Estás usando un navegador desactualizado. Es posible que no muestre este u otros sitios web correctamente. Deberías actualizar o usar un navegador alternativo.
SUMMARY OF THIS THREAD FOR NEW READERS:
"I'm autistic too!"
"Hoo boy, what a honeypot!"
"we must exterminate autism"
"Sweeping up negative ratings"
"Autism culture is bullshit"
SUMMARY OF THIS THREAD FOR NEW READERS:
"I'm autistic too!"
"Hoo boy, what a honeypot!"
"we must exterminate autism"
"Sweeping up negative ratings"
"Autism culture is bullshit"
Excuse the ironic 'sperging about 'sperging, it is pretty long. I have a friend who is an evolutionary scientist and I have spent many a drunk night talking shit with her about why stuff is the way it is and it really fascinates me.
Let me start by saying that I don't personally believe autism is something that has only become widespread in recent times. People always seem to be quick to blame the recent rise in the use of hydrogenated corn syrup or vaccines or whatever. I just feel that we are finally starting to understand why all those unusual and sometimes very disabled people are the way they are, and we have finally given it a name.
For autism to still be around in this day and age (on a purely evolutionary level that is) autism must either have acted as an asset to survival of the humans with it in the past; or it must have been such a frequent mutation that it ceased to die out by sheer tenacity.
Taking the first hypothesis, we can assume that the basic characteristics of autism provided benefits for survival to the individual effected with the disorder. Even if they slightly outweighed the negative it would still have been enough to get passed on to further generations. Simple characteristics such as an absolute demand for routine and things to be done in a specific way.
While today this may include the unwavering demand of their toast being cut into perfect representations of Thomas the Tank Engine each morning, back when we were still sleeping in piles of leaves this would have been things such as making sure a weapon was not only perfectly made, but also always exactly where you wanted it to be. Not only that but homo-autistic would have had a constant mental spreadsheet of 'stats' for everything in the world around them. Think Pokemon but tasty animals, or Starcraft but places to poop without being eaten by bears. Just a couple of ticks in the 'not dead' column.
Add into that the social aspects of autism. If you shun most contact from other humans, you are less likely to have your food stolen by other humans. You are less likely to contract disease from other humans. You are less likely to be thought of as weird as fuck and beaten to death with a rock by other humans. Not only that but you are less dependent on other people for sustenance and shelter. If you do not like to be around and interact with other people you learn to survive on your own, or you die. But what about reproduction?
This crosses with the argument for how homosexuality has survived on a genetic level. It seems to fly in the face of everything evolution stands for, which is passing on your DNA to the next generation and ensuring the survival of your genetic material through banging someone of the opposite sex. Interestingly it is thought that the genes which cause homosexuality in men, cause increased promiscuity in women, and possibly vice versa. Basically if you were a true homo-erectus, it probably meant you also had a dozen brothers or sisters whereas everyone else only had a few. Although your genes may not survive through you, they will survive several times over because your mom was a massive slut.
That might not be the case with autism of course. It could just be as likely that even raging spergs of times gone by managed to club the odd lone berry-picker around the head and have their 7 seconds of forcey-fun-time.
Then again maybe the answer is simpler. Cancer for example can never be eradicated entirely. It is not a 'disease' in the usual sense. It isn't caused by a virus, bacteria, parasite, or your dear mother knocking back shots of tequila while pregnant. It occurs like the flip of a coin (almost literally, the chance of developing cancer in your lifetime is nearly 1 in 2 these days). Cells replicate and sometimes mistakes are made, thus cancer is born. Of course things contribute to the likelihood of developing cancer, such as smoking, but you can never completely avoid it as it boils down to pure statistics.
Maybe just like cancer, autism is always one simple random nudge of a nucleotide in the womb away from all of us. Entirely unpredictable. Completely unavoidable.
To summarize: Autism is with us today because it probably conferred some benefit to humans in the past, and it probably isn't something you can 'cure'. Will it continue to be so in future? Dunno. The high functioning and savant level autists, sure, but the Sonic fans? May God have mercy on us all.
Excuse the ironic 'sperging about 'sperging, it is pretty long. I have a friend who is an evolutionary scientist and I have spent many a drunk night talking shit with her about why stuff is the way it is and it really fascinates me.
Let me start by saying that I don't personally believe autism is something that has only become widespread in recent times. People always seem to be quick to blame the recent rise in the use of hydrogenated corn syrup or vaccines or whatever. I just feel that we are finally starting to understand why all those unusual and sometimes very disabled people are the way they are, and we have finally given it a name.
For autism to still be around in this day and age (on a purely evolutionary level that is) autism must either have acted as an asset to survival of the humans with it in the past; or it must have been such a frequent mutation that it ceased to die out by sheer tenacity.
Taking the first hypothesis, we can assume that the basic characteristics of autism provided benefits for survival to the individual effected with the disorder. Even if they slightly outweighed the negative it would still have been enough to get passed on to further generations. Simple characteristics such as an absolute demand for routine and things to be done in a specific way.
