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> The elephant in the room here is that within the mathematics, physics and computer science communities there are a signiﬁcant proportion of people who are “on

> The elephant in the room here is that within the mathematics, physics and computer science communities there are a signiﬁcant proportion of people who are “on the spectrum”. They lack empathy and are usually appalling teachers. If you are a student who has not “clicked” with the subject these people will never get you to a point where you understand it. Says the author without providing any piece of data or source of information. In particular - where is the data that shows there's a significant portion of peoples on the spectrum in these fields? - where's the data or source of information that proves that people on the spectrum are less empathetic? - where's the data or source of information that proves that people on the spectrum are appaling teachers? You can't launch such a statement without providing any source of information or data. Please, do good science, specially when talking about a vulnerable group.

Test0129 4y ago
It didn't take long to find sources, lmgtfy STEM and Autism: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620841/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620841/ Empathy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27246093/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27246093/ Third one is probably extracted from the last two and colored by personal experience. I would tend to agree with the author though "appalling" is a little too strong. When I had a professor who was very obviously on the spectrum the class was often difficult due to either communication issues or assumptions about student skill level. It's not a universal truth, of course, but common enough in my Math and CS classes many of them were often frustrating to take. Stereotypes are often built in reality and while the author's language was strong I don't think the greater point they are making is necessarily wrong, nor unsupported by science as you seem to suggest.
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D13Fd 4y ago
That's not a scientific statement. He's broadly characterizing a type of person he sees in the field who lacks empathy. His use of "on the spectrum" could be considered offensive (similar to "retarded"), depending on whether you read it as him calling them that or read it as him describing what they call themselves. But the problem is not "good science."
netrus 4y ago
I am with you that it would be nice to provide some sources. On the other hand, after spending time around math students, engineering students and other students and in groups for students with a talent for math, these statements are obviously true. This is not a medical paper, as indicated by the phrase "on the spectrum", but everyone how has experienced these communities knows what the author is referring to. The best math teachers are not the best mathematicians, on average. I casually googled for sources for some of these claims: These studies do exist. But even if not, I would still think it is valid to talk about this phenomena (taking into account that measuring empathy, teaching ability or mass diagnosing large student bodies are difficult research tasks).
treya 4y ago
Not only is there strong evidence for exactly that (lack of empathy) to be the case, those who work with autistic people commonly observe it. Moreover, it's now recognized that it may be related to mirror neuron development issues: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/broken-mirrors-a-theory-of-autism-2007-06/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/broken-mirrors-a-... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15993757/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15993757/

Test0129 4y ago

It didn't take long to find sources, lmgtfy STEM and Autism: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620841/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3620841/ Empathy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27246093/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27246093/ Third one is probably extracted from the last two and colored by personal experience. I would tend to agree with the author though "appalling" is a little too strong. When I had a professor who was very obviously on the spectrum the class was often difficult due to either communication issues or assumptions about student skill level. It's not a universal truth, of course, but common enough in my Math and CS classes many of them were often frustrating to take. Stereotypes are often built in reality and while the author's language was strong I don't think the greater point they are making is necessarily wrong, nor unsupported by science as you seem to suggest.

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D13Fd 4y ago

That's not a scientific statement. He's broadly characterizing a type of person he sees in the field who lacks empathy. His use of "on the spectrum" could be considered offensive (similar to "retarded"), depending on whether you read it as him calling them that or read it as him describing what they call themselves. But the problem is not "good science."

netrus 4y ago

I am with you that it would be nice to provide some sources. On the other hand, after spending time around math students, engineering students and other students and in groups for students with a talent for math, these statements are obviously true. This is not a medical paper, as indicated by the phrase "on the spectrum", but everyone how has experienced these communities knows what the author is referring to. The best math teachers are not the best mathematicians, on average. I casually googled for sources for some of these claims: These studies do exist. But even if not, I would still think it is valid to talk about this phenomena (taking into account that measuring empathy, teaching ability or mass diagnosing large student bodies are difficult research tasks).

treya 4y ago

Not only is there strong evidence for exactly that (lack of empathy) to be the case, those who work with autistic people commonly observe it. Moreover, it's now recognized that it may be related to mirror neuron development issues: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/broken-mirrors-a-theory-of-autism-2007-06/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/broken-mirrors-a-... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15993757/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15993757/