Are aspies smarter?

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I didn't realize this thread would be this controversial but we should be able to discuss taboo topics in a mature way right?

kdm1984, don't feel bad. Of all the replies yours was the first that actually attempted to answer my question. And to those who say there are different kinds of intelligence, I guess that's true. The fact that the test kdm1984 mentioned was speed based. Speaking from personal experience, I'm a slow thinker so I wouldn't want to be on a timed test. I failed some of my exams at school when I understood the subject matter but overran the time limit.

And to those who say they're not so smart, aren't you? Could your perception just be caused by a lack of confidence? Are you judging yourself by your ability to do NT stuff? Could it be the flip-side of the Dunning-Kruger effect? Remember Bertrand Russell wrote "One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision".

Anyway, as for this thread, I'm glad it didn't get filled with those annoying aspie-supremicists who think aspies are better than everyone and that all NTs are evil. Some of my best friends are NTs. They're not so bad.

Not necessarily. I think we just spend more time thinking about stuff, and the stuff we think about is different than NTs to some extent.

Experience says no.

I'm not. Not even smarter than a philodendron. I had to look that word up actually!

I'll watch that when I get the chance. It would be good for me to know a bit about epistemology.

I'm not. Not even smarter than a philodendron. I had to look that word up actually!

Thanks. Sorry, had a mini-meltdown there. It still happens; ugh.

But yes, It's hard to quantify something as broad as "intelligence" or "smarts," so I thought of one major thing that attempts to do that. I didn't mean for it to look like I was endorsing that as the only measure. Certainly IQ doesn't test emotional intelligence, ability to learn hands-on, and many other things. And as was mentioned, it's speed-based. Thus usually working against Aspies, what with the lower overall processing speed (sub-100) the group tends to score, statistically.

LOL no. If you't articulate your intelligence then how does anyone really know you are? Just knowing a bunch of random stuff and not being able to use it isn't intelligence. It's knowing a bunch of random facts. Sorry but as much as Aspies like to pretend they're superior most innovation in human kind becomes invented and adapted through a team of people working together.

Who's pretending? Is this thread full of people boasting about their intelligence?

Knowing useless facts and being unemployed? Sounds like me
But not all aspies are unemployed. Not all aspies have menial jobs.
Some aspies aren't all that bad in a team.

I didn't start this thread because I wanted to boast about how smart I am.
I didn't intend for this thread to espouse autistic-supremism.
I'm not one of those braggarts who claims Einstein was aspie.
He's long dead so he can't be tested but if you ask me he was way too charismatic to be aspie.

I think it is one of those clichés like the one about gay people always having a great sense of taste. There is a little bit of truth to the stereotype - but countless examples of the opposite.

This is my perspective:

. The IQ of an Aspie must be over 70 by definition, but it is true for an NT also as an IQ below 70 means one is learning disabled. 'Neurotypical' cannot scientifically mean 'not-autistic' outside of referring to specific function. Socially, it is a useless term outside of convenience.

. IQ tests are moderately accurate in assessing potential aptitude. In reality, you will rarely, if ever meet somebody with an IQ of 140 that generally displays less intelligence than a person with an IQ of 80. The person with 80 IQ however, may be learning disabled (causing IQ test to be somewhat irrelevant) in the specific areas, or could possess untested types of intelligence. I only currently consider intelligence using the most simple Google definition: 'the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills'.

There is no convincing evidence that suggests higher intelligence within the autistic population as compared to the non-autistic population, or vice versa.

_________________
Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

IQ are overrated there is no best way to see if a person is intelligent. i think intelligence is merely the manifestation of the will to acquire knowledge. in essence a expert will be seen as more intelligent than a novice


"im not smart but i am well learned", this is what i think most people should say when someone tells them they are smart.

smart and dumb separates us in two group, i think we should start calling intelligent people "well learned people".perhaps that will encourage people to think of themselves as more intelligent. it is proven that people who think of themselves as having a growth set mind eventually have higher IQ's than people who dont.

Why does it matter? I don't see the relevance.

Every person has strengths and gifts that they can bring to the world.

Here my scope/hypothesis on the smarter aspie brain thing. I am considered an electronics genius by most people and have no problem running circles around people who have a Ph.D in that field. But I don't think that the reason I'am so good at it is because I have a "so called" smarter brain. But because I spend long hours practicing it. Electrical engineering is an obsessive hobby of my and I tend to put long hours in to it (about 50 hours a week.). After all. I don't have a job and I don't have a social life. So while most people (NT's) are doing there day job or going to the bar and having a drink . I am at home working on a project. So my point is is that I don't think we have a superior intellectual brain in and of itself, but that we spent more time studding and practicing are crafts because we don't have the daily/social distractions that NT's do.

Yes I am much smarter then anybody else I know or anybody on this board.

I have a working formula for cold fusion that I worked on in my spare time but I do not think that the world is ready for it yet.

I am so smart I am a legend in my own mind.