Any opinions on "A Field Guide to Earthling" by Ian Ford?

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I read this book a few months ago....and it was SO eye-opening! If the content of the book is true, then I have been missing 75% of the actual point of social dynamics/conversation/interactions. It was actually kind of disturbing and saddening to me to learn some of these things simply because I found them distasteful - but I tried not to be judgemental, and tried to keep the perspective that the author points out of functionality of these things for NT people. But I felt like....this may sound strange, and snobby (I hope not!!) but I guess I always felt I was the goofy/weird one, socially inept/inferior, trying to reach up that that "normal" standard so high above me....well....based on what this book taught me, I don't like those standards...in fact, what is really going on with many of these dynamics seemed to me quite primal and primitive, very tribal rather than lofty/sophisticated - well, complex, but not as lofty as I had previously assumed. This really took me by surprise, and was kind of painful to learn - but it was very useful, and I hope to try to keep these things in mind.

Okay, for anyone who hasn't read this, this post is probably as annoying as "vaguebooking", but I'm not good at summing stuff up - so I guess this post was more for those folks who have already read the book and had any reactions to it - I am curious about other opinions/insights.

Oops....I just saw some thread suggestions....others have already posted on this elsewhere! Sorry...but if anyone else wants to chime in here, I will still be interested in reading. I'm going to check out the other threads, too.

Yes, this book is brilliant. I read it a number of years ago, and highly recommend it. It confirmed many of my own observations/suspicions, which I had never seen articulated in this clarity.

Over the last few years I've read many books on from anthropologists on the emergence of human cultures and on cultural evolution, which has also greatly helped my understanding of typical humans.

From an autistic perspective it is very hard to overestimate the role of intuitive and subconscious copying and internalisation of cultural norms that typical humans are capable of. Some of the disturbing "typical" behaviours are result of absorbing the value system of a hyper-competitive culture rather than the result of innate instincts.

Cultures and value systems do change and evolve over decades and centuries. We happen to live in a time where over-financialised economics have led to a hyper-competitive and hyper-social culture, where autistic traits are pathologised.

Rather than having a dim view of neurotypical behaviour in general, I view the concrete cultural context as the most problematic aspect in interactions with typical humans. It is worthwhile bearing in mind that psychologists are as trapped in cultural context as everyone else, and often are unaware of the extent to which their own views of normal/defective are influenced by culture.

The growing numbers of ASD diagnoses can be seen as a reflection of a shift towards a hyper-social cultural context that systematically disadvantages humans with reasonably strong autistic traits.

Wow, what you wrote could be turned into a doctoral thesis! Thanks for sharing your insights. I think I need to return to this book again. The first time it was kind of nauseating and overwhelming, despite being really fascinating. I also really hated the story line. But I think dipping back into this in a focused way will help....

I read this book just last week. I'm glad I read the whole thing, rather than just excerpts here and there.

The final chapter titled, "What's an autie to do?" is the highlight, and might be the most helpful thing I've ever read regarding autism, but it wouldn't have made nearly as much sense if I hadn't read everything else leading up to it. The entire book is good, but the last chapter is excellent.