While today this may include the unwavering demand of their toast being cut into perfect representations of Thomas the Tank Engine each morning, back when we were still sleeping in piles of leaves this would have been things such as making sure a weapon was not only perfectly made, but also always exactly where you wanted it to be. Not only that but homo-autistic would have had a constant mental spreadsheet of 'stats' for everything in the world around them. Think Pokemon but tasty animals, or Starcraft but places to poop without being eaten by bears. Just a couple of ticks in the 'not dead' column.
Add into that the social aspects of autism. If you shun most contact from other humans, you are less likely to have your food stolen by other humans. You are less likely to contract disease from other humans. You are less likely to be thought of as weird as fuck and beaten to death with a rock by other humans. Not only that but you are less dependent on other people for sustenance and shelter. If you do not like to be around and interact with other people you learn to survive on your own, or you die. But what about reproduction?
This crosses with the argument for how homosexuality has survived on a genetic level. It seems to fly in the face of everything evolution stands for, which is passing on your DNA to the next generation and ensuring the survival of your genetic material through banging someone of the opposite sex. Interestingly it is thought that the genes which cause homosexuality in men, cause increased promiscuity in women, and possibly vice versa. Basically if you were a true homo-erectus, it probably meant you also had a dozen brothers or sisters whereas everyone else only had a few. Although your genes may not survive through you, they will survive several times over because your mom was a massive slut.
That might not be the case with autism of course. It could just be as likely that even raging spergs of times gone by managed to club the odd lone berry-picker around the head and have their 7 seconds of forcey-fun-time.
Then again maybe the answer is simpler. Cancer for example can never be eradicated entirely. It is not a 'disease' in the usual sense. It isn't caused by a virus, bacteria, parasite, or your dear mother knocking back shots of tequila while pregnant. It occurs like the flip of a coin (almost literally, the chance of developing cancer in your lifetime is nearly 1 in 2 these days). Cells replicate and sometimes mistakes are made, thus cancer is born. Of course things contribute to the likelihood of developing cancer, such as smoking, but you can never completely avoid it as it boils down to pure statistics.
Maybe just like cancer, autism is always one simple random nudge of a nucleotide in the womb away from all of us. Entirely unpredictable. Completely unavoidable.
To summarize: Autism is with us today because it probably conferred some benefit to humans in the past, and it probably isn't something you can 'cure'. Will it continue to be so in future? Dunno. The high functioning and savant level autists, sure, but the Sonic fans? May God have mercy on us all.
The thing that get's me about these Autist right's group is how against testing for autism in the womb they are. That's not fucking eugenics that's not forcing a couple to a lifelong commitment of raising a disabled child.
I think a lot of that attitude comes from communication impairment and enabling by manipulative self-dxer scum; they can't find a reasonable way to say that their voices should matter, as people with autism supporting a movement for autism, without being told to shut the fuck up, stifled under fearmongering about vaccines, or outright silenced, by "superior" neurotypicals. Self-diagnosing teenage girls and immature manipulative SJW fucks help their special snowflake complex or rather enable it altogether under the pretense that it'll bolster the movement, which all makes for this warped picture of how actual autistic people want to be treated. Which from the reality I know is like normal people with reasonable compensation for any quirks we may have, not special snowflakes who think their feelings should matter first to everyone.
The thing that get's me about these Autist right's group is how against testing for autism in the womb they are. That's not fucking eugenics that's not forcing a couple to a lifelong commitment of raising a disabled child.
That, and it's incredibly self-defeating. They want autistic children to have better living conditions and support, but they also want them to be born to parents that are not willing or well-equipped to raise them.
The only internal logic here is Increase The Autism.
To be fair, the only way that autism can be treated effectively is with consistent therapy. Though since it's on a spectrum, people need different therapy. It's a case-by-case basis kind of thing.
I'm surprised that Chris hasn't complained about this yet.
I think that there should be more accommodations for autism and asperger's certainly. There are extreme people on each side (anti-vaccers and autistic separatists) so one has to tread carefully.
The thing that get's me about these Autist right's group is how against testing for autism in the womb they are. That's not fucking eugenics that's not forcing a couple to a lifelong commitment of raising a disabled child.
Ugh, I don't know. I don't agree with aborting kids with manageable disabilities like autism or Down's syndrome. I think it's more understandable to diagnose for it so that their parents can handle all of the shit that's coming up. I honestly would have no problem adopting a disabled child, after all.
Wow - this thread was started and went 11 pages while I was out.
Anyway, as I see it: (1) Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) themselves are disabilities, but it doesn't automatically mean a victim is crazy or worth less than neurotypical people, and (2) there's stuff people on the spectrum do that's OK or not OK in the end.
For example, there's nothing inherently wrong with a person with an ASD having an interest in trains. However, there's definitely something wrong with being obsessed with trains to the point of being a foamer who steals train parts and impersonates railroad officials.
