested in. Or I care when we feel the same way. It's either I feel good when I do good and it makes others feel good because I cannot feel anything much of that sort, I don't like being helped nor I appreciate it; either caring for the idea which I think is right to be acknowledged.
Sometimes I just feel altruistic because this is the right thing to do and it detaches me from my ego which I dislike having at all.
I maybe don't make much sense, I think I should research it a bit more and define it for myself.

1) This study would have resulted in funding and recognition for the researchers
2) Therefore, we can safely state that publishing this study was at least partially, if not totally self-serving
3) Based on this chain logic, we can assume that the researchers generally lack a sense of altruism and are unqualified to comment on the altruism of others.

Redacted

Last edited by nat4200 on 19 Apr 2012, 5:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

I've always said I don't care what people think of me as long as I don't have to hear about it or know about it. People will think whatever they want to think and there is nothing I can do to change that.

What this says to me, is that autistic people do not "lack" the ability to consider what others think; rather, it is the non-autistic people who lack the ability to act on their own volition without the need for social approval. It also shows that the non-autistic people have the motivation to deceive others.

Interesting. I hadn't really made a distinction between "caring" and "interested", but I can see that there is one. Making someone happy means that I can walk away and not have anything else to deal with. If I leave someone unhappy or confused, I have followup work or I know that there will be a longer-term implication. So it's in my best interests to make someone happy unless the cost outweighs the benefit.

I do the same thing in a work environment. I despise "make work" or people that could make themselves redundant but choose not to. I work very hard to make sure that I can get out of a job and move on to the next one. Similarly, people who have problems to be solved are much more work than those whose problems have been dealt with.

(geez, I'm feeling more like a sociopath with every post)

There was a story that I heard years ago that kind of stuck with me. A mother and daughter (father and son, politician and hooker...the pairing isn't relevant) walking through the woods with a trashbag. They were picking up all of the trash in their path. The daughter looked around and saw garbage deeper in the woods and asked her mom "What's the point if there's all this trash left behind?". Her answer was "Everyone has their own path and if we all deal with the trash that we encounter in ours, eventually it will all be dealt with". Helping others when I can is just picking up the trash along my path. Hopefully others will take different paths and deal with different garbage. The trash doesn't need to appreciate being picked up and the woods don't have to care that I did it. It's just the right thing to do to improve my own personal life experience.

"People are more inclined to make a donation to charity when someone is watching them"
Well, du-uh. But it just amazes me how they managed to overgeneralize it without even trying to explain it with a complex social reasoning and instead attributed it to a quality (with a 21 people sample). And I bet it will be quoted over and over as some sort of valid argument. The way I see it there is something intrinsically wrong with this kind of social science. Maybe I don't understand something profound about it...?? Now let's see how NT's translate this:

http://psychiatry.jwatch.org/cgi/conten ... 011/1107/3


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 102006.htm


http://blog.neulaw.org/?p=3030

The mere fact of the existence of this thread makes a good point against us not caring about our social reputation.

Oh also they made this:

I only care about how another person sees me if I have some sort of pragmatic reason to do so. For instance, if I wanted a job, I'd care about what the potential employer thought about me because that would directly impact my chances of getting it. Otherwise, I don't care.

The unemployment rate of Adults with Autism has been reported to be anywhere between 80 to 90 percent.

An Autisitc Adult who is unemployed or underemployed is probably less likely to have a significant amount of disposable income available at their discretion.

Thus, a decision to make a charitable donation at an amount based on ones income and stick to that amount is a wise economic decision.

Were Autistics and Controls in this study of similar social economic status? Similar backgrounds ? Similar responsibilities involving health and family ? Similar income bracket ?

In this study were Autistics and Controls provided money by the researchers to give and keep as they choose to ?

* I dont have a pdf of the study so I can't read it.

TheSunAlsoRises

Last edited by TheSunAlsoRises on 14 Dec 2011, 1:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, this image seems to cover it.

Whenever I had money to spare, I'd help out street kids - buy them food, or give them some cash. I mean, I hate to see people that age having to scrounge to survive - or any age for that matter. Doesn't matter who was watching or not, what mattered was what I could afford to spare.

Who cares about impressing people? If you want to help, help. Don't try to make it into something it isn't.

Matthew 6:1
1"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven...."

Last edited by Jediscraps on 14 Dec 2011, 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

I love how these studies are revealing NT nature. They're spinning it desperately to be studies of autism but it's not really. The house of cards may collapse at some point.

Indeed. There are so many like this, and as was pointed out, they project mindsets onto the autistic participants, treating them as objects to be studied, and not subjects with independent and consistent perspectives.

The results argue that people with autism lack the ability to take into consideration what others think of them and provide further support for specialized neural systems mediating the effects of social reputation.

The problem with this conclusion is that many, if not most/all, people on the Spectrum are NOT ego driven. Thus it really doesn't matter what others think. This is very unlike NTs, who often crave attention and spend much of their time trying to appear perfect for others. When will NTs learn that you can't judge Autistics by NT standards?

Sounds right to me.

(Yes, I couldn't give a damn what people think of me.)

Just as the Project-O-Matic 3000 dominates NT-Autistic social interactions, so does the Project-O-Matic 3001 dominate NT studies of autism.