A good friend flagged this on FB. It is a fascinating article. Its core thesis is explained as follows:
Given that autism is so often characterised in terms of a lack of empathy, an inability to comprehend those around us, it is unsurprising that the condition has begun to take on importance within narratives of the social brain. . . . autism offers a pure case of human-minus-social. . . . Thus, the social hole in autism is actually a window to the soul. This, I believe, is how autism has come to stand at the centre of what it means to be human.
This is the basic view explored in an intriguing context by Simon Baron-Cohen. Reading this latest statement of the orthodox position triggered me to look back at evidence that suggests that the deficit of the autistic spectrum may not be accurately captured simply by the concept ‘lack of empathy.’ It might be better to suggest that those diagnosed may be so over-stimulated by contact with people that they shut down. Markram et al, for example, argue:
We propose that the core pathology of the autistic brain may be hyper-reactivity and hyper-plasticity of local neuronal circuits. On a perceptual and cognitive level, this excessive functioning of neuronal circuits may lead to an intensely perceived world, which may turn aversive if the amygdaloid complex is also affected. Many of the observed neuropathologies can be viewed as a consequence of hyper- reactive and hyper-plastic neural circuits, while many of the autistic symptoms may be re-interpreted in the light of an aversively intense world.’
I need to take a more careful look at all this again, I think. Below is the introduction: for the full post see link.
Gregory Hollin is a researcher at Nottingham University’s Institute for Science and Society whose work explores changing perceptions of autism, both scientific and cultural. He recently wrote a superb essay for the anthropology website Somatosphere which looked at the relationship between the rise of autism as a cultural phenomenon and changing scientific conceptions of human nature and of the ‘social’, and at how these changes have led to the view of ‘the social hole in autism’ as ‘a window to the soul’. My thanks to Greg, and to Somatosphere, for allowing me to republish the essay on Pandaemonium.
If a person decides to immerse himself in the Total Perspective Vortex and disable all his perception filters, then social interaction does indeed tend to over stimulate the psyche and cause sensory or should I say social overload. Maybe in that state, just to lie back and engage in introspection is tantamount to a full-blown trip on DMT!
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