Autism may be the price of human intelligence

by mmaiaon 9/28/2025, 9:31 PMwith 2 comments

by jleyankon 9/28/2025, 10:58 PM

Not sure what you consider "moved the needle for human civilization", but there's important physicists who didn't fit the on-the-spectrum diagnosis. Newton, yeah, but there's various 20th century people more well-rounded. Halley, who "tended" to Newton in some ways, fits the well-rounded description.

I never studied philosophy or philosophers, but I suspect the most well-known of that group, or of significant religions persuasion were more charismatic. Not that they were nice people, but they had to be outgoing to be remembered.

by nis0son 9/28/2025, 9:43 PM

Invalidated hypothesis, but I sincerely believe that anyone who has ever done anything remotely meaningful which moved the needle for human civilization, or developing our collective consciousness, was autistic or at least neurodivergent.