Wrongplanet and cats - not a coincidence?

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There have been posts about wrongplanet users obession with cats. According to a recent study, this might not be a coincidence; cat loving may correlate with some autistic traits.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... laims.html

I love both equally, cats and dogs

I'm not outgoing tho lol

What autistic traits does it correlate with? All I see are some shaky connections with intelligence and a more solid one with introversion and energy.

^ Same here. Intelligence, introversion, sensitivity and energy levels aren't exactly autistic traits.

I also like both cats and dogs equally.

Both introversion and sensitivity are defining characteristics of autism. An extrovert does not get worn out by social interaction because they are not overwhelmed by the excessive stimulation, while the autists are.

People with AS have cat brains.

I love cats myself, I think maybe there is a comparison because cats are loners, tend to be self efficient, some of the traits in cats are similar to those with Asperger's I think. while dogs are more pack animals and not loners.

I don't think there is any reason why people with Asperger's should be more attached to cats than any other animal though, in fact I think dogs have proven to help autistic people with interaction and emotional attachment.

perhaps people feel more of an affinity with animals who they feel they can relate to, or at least as much as you can with a non human. also I feel that dogs attract attention, you have to take them for walks and they are loud, so if you were quite shy it might be unwelcome attention that's drawn to you.

I think I would like to have a parrot most, or a raven, in fact especially a raven. ravens are meant to be quite intelligent and they look amazing

Last edited by franknfurter on 30 May 2014, 12:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Not true , autistic people can be extroverts but are just more likely to be introverted. As extroverts autistics might approach people inappropriately and monologue about their interests (the point being they're still not socially reciprocal but can be outgoing). It's not really correlating autistic traits with cat owners just a certain type of personality.

I personally love cats though.

Even if an autist does approach people in an extroverted manner, it is, as far as I know, the case that their sensitivity to stimuli will soon limit the time of their social interaction even if they were being extroverted for a while (I even do it myself sometimes). I believe that such an insensitivity to prolonged social interaction is a fundamental part of introversion but correct me if I'm wrong.

Meow Meow Meow

Do you know in what sense 'sensitivity' was meant, though? It's just that people don't solely use the word in relation to social interaction or sensory stimulation. I've also heard it used to describe people in what I guess is an emotional sense, too.

yes, sensitivity has too many meanings. They have to the define it and describe how they measured it. Same with introversion. Energy too, what did they consider energetic? It is a less ambiguous word but everything has to be properly defined.
also: I don't think there are correlations to autistic traits. Dog owners for instance are defined as energetic and many autistics are energetic.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5i4hRQogj8[/youtube]I want a pet cougar!!

Nice posting about a news topic! =)

So often ppl simply paste a link and then say,
"discuss."

Good title, great intro, nice highlighting of key points.

Sometimes wading through third party websites to the crux of the subject is more time/energy than I'm interested in burning at the moment, and it's unlikely that I'll remember to go back there later.

Good Job you! thanks.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpdHMaccjw4[/youtube]

I like hunting cats.