"Volunteer Autism" Theory

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Has anyone heard of the Theory of "Volunteer Autism"?

So far as I can tell, The Modern understanding of the Physical Basis for Autism--while far from completely understood--pretty much disproves Volunteer Autism.

The Volunteer Autism Theory is, that at some point, we're all tempted to abandon our Solipsistic Inner Worlds, in favor of working toward a full-fledged membership in the Outer, Social World.

The Volunteer Autistic is simply someone who says to the ever more insistent invitations to join the Outer "Social World":

"Well Dude, Thanks--but you can keep it. I'm content to be right where I'm at."

Joseph Chilton Pierce was a big advocate of that view.

By that theory, The Full-Fledged Autistic is the Ultimate Rugged Individualist.....

And all us even Partway-Normal folk sold out to the big "ES" (Earth Society), long before we had the proper Cognitive Tools to fully understand the Irrevocable Consequences of Selling Out, and what a Cowardly, Dishonourable thing selling out is.

Any comments, or recent resurgence of the Theory?

Saxon Violence

...?

Most of the autists and aspies I know wish they were better at dealing with people, why would they choose to have a harder time of it?

I know the "rugged individualist" is the mythical American ideal, but most people are social creatures as a whole. I don't see it as a choice. While being self reliant and independent are excellent qualities, there are also time when it does "take a village" to get the job done.

Makes people on the spectrum sound capable but rebellious.

Maybe that's true of some, later on in life, but not most young people who are diagnosed, no.

Sounds like someone has their head up their ass.

I will research this.

I've never heard of it, but I can see some problems with it. It doesn't explain autism, it simply defers understanding. It suggests autism is the result of a choice. But aren't the choices you make themselves a result of your own psychological makeup? Would an NT decide not to join the social world?

That said, what you're paraphrasing sounds a lot like Lacan and Levinas when talking about the self and the Other, in which case this is less of a description and more a kind of mythologising pseudo-history.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEtKj6keoYU[/youtube]



TheSunAlsoRises

"Volunteer Autism" sounds to me a lot like an individualized version of Isolationism, as you describe it.

Oddly, I can't seem to find any evidence of the theory's existence. When searching Google on the topic, "Volunteer Autism Theory" (with quotes), this thread is the only result that shows up anywhere on the Internet. Searches of Joseph Chilton Pearce do not return any pages with "Volunteer Autism" on them.

Care to share where you heard of this theory?

This isn't meant as a challenge. I kind of like the idea behind it (though I think I would term it as "Voluntary Autism"). Just wondering where you heard of it.

Welcome to Wrong Planet BTW.

EDIT: Just to avoid confusion and/or misunderstanding, I don't accept the idea as an explanation for actual Autism. I just like the idea that it is possible to consciously choose the Autistic tendency to keep oneself separate from the mainstream. Very different from the real thing, but I think could explain certain people that aren't Autistic but manage to get along very well with Autistics.

This theory ascribes conscious descision making to people who started their unusual behavior before they were fully self aware as small babies.

No, I can tell right off that this "theory" is easilly refutable and totally nuts.

I don't remember volunteering for this. Was it done by a hand raising? or did I sign a pieced of paper? Who explained to me the options? Damn, I was one smart embryo.

Joeseph Chilton Pierce was a Pop-Philosopher who wrote "The Crack in The Cosmic Egg" and ""Exploring The Crack in The Cosmic Egg".

So far as I know, he didn't write any other Books.

Its was in the 70's that I read and reread his books. Might have reread them once each, in the early to mid 80's.....

So my memories of his arguments are a bit fuzzy.

At the moment, both my copies are buried in dead storage, and I'm not sure where in his two books the Theory Lies.....

Nor do I think that he uses the exact phrase.

He often references a Maverick Scottish Psychiatrist Lainge or Langeu (?)

Pierce is very opaque. He seems to believe in Consensual Reality. The "Reality" composed as an Oval, Egg-Like Cocoon of all participants agreed upon reality is very vulnerable to the perceptions of children--until society manages to take their "Ramrod Needle-Like" Peceptions, and bend them into something hooped, harmless, and fit to be used as one more interlocked building block in the Cosmic Egg.

