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Checking out a conspiracy theory.

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Were Any of Your Parents or Grandparents in the Military?
No military parent or grandparent, I am NT. 5%  5%  [ 1 ]
One or more military parent/grandparent, I am NT. 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
No military parent or grandparent, I am Autie/Aspie. 21%  21%  [ 4 ]
One or more military parent/grandparent, I am Autie/Aspie. 58%  58%  [ 11 ]
Other (please explain). 16%  16%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 19

SPCDavid
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18 Sep 2008, 2:47 pm

claire333 wrote:
Both of my parents were in the military (I suspect they are both aspie). When I was in high school, the Army gave us our PSATs and some other sort of career aptitude test. They hounded me for months at school and home to enlist. I thought they were doing it to everyone but found out there were just a few in my class they were after. Neither of my parents thought it was a good idea for me, so I declined. I have an online friend with an aspie child and her child was also hounded by the military in high school. She wonders if it has something to do with choosing people who are succeptible to remove viewing...but that's her theory, not mine.


They might've hounded you if you weren't effectively communicating your lack of interest. Think about it, a lot of us tent to convey a sense of uncertianty, especially when talking to strangers. Those recruiters are really good at picking up on the one's who seem unsure, those ore usually the ones who end up enlisting.



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18 Sep 2008, 4:05 pm

My great grandfather was a soldier (became unemployed when his side lost in the 1910s), technically my father and grandfather served in th military if military service counts (universal conscription in my country - arguably I myself served for one day). My country's military (not UK) is sufficiently poor and low-tech that I'm pretty sure it doesn't do any experiments to create perfect soldiers or any other experiments (well, maybe checking how long a human being can survive on ramen alone before deserting).
I'm sure AS exists in Iceland and Costa Rica, which don't even have a military...


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18 Sep 2008, 4:39 pm

While I suspect there is no truth behind this theory, I think some of you are too eager in your dismissiveness.

Fnord mentioned hardly any details about this conspiracy theory in his post; there was certainly nothing in his original post about tests to create “perfect aspie soldiers”. (That would be kind of laughable, I admit.) I think it is more likely that this conspiracy theory, whatever it is, has its roots in (among other things, perhaps) the true story of the secret mind-control “LSD tests” MI6 carried out on British soldiers (without their consent) in the 1950s.

You can read about these at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/feb/24/military.past

Also, I’ve observed that many aspies seem to have a negative reaction upon being presented with pretty much any new theories they hear about the origin of their disability. Well, I can understand this. There are certainly plenty of theories out there. It is a strange feeling knowing one’s freakish neurological wiring can be the object of so much speculation. But I don’t have any definite answers for why I’m the way I am. I wouldn’t dismiss out of hand environmental explanations for the increased prevalence of autism.

But I think Macbeth makes a good point about the worldwide prevalence of autism. If there were merely one particular country or region that had shown a huge autism increase compared with others, that would raise some questions, but I don’t know of any (apart from Silicon Valley maybe!). Does anybody else?



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18 Sep 2008, 4:51 pm

SPCDavid wrote:
They might've hounded you if you weren't effectively communicating your lack of interest. Think about it, a lot of us tent to convey a sense of uncertianty, especially when talking to strangers. Those recruiters are really good at picking up on the one's who seem unsure, those ore usually the ones who end up enlisting.


You may be right...I finally had to be rude to get them to leave me alone. Maybe by trying to be polite, I gave the impression of uncertainty.



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18 Sep 2008, 5:15 pm

codarac wrote:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/feb/24/military.past

This is a 'conspiracy theory' that is really true, right?

Quote:
But I think Macbeth makes a good point about the worldwide prevalence of autism. If there were merely one particular country or region that had shown a huge autism increase compared with others, that would raise some questions, but I don’t know of any (apart from Silicon Valley maybe!). Does anybody else?

How about greenhouse gas emissions? :P


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codarac
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18 Sep 2008, 5:28 pm

greenblue wrote:
codarac wrote:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/feb/24/military.past

This is a 'conspiracy theory' that is really true, right?


Yes. :P

greenblue wrote:
Quote:
But I think Macbeth makes a good point about the worldwide prevalence of autism. If there were merely one particular country or region that had shown a huge autism increase compared with others, that would raise some questions, but I don’t know of any (apart from Silicon Valley maybe!). Does anybody else?

How about greenhouse gas emissions? :P


I'm not sure what you mean.
Are you suggesting greenhouse gas emissions as an environmental factor in the increased prevalence of autism?
If so, I personally doubt that's a factor.

But I'm interested in the links other chemicals (modern chemicals I mean, eg aspartame) might have with various brain disorders (not just Aspergers Syndrome).



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18 Sep 2008, 5:41 pm

codarac wrote:
Fnord mentioned hardly any details about this conspiracy theory in his post; there was certainly nothing in his original post about tests to create “perfect aspie soldiers” ... Also, I’ve observed that many aspies seem to have a negative reaction upon being presented with pretty much any new theories they hear about the origin of their disability.

Those are two of the reasons that I did not include any details of my friend's conspiracy theory. Another is that it is so convoluted and far-fetched that ... well ... it's just too danged long.


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18 Sep 2008, 5:46 pm

People who were in the military in my family:

My father --
His father
My other grandmother
My other grandfather

I would PM you weird stories about my dad's experience in the military if you'd like sometime.
You might find them interesting.



claire-333
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18 Sep 2008, 5:51 pm

Fnord wrote:
Those are two of the reasons that I did not include any details of my friend's conspiracy theory.


I'd still be interested in reading it. I like conspiracy theories...spices things up.

As for the as aspartame and saccharine mentioned above...I never touched the stuff while pregnant, nor did I let my kids consume it when they were young. My obstetrician told me I could not have artifical sweetners. I figured if they could not have it when they were inside me, then they could not have it when they were out either.