High Functioning Autism — A Superpower?
You hear the term "High Functioning Autism" a lot, but what does it really mean, and where does it come from?
First, we need to understand what autism really means in the first place. Historically, it was a term used to describe people who are functionally and socially retarded with odd habits or fixations. Unlike the typical idiot, who may only be deficient in intelligence but is at least somewhat socially aware and does not possess any particular obsession, an autist was a specific type of idiot—a weird idiot. They lacked social or common sense on top of regular intelligence. At least, that's how it was viewed for a long time. That is, until a certain point in history when "autism" started getting recognized.
The high-functioning autist was moderately to highly intelligent, and what they lacked in social or common sense was often more than made up for in creative endeavors that heavily benefited society. In fact, it is argued that many historical figures, from philosophers and physicists to mathematicians, were all "autistic." There were arguably little to no neurotypical great men of history, men who changed the world in ways no king or conqueror could even imagine. literally, in ways they COULD NOT IMAGINE, because they redefined the very game of life through their creative output. These people were supermen.
If a certain pattern of a neurotype is indeed more useful and measurably impactful in a positive sense, and if the only deficiency is a lack of ability to engage in a very specific type of social context. that is, the neurotypical social space (which is not even universally true across all high-functioning autists), but otherwise no known REAL communication issues. then in what way is high-funtioning autism not a superpower? In what way is a high-functioning autist a disabled person or a lacking person? You wouldn't say that humans are idiots or deficient/disabled because they couldn't natively communicate with fish when humans are infinitely more useful than fish in every way. and indeed, it would be absurd to equate the usefulness of fish with humans, or deny the usefulness of humans all together.
On a side note, the very invention of this new communication protocol is the sign of creative genius of the "autist". yes, this simple, small upgrade to the older predecessor protocol, Gopher. even though this is mostly for now just a hobby project that could one day garner bigger support.
you think a neurotypical sits down and thinks to themselves: "How can I solve the problem of privacy on the internet?"
and this "gemini" is just a hobby, a passtime. something you come up with on a saturday evening. this is just the near mindless (or light) touch of the creative genius of the autist.
Jul 04 · 4 days ago
3 Comments ↓
I am really annoyed with Musk hijacking autism. I don't think he is on the spectrum at all -- he is just high on ketamine and god knows what else billionaires take for fun these days.
His accomplishments are minimal -- buying successful companies receiving government subsidies and getting high and saying stupid things to knock the stock down while shorting, mostly. Also, the moron-shaped truck.
But at least we are not considering the spectrum as a birth defect these days. I was a bit concerned that some genetic test would allow autism to be eradicated, and humanity would drown in normalness. Civilization will come to an end when everyone is a real-estate agent.
👻 darkghost · Jul 05 at 22:25:
Some forms of autism have genetic markers. But of course because it is a spectrum, there isn't one gene or even cluster of genes that explains the whole spectrum. My brother is autistic, the extremely low functioning variety, and also deaf and blind. There is a unique mutation that explains his condition. He is, as far as we know, the only one on the planet with this mutation.
@darkghost, That must be hard, I am sorry to hear that.
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