Until then, they are like a very sharp hat pin blowing around inside a huge, but very vulnerable weather ballon.

Pre-Social Children haven't been broken to the Consensual Yoke yet--but there are blandishments and temptations to join the conformist crowd, as well as threats.

Most children join, and become what we refer to as "Reality Adjusted" Adults.

Even the most radical non-conformist agrees--on a non-negotible level that "Fire Burns" and "Calories Nourish" all his rebellion is about less Fundamental Issues.

But perhaps, Pierce theorizes, some of the Congenital Failures to "Reality Adapt" are not really failures, but conscious rebels. From Pierce's point of view, there is something both sad and admirable about such a choice.

Pierces first book was heavily influenced by Castenada's early Work.

Some believe that Castenada drew heavily on Pierce's first book in his subsequent Gonzo--or perhaps pure fiction--Journals.

Mostly discount both Pierce and Castenada nowadays.....

But even a blind hog finds an Acorn occasionally.

Pierce believed that Cancer was Psychosomatic.

He says that people who believe in Voodoo believe so strongly, that they feel obligated to die when cursed--and somehow, pschosomatically, arrange to do so.

When Scientists and Statisticians--who are our Society's "High Priests" solemly proclaim that one in five will die of Cancer.....

We too believe--and about 20% will somehow take it upon themselves to develop Cancer.

I don't believe that.....

But Some percentage of Cancer might very well be initiated Psychosomatically.

Enough that the less time spent thinking about it--particularly worrying about it--the better.

That and what I referred to as "Volunteer Autism" are about the only two parts of Pierce's Ravings that stick with me.

I'll go on a Google Crawl momentarily, to try to find the Exact Words.

Sorry for any Controversy.

Saxon Violence.

sounds a bit like an intentional version of Oppositional Defiance Disorder.

Here is the scottish dude that Pierce referenced heavily, and a couple revealing Quotes:

"wiki/R._D._Laing".....Can't post Hyper link.

That should give you enough info to get you there....

Children do not give up their innate imagination, curiosity, dreaminess easily. You have to love them to get them to do that.
R. D. Laing

Creative people who can't help but explore other mental territories are at greater risk, just as someone who climbs a mountain is more at risk than someone who just walks along a village lane.
R. D. Laing

Saxon Violence

I'm reading "Crack in the Cosmic Egg" now. I'm a hypnotist, and in the chapter about hypnotism, he talks about the trance state imitating a state all humans go through developmentally (which he calls autistic). We pass through this state before we receive the download of our society's beliefs. His point is that in this Tabula rasa state, anything is possible. He sites people in some cultures "violating" concepts we hold dear, such as causality by walking on hot coals and not getting burned, or curing their own "terminal" cancer.

The "voluntary" autism he speaks of is people who choose to return to this state which is disconnected from the cultural beliefs they have grown to accept so that they can perform outside the limitations of the cultural agreement. He describes trance as one form of "voluntary autism." Artists and inventors often use this avenue to create things which are "new" and may contradict the current paradigms.

Alternative communities, like the "New Age" community offer approaches to healing that the established scientific community often tries to "debunk" because they violate the majority held beliefs. His point is those beliefs may be blocking other solutions which may work when nothing is available within the cultural belief system. If you had asked anyone in the world of 1491 the shape of the world, you would have heard over and over that the world is flat, and that the Sun revolved around us. That was what was "true" until some sailors volunteered to disassociate from that commonly held belief, and sail passed the "edge."

In your own arena, Barry Neil Kaufman and his home-based approach to Autism, the condition, is an example of what J.C. Pearce is talking about. His point is you can't disprove an autistic solution to Autism, because the first step in this solution is letting go of all preconceived notions, returning to that Tabula rasa state, and looking at the "problem" from a completely radical point of view: in Kaufman's case, joining in to the child's autistic world, and slowly adding the cultural world's view from the inside out.