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Asa person with autism, it is easy for me to understand how animals think because my thinking processes are like an animal's. this is either trite (in that all

Asa person with autism, it is easy for me to understand how animals think because my thinking processes are like an animal's. this is either trite (in that all humans are animals), or an extremely bold claim indeed.

robotresearcher 9y ago
That's her thing. She has made a living consulting on animal behaviour for the design of animal handling processes such as slaughterhouses. She was good at it and people valued her insight into small details that would bother the animals. She also writes about her experience being autistic and her ideas about cognition from her unusual perspective. I have met her and had a chance to chat, have lunch, etc, and hear her give a technical talk on designing animal handling systems. She's very smart, competent and confident. Her autism makes her quite a strange person to hang out with. Her overly bold statements and confidence could be part of that, but it's not so unusual for professors, writers and similar types to behave that way. But she honestly believes she is missing some of the particular human stuff, while still being very bright, and thus has unusual intuition into non-human animal cognition. It's hard to provide evidence for this, of course. In summary: not trite at all, but indeed a bold, interesting and controversial claim. (Edit, caveat: I last met her 19 years ago and have not kept up with her work since)
- throraway10312 9y ago
  I think it's no coincidence she specifically works on animals in /captivity/, her public talks basically start with how she was "broken in" like a wild animal as a child having to learn to act like a "normal" person.
  - nerdponx 9y ago
    I always assumed that her objective in working with captive and doomed-for-slaughter animals is that they're the biggest opportunities for mitigating harm. Not sure where I got that idea, maybe just guilt over not being vegan myself.
    - robotresearcher 9y ago
      Another simple explanation is that there is a large industry around domestic animals, with consulting opportunities that don't exist for wild animals. I don't doubt that improving welfare is important to Grandin, though.
camhenlin 9y ago
If you read many of her writings, she tends to make out what is commonly thought of as a disability as a sort of super power. Very lucky of her to have a great support system and find an excellent niche though.
- throraway10312 9y ago
  I'm not sure she is so well adapted as the media as made her out to be (physically) considering she is on antidepressants.

robotresearcher 9y ago

That's her thing. She has made a living consulting on animal behaviour for the design of animal handling processes such as slaughterhouses. She was good at it and people valued her insight into small details that would bother the animals. She also writes about her experience being autistic and her ideas about cognition from her unusual perspective. I have met her and had a chance to chat, have lunch, etc, and hear her give a technical talk on designing animal handling systems. She's very smart, competent and confident. Her autism makes her quite a strange person to hang out with. Her overly bold statements and confidence could be part of that, but it's not so unusual for professors, writers and similar types to behave that way. But she honestly believes she is missing some of the particular human stuff, while still being very bright, and thus has unusual intuition into non-human animal cognition. It's hard to provide evidence for this, of course. In summary: not trite at all, but indeed a bold, interesting and controversial claim. (Edit, caveat: I last met her 19 years ago and have not kept up with her work since)

throraway10312 9y ago
I think it's no coincidence she specifically works on animals in /captivity/, her public talks basically start with how she was "broken in" like a wild animal as a child having to learn to act like a "normal" person.
- nerdponx 9y ago
  I always assumed that her objective in working with captive and doomed-for-slaughter animals is that they're the biggest opportunities for mitigating harm. Not sure where I got that idea, maybe just guilt over not being vegan myself.
  - robotresearcher 9y ago
    Another simple explanation is that there is a large industry around domestic animals, with consulting opportunities that don't exist for wild animals. I don't doubt that improving welfare is important to Grandin, though.

camhenlin 9y ago

If you read many of her writings, she tends to make out what is commonly thought of as a disability as a sort of super power. Very lucky of her to have a great support system and find an excellent niche though.

throraway10312 9y ago
I'm not sure she is so well adapted as the media as made her out to be (physically) considering she is on antidepressants.