Posted on 02/22/2008 10:44:32 AM PST by BGHater
Many leading figures in the fields of science, politics and the arts have achieved success because they had autism, a leading psychiatrist has claimed.
Michael Fitzgerald, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin, argued the characteristics linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were the same as those associated with creative genius.
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Prof Fitzgerald cited Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, George Orwell, H G Wells and Ludwig Wittgenstein as examples of famous and brilliant individuals who showed signs of ASDs including Asperger syndrome.
Beethoven, Mozart, Hans Christian Andersen and Immanuel Kant have also received post mortem diagnoses of Asperger's.
Speaking at a Royal College of Psychiatrists' Academic Psychiatry conference in London, Prof Fitzgerald said argued the link between ASD's, creativity and genius were caused by common genetic causes.
"Psychiatric disorders can also have positive dimensions. I'm arguing the genes for autism/Asperger's, and creativity are essentially the same.
"We don't know which genes they are yet or how many there are, but we are talking about multiple genes of small effect. Every case is unique because people have varying numbers of the genes involved.
"These produce people who are highly focused, don't fit into the school system, and who often have poor social relationships and eye contact. They can be quite paranoid and oppositional, and usually highly moral and ethical.
"They can persist with a topic for 20-30 years without being distracted by what other people think. And they can produce in one lifetime the work of three or four other people."
Prof Fitzgerald said traits such as a need to be dominant and in control and autistic repetitiveness were critical to the success of politicians such as Charles de Gaulle, who famously said "I am France", US president Thomas Jefferson and Enoch Powell.
Another example he said was science fiction writer H G Wells, whom he described as socially insecure, controlling, lonely, cruel and emotionally immature.
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Prof Fitzgerald reached his conclusion after comparing the characteristics of around 1,600 people he has diagnosed with ASDs and the known biographical details of famous people.
He said Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein demonstrated how many with Asperger's traits could work for long periods on topics without taking note of others' views.
Isaac Newton, he said, was known to work non-stop for three days without recognising day or night, often forgetting to eat, and Einstein worked in a patent office because he was too disruptive to get a university job.
Prof Fitzgerald's book "Genius Genes: How Asperger Talents Changed the World" was published at the end of last year,
Estimates of the prevalence of ASDs in the general population vary widely from 60-120 cases per 10,000 people.
Amanda Batten, of the National Autistic Society said: "It is important to avoid stereotypes of people with autism as geniuses or otherwise, as everyone has individual character traits, strengths and needs.
"These might include attention to detail and the ability to pursue something for long periods of time, however apparent ability in some areas may lead people to underestimate the challenges individuals face in other parts of their lives."
Or to say it another way, as Mark Twain did, "We are all ignorant, just about different things."
Because we all do. It is inescapable. We are only aware of the world through ourselves so that has to be our base. For high order mathematics the mathematician is assuming the role of such and, according to his particular value system, again one that is internalized, he is playing an intellectual game, solving an intellectual puzzle, and in that he is objective. Yet, he is being subjectively objective in that it, objectivity, conforms to his subjective values.
In other parts of his life he is probably not so objective.
Good point. If PC convention had been adhered to, FR wouldn't even be here.
Kinda had me going there, till it got to Kant. ;-`
Lingering effects?
Immanuel Kant’s reply “Immanuel can.”
Stuff and nonsense ... a few years ago, they were drafting conveniently dead people into the ranks of “ADHD sufferers”.
He was quite profoundly autistic as a little guy but seems to have outgrown most of the autistic traits. He is doing very well, socially and popular among his classmates.
I'm trying to figure out if he's flawed or if he's a designer baby and there's really no downside to his "disorder", if it really is a disorder.
The key here is the reference to “ASD”. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a hoax, a fiction. All they mean is that some people enjoy solitude and doing mechanical tasks.
Just about describes all of us, doesn't it?
That’s not what we’re objecting to. What we object to is the ridiculous idea that anyone with an exceptional talent has something “wrong” with them.
Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable
Heidegger Heidegger was a boozy begger who could think you under the table
David Hume could outconsume Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
And Renny Descartes was a drunken fart who was just as sloshed as Schlegel.
See there. Yer gettin' smarter already. lol
LOL,
now THAT is genius. Well done, sir.
Says something about my 15 year math problem besides the “geek” tag. Maybe I can get disability??
Good point! Never thought of that. However, it might be too offensive to say it.
PING
And have you ever noticed how many programmers, myself included, have dyslexia to some degree? I swear sometimes it helps. And maybe that translates into being able to look at a problem from a different angle than others do.
I think this article makes a lot of interesting points and is probably on to something. Maybe brains that function differently than what's "normal" should not be medicated into oblivion.
An interesting psychological note on this subject is an odd one. There has been speculation that, at some time in the human species’ primitive past, that to reduce risk, people evolved a technique to prevent themselves from getting either too focused, or too unfocused.
It is “talking to ourselves”, or “the internal dialogue”.
Simply put, as a safety mechanism, when the mind becomes focused or unfocused, talking to ourselves breaks up the concentration needed to continue. If focused, it unfocuses us; if unfocused, it focuses us. This keeps us from being eaten by a tiger or walking off a cliff.
From infancy, we are trained in this learned technique of talking to ourselves by every adult we meet. And in truth, in a survival situation, it works.
However, this technique actually inhibits both the attention needed to complete complex intellectual tasks, *and* the ability to become unfocused for creative and artistic “leaps” of the imagination.
Not often being chased by tigers or wandering on cliff edges these days, many other techniques have been evolved, specifically to turn *off* that noise in our heads, so that we *can* become focused or unfocused for greater lengths of time. It is an essential part of most meditations to begin by “stop talking to yourself.”
Interestingly, it can be shown that if you do develop the ability to shut off your internal dialogue for a length of time, your greater focus gives you apparently greater intelligence, solely because you can focus on a problem long enough to solve it correctly.
I say this as background to the Asperger’s “geniuses”. They might simply be people who, by dint of their autism, do not *have* an internal dialogue. They only appear to be geniuses because of their dramatically longer focus.
From personal experience, I met a “California surfer dude”, who was just the opposite. His internal dialogue was so effective that he could barely complete a sentence without being distracted. This made him appear to be an airhead.
With just a few weeks practice with a technique to control his “internal dialogue”, he appeared to have increased his IQ by 30 points. He was thrilled that for the first time in his life he could speak coherent paragraphs, *and* he could finally finish ordinary tasks, something impossible for him before, because he would be distracted.
Lots of "hard workers" out there give up too soon. Story of life in fact.
Autism and Bipolar Disorder appear to have selective value. It's just that we don't always know what the purpose is.
Similar situation involves folks who have double the normal number of genes for red cones (for color vision). Although you can sight a good looking red-head at over 10 miles, it appears you can sight well camouflaged game animals through the bush with ease.
Humanity doesn't need a lot of guys outfitted like that (thank goodness because there are a limited number of really hot redheads), but 1 out of 30 gives you the lead hunter on point to sustain the hunt to keep the tribe alive.
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