3 ms·

I'm indeed seriously proposing that the majority, the so called " neurotypical people" are in fact psychotic and autistic people are those who remained healthy.

I'm indeed seriously proposing that the majority, the so called " neurotypical people" are in fact psychotic and autistic people are those who remained healthy. Inner speech is never mentioned in ancient literature. The voices and thought insertions become so deeply internalized when it strikes so early that the person completely believes this is actually how people communicate with them. It is to some degree influenced by actual events and people can always rationalize when it fails. The majority of people outside the US/Europe seems to be autistic, that is, not psychotic. Many autistic people found out they are normal in Asia.

zcid 8y ago
Interesting perspective. I do note that there are theories such as the bicameral mind that disagree about the lack of inner monologue in ancient cultures.
- PavlikPaja 8y ago
  The bicameral mind explains it somewhat bizarrely that the pople actually did hear voices, only that they always attributed them to external sources. But an autistic mind hears no voices, as one consciousness has nothing to tell to itself, as it already knows all that it knows.
feanaro 8y ago
How would this hypothesis explain the fact that people with low-functioning autism are maladapted to the environment, in the sense that they would have low chances of surviving a few thousand years ago? It seems to me that it is nearly impossible that this form would be naturally selected, unless current levels of dietary iron were always common and are therefore not excessive to begin with.
- PavlikPaja 8y ago
  There has been selection towards autism and low functioning autism may even be something else. Anyway, large part of it will be because of growing up among "normal" people. Maybe that (low functioning) autistic people would have no trouble using a langauge, it just wouldn't be the same as our languages. You can see it even with high functioning autism who sound odd (as, among possibly other things, tone is heard with the word, while as far as I understand it, neurotypical people hear tone as something completely separate)
taneq 8y ago
(Sorry for the delay in responding - I wrote this ages ago and just found it!) Thanks for your answer, that's an interesting way to look at it! And certainly no one brain type is 'right' or 'wrong', they just work best in different environments. I'm not sure about your perception about the prevalence of autism outside of the USA and Europe. This list suggests rates inside the U.S. are higher than basically anywhere else, although diagnosis might be different in other countries: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highest-rates-of-autism.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highe... I know a fairly large number of people from various Asian countries and none of them display what I'd consider typical autistic traits. I must admit I haven't asked any of them about inner monologues.
- PavlikPaja 8y ago
  A huge part of the autistic traits comes from the fact that others are too different and won't show up when you are not being ostracized.

zcid 8y ago

Interesting perspective. I do note that there are theories such as the bicameral mind that disagree about the lack of inner monologue in ancient cultures.

PavlikPaja 8y ago
The bicameral mind explains it somewhat bizarrely that the pople actually did hear voices, only that they always attributed them to external sources. But an autistic mind hears no voices, as one consciousness has nothing to tell to itself, as it already knows all that it knows.

feanaro 8y ago

How would this hypothesis explain the fact that people with low-functioning autism are maladapted to the environment, in the sense that they would have low chances of surviving a few thousand years ago? It seems to me that it is nearly impossible that this form would be naturally selected, unless current levels of dietary iron were always common and are therefore not excessive to begin with.

PavlikPaja 8y ago
There has been selection towards autism and low functioning autism may even be something else. Anyway, large part of it will be because of growing up among "normal" people. Maybe that (low functioning) autistic people would have no trouble using a langauge, it just wouldn't be the same as our languages. You can see it even with high functioning autism who sound odd (as, among possibly other things, tone is heard with the word, while as far as I understand it, neurotypical people hear tone as something completely separate)

taneq 8y ago

(Sorry for the delay in responding - I wrote this ages ago and just found it!) Thanks for your answer, that's an interesting way to look at it! And certainly no one brain type is 'right' or 'wrong', they just work best in different environments. I'm not sure about your perception about the prevalence of autism outside of the USA and Europe. This list suggests rates inside the U.S. are higher than basically anywhere else, although diagnosis might be different in other countries: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highest-rates-of-autism.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highe... I know a fairly large number of people from various Asian countries and none of them display what I'd consider typical autistic traits. I must admit I haven't asked any of them about inner monologues.

PavlikPaja 8y ago
A huge part of the autistic traits comes from the fact that others are too different and won't show up when you are not being ostracized.