Thoughts on Aspergers and the Future.

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Wintermute
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21 Jul 2009, 4:11 pm

This is a very random collection of thoughts that I have decided to post here.

Life is...very strange.

Aspergers is a difficult condition to live with, both offline and online, I've seen many troubled fellows with Aspergers.

I remember one topic on here, about 6 months ago, it was posted by a NT. Telling us we were all acting high and mighty; that we lived in the acclaimed ivory tower of intellectualism. This is an oft quoted mistake of NT's, I did not climb up that tower, I was born in it. Methods established by pompous idiots to talk down to those they see below them became the easiest way to communicate for me.

The same thread also talked about another thing that comes up in discussion frequently, the evolution of aspergics.

Evolution 101: There is no such thing as evolution. There is mutation, and with continued mutation, if it proves successful, is called Evolution. This is the same as weather; there is no weather, there is rain, snow, wind and sun, but there is no 'weather' as that is a metaphysical umbrella concept to unite different meteorological states.

Still with me? Good.

Aspergics (and many autistics) have a few general genetic traits, many of which are as visible as someone with Down's Syndrome.

1. The face;

Whilst our faces and skulls are not nearly as altered as those of our down's syndrome kindred, they are altered. With little practice you can spot someone with Down's Syndrome, with more practice you can spot an Aspergic/Autistic. There is some relation of the lower jaw and skull ridges. As far as I know there have been no studies to recognize this, but they are recognizable out of practice.

2. The skin;

I have met a few people with Aspergers over the age of 40 or so. Many of these have been asked for identification whilst buying age-restricted products. Our skin seemingly looks younger and does not loose it's sponge-like effects with age quite as easily as neurotypicals. There have even been a few reported individuals who have never lost it. I 'think' the substance responcible for it is called Collogen, a sort of sponge-like material found under the skin. As it degrades, wrinkles occur.

3. Age

There is some evidence that Aspgerics live a little longer then their NT counterparts. However, as their have been so few twins (one with Aspergers, one without) there is as yet no confirmation over that.



Anyway, back to evolution; one can see Aspergerism as two distinct genetic fixes; Either;

1. Many humans accross the globe are being born with a altered genetic structure which we refer to as Aspergers/Autism.

2. Old genes are being reactivated, or others are being deactivated (or even both)


Would I say Aspergers is evolution? No, I'd say it's a mutation.

Would I say that I'm dysfunctional? No.

I see the world in ways very few people can. I've been involved in numerous projects (many of them with earlier counterparts that failed) and they have succeeded. Despite my limitations in talking to people outside of the internet, There are very few NT's as verbose as me. Yes, Asperger's took something away from me. But it gave me something infinitely more powerful and useful.

I can see patterns, the obvious...whereas most NT's just get confused. I can run rings (intellectually) around my peers, with the exception of a few more egotistical ones who rebut my thoughts and sap my self-esteem whilst never really understanding what I meant.

I grew up with an NT, I treat him like my Brother. My influence on him as changed him significantly, despite him being one of the egotistical friends I mentioned above. He's a hybrid, a cross between an Aspergic and a NT. He knows my weaknesess and counters that. He cares for me; I remember once, when I was younger; I yelled at the sky, at any God's listening. Asking why at school I was so alone. My loneiness at school was a catalyst to extreme depression, to the point of self-harm and attempts at sucide (the last of which caused a bit of damage to my stamina) He ran from his home to mine after a particular bout of self-character-assassination , about four miles, to make sure I was alright. Not a lot of people will do that. I am thankful for him.



I'm a transhumanist. I believe in the power of technology to enrich the human condition. The Internet provided a means to counter my problems with communication. I am never as talkative as I am online. Transhumanism serves as a front for one of my interests; Artificial Intelligence; did you know most commercial air planes are controlled completely by computer? That a human pilot almost never intervenes except to give the computer the 'go' signal to move onto the next thing? It's all quite fascinating.

Ahh yes, interests. Fascinating, aren't they? I've met people who are Aspergic and interested in computers, and I've also met a few who are just as interested in more exotic topics, like traffic lights. I call this particular drive that exists within us 'The Beast'.

Adhering to the Beast's commands, I find myself interested in a lot of things, but when I do not listen to it's commands (such as when I'm attempting to learn 1. Take a Neurozan.
something outside of my field of interest but needed to further my education) my Mind dries up. The Beast puts me in a sort of intellectual and emotional limbo. Nothing exists there. I forget what I have learnt (I have forgotten how to divide more times then I care to think about)

I have a specific procedure for taking my Mind to the upper levels of it's abiltites;

Neurozan is a brand of nootropic, a sort of 'smart drug' (like fish oil, but with far more ingredients). I top it off with a isomorphic drink and large amounts of caffeine. Bingo! Instant Genius.
This concludes the 5th Rant of Wintermute.

