Ad wrote:
I have never been able to relate to other "humans", in fact I can't stand them, at all. Some are ok but they are so different to me even the theory that autism is the next step of evolution (or a seperate evolution) doesn't make sense. For me the only thing that does make sense is the idea that we aren't fully human.
Maybe our ancestors were aliens that looked similar to humans, and they moved to earth for some reason and bred with humans, or they abducted human womens and probed them with our DNA and sent them to earth to give birth to our ancestors.
I know to most of you "rational" people this might sound slightly crazy, but to me it makes sense as nothing worldly can explain what I am.
I am actually proud of being what I am and have never thought I was human, but I don't see this as a bad thing as I think humans are easier to corrupt and lack intelligence, creativity and psychic abilities(yes, I believe in those too)
This also explains why so many of us are obsessed with the otherworldly, science fiction, aliens and UFOlogy.
The second part to my theory is that there are thousands of Autism "types", these are not related to severity. I think the types could be from different alien subspecies or Colonies.
Okay, I'll actually give an answer this time instead of being snarky. First and foremost, we have had no contact whatsoever with extraterrestrial life. Considering we are the only species out of billions on the planet that are capable of leaving the planet, that means the probability that we will ever encounter other intelligent life is astronomically (har har) low.
Secondly, the alienation you feel already has a perfectly plausible and well-researched cause. It's called depersonalization disorder, and it's very easy to see how someone will severe AS would acquire it. One of the main diagnostic criteria, in fact, is "a sense that other people seem unfamiliar or mechanical." In other words, they feel "alien" to you.
Thirdly; the sheer probability of it all is incomprehensibly low. First: you have to have life on other planets. We have observed many planets and so far have not seen any signs that would indicate life. Second: you have to have sentient life, capable of interstellar travel. Obviously, that's a little difficult to pull off.
Third (and most damning of all): these creatures would have to have evolved in such a way that, despite being completely isolated from humans and evolving at completely different times (if they are capable of reaching Earth, obviously they got a pretty big head start), they are still close enough to humans to create viable offspring (fancy way of saying babies that can grow up and have their own babies).
Take this into perspective: chimpanzees, our closest genetic relative, are 98.5% similar to humans as far as genes go. Even then, with that small difference, there is no chance of making offspring (and God forbid you should even try). This means that these aliens would have to be so close to us genetically that they are virtually human themselves! I'll give you two situations; I think it's pretty clear which is more likely to happen.
1. People evolved from life on this planet. Some received genes that made them much more likely to be autistic, just like some received genes that made them more likely to have darker skin, or a difference in height.
2. People evolved from life on this planet. Somewhere across the galaxy, a virtually identical species evolved 100% independently in a different environment and different period in time. These creatures solved the massive logistical, financial, and technological barriers facing our dreams of interstellar travel. When they did, they set off in a direction (think of just how
massive the galaxy is) that just so happened to bring them into contact with a species that they could breed with.
Ad wrote:
"This world is full of surprises
"
True, but this would be even more surprising than every hot girl at Georgia Tech deciding all at once that they all wanted to get in my pants. I don't think you realize what kind of minuscule numbers you're working with here. This isn't like randomly happening upon a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk. It's like finding a twenty-dollar bill, investing hundreds of years of time, energy, and resources to be able to travel to space, heading off in a random direction, and finding someone halfway across the galaxy who can make change for that twenty.
_________________
I'm never gonna dance again, Aspie feet have got no rhythm.
Last edited by pat2rome on 18 Feb 2010, 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.