AS and experiencing emotions

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Intuitive 'knowing' as the brain guys call it is usally far superior to thinking about things. This area of mind is just now being taken seriously by neuroligist.

not off topic at all....and i would be interested to see more research done in this area, comparatively to NTs and their 'superior' ability to empathise intuitively. i can't even type that without smirking because i see very little proof of this in the way most people treat each other on a regular basis. if they can so easily intuit another's emotional state and feel it along with them, then why the hell do they behave the way they do? do they like torturing each other and themselves?? i will never understand that.

i also know what you mean about not being able to tell between an intuitve and an intellectual reaction in myself at times....the line can be very blurry. i think perhaps when it comes to the gut reaction factor, what is happening sometimes is not necessarily intuition, but rather your brain consulting the "databanks" and providing a probable answer before you are aware of looking for one consciously. or maybe we just have a different type of intuition to NTs? it is very complicated, and too little is known about it for sure

just had another thought......what if the 'gut reaction' feeling happens because the situation is something that you have previously observed or learned, and that is how your brain can provide you with an answer and the feeling that you 'just know' before you have to analyse the situation intellectually?....like a 'mental shortcut' to information that has already been acquired through previous experience. maybe that is the form that our 'intuition' really takes, and that's how we sometimes just know things without having to think about it too much?

You're really sharp. 'learning' how we're 'supposed' to feel or react or behave is another trap we fall into since we are very good at mimicry even intellectual mimicry (I can't spell but you get the drift).

ty, and i don't see that you're spelling is any worse than mine (thank god for spellcheck or everything i type would be unintelligible ). and i agree, we are indoctrinated from birth to 'go along to get along' on so many levels (emotionally, socially, intellectually), so i think that should have to be considered in the research as well (although whether that would occur to those doing the research is iffy ).

For me it is an inability to remember to consider someone's feelings because I was thinking about other things. And also a detachment from other people, like they are in another world to me, and when an experience comes along where I am supposed to care I have to go search my memory banks to see if I have had a similar experience to get the compassion.

this is true for me as well, to a certain extent, but it is difficult for me to answer concretely on these types of issues because i only know how i do these things now, because so much of how i was when i was a child i just don't remember. there are huge holes in my memory, so i don't know if i have always been like this, or if the majority of the distancing i experience now is a reaction to events in my life rather than organically occurring in me. ah, gotta love that murky human psyche straight, concrete answers are always hard to find

How I feel about it.

For example, the issue of love. I can't really figure out if my father loves me from words and expression. I can only estimate, guess, or hypothesise but am never sure unless it is demonstrated through touch. Hence why I'm such a big hugger and it is really difficult for me to be on a similar wavelength when I go out on dates.

I think what they intuit is not completely correct either. It has the advantage of being quick but it's probably more superficial than a true intellectual awareness. It just happens to work well "in the moment" for social interaction. That's my opinion.


I thought consulting the databanks is what intuition is, it just happens unconsciously, nothing magical. It may be that there are separate databanks and/or a different kind of "lookup" method for social interaction and language.

must be i guess, since they seem convinced that we (people on the AS spectrum) are so different in that regard.