-Wintermute



Perambulator
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21 Jul 2009, 4:58 pm

That was a brilliant rant. I think you're right that Asperger's syndrome has obvious physical traits.



buryuntime
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21 Jul 2009, 5:03 pm

I really doubt there are physical traits to autism. There have been threads here about it and some people don't look younger, etc.



Callista
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21 Jul 2009, 6:47 pm

It may be more of a general tendency than differences that are predictive of Autism.

For example, autistics may look younger on average, but you couldn't tell whether somebody was autistic based on how young they look.

Kind of like: On average, people with higher incomes have more education, but you couldn't predict somebody's education level by his income level.

AS/autism is probably one of many possible phenotypes drifting around in the human population... one of the possibilities that can express itself when needed, when the environment makes it uesful. With the recent ability to support disabled individuals and need for people who are adept with technology, details, and repetition, it may become more beneficial to us as a species to start expressing the genetics that make up the autistic phenotype.


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carzak
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21 Jul 2009, 6:53 pm

Okay, I'm going to have to call you on your assertions about physical traits and aging, Wintermute. You need to provide some kind of evidence other than your own personal experience. And, no, your self-professed intellectual prowess and keen perception does not make anecdotal evidence any more reliable.



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21 Jul 2009, 7:04 pm

There have been some documented differences between AS and NT faces. It's slight, though, and not enough to be diagnostic.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/10/2

There's some people who are looking into using facial features for diagnosing autism. They are currently only doing it with stuff like Fragile X that we can already tell by looking, though.

..here's a variant of autism that apparently has specific facial features common to it:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_h ... ntent;col1


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21 Jul 2009, 7:39 pm

I tend to compare myself to a more normal looking Downs Syndrome person, certainly my social intelligence is comparable to a Downs person. People come here and write that AS has so much in common with bipolar, ADD, schizoid, schizotypal or whatever but to me, it has the most in common with Downs.

I also think it's can be 'read' on a person quite easily, that's how they single us out - bad posture, poor voice tone, unfocussed gaze and 'flat' effect facially. Not to mention the air around one - people often make the statement "There's something about you", I've heard that one all my life.



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22 Jul 2009, 8:31 am

Wintermute wrote:
There is no such thing as evolution. There is mutation, and with continued mutation, if it proves successful, is called Evolution.


Uh...

Perhaps you should spend a few moments pondering the nature of words before you tackle evolution.



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22 Jul 2009, 12:00 pm

Wintermute wrote:

Evolution 101: There is no such thing as evolution. There is mutation, and with continued mutation, if it proves successful, is called Evolution. This is the same as weather; there is no weather, there is rain, snow, wind and sun, but there is no 'weather' as that is a metaphysical umbrella concept to unite different meteorological states.

Still with me? Good.



Evolution is as real as rain. Since the change to a population can only be traced over considerable periods of time Evolution cannot be observed the same way as a sequence of short-lived events. It is like the movement of glaciers. It can only be perceived over rather extended time intervals. There is as much empirical evidence for evolution (by Natural Selection) as there is for the existence atoms. No one has ever seen an atom nor can anyone ever see an atom (they are too small for the human eye to resolve). Indirect evidence overwhelming supports the existence atoms and other indirect evidence overwhelmingly supports evolution by natural selection.

ruveyn



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22 Jul 2009, 12:25 pm

Wintermute wrote:
2. The skin;

I have met a few people with Aspergers over the age of 40 or so. Many of these have been asked for identification whilst buying age-restricted products. Our skin seemingly looks younger and does not loose it's sponge-like effects with age quite as easily as neurotypicals. There have even been a few reported individuals who have never lost it. I 'think' the substance responcible for it is called Collogen, a sort of sponge-like material found under the skin. As it degrades, wrinkles occur.


2



I'm going to have to burst your bubble on being asked for ID as evidence of youthful appearance. It isn't, really. It's evidence that the person asking for the ID would rather go through the 1 minute ritual of ID even for somebody obviously over the age than risk getting in some sort of trouble with their boss. I get asked for ID routinely despite my gray hair and wrinkles- which are normal in a person nearing 50. I get asked for ID routinely because it's a routine. Not a single person who asks me for it actually thinks I am anywhere near 30, let alone 21.

Collagen is indeed linked to a more youthful appearance. There are some people who have more of it than others. Are some of these people Aspies? Some are, most aren't. Collagen is linked to skin color, not neurology. The darker your skin, the more collagen you will have and the longer you can ward off wrinkles. White people wrinkle sooner because of UV damage. The collagen degrades. It has nothing to do with AS or NT.



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23 Jul 2009, 8:28 am

There is no pizza. There is only dough, sauce, cheese and pepperoni. If these things are put together successfully, it is called a pizza.



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23 Jul 2009, 9:18 pm

This fellow transhumanist thinks this is an excellent essay! :D


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