Interesting article on Autism

LINK

Still doesn't convince me that screaming flappers should be allowed to disrupt any environment they enter, but the measured way the article was written made it easier to read through and understand.

I read recently that part of the explanation why Homo Sapiens exist today and Neanderthals, who Homo Sapiens interacted with and potentially bred with, do not, is that Homo Sapiens had (have) better cooperation skills. Cooperation and interaction with others is key to society from soup to nuts. In tribal systems, each individual has to pull their weight to hunt, gather, cook, raise children, maintain shelters, etc. You couldn't wander off for 72 hours to inventory leaves without getting eaten by something or left behind. Therefore, selection for gregarious "neuro-typical" types we see today won the genetic race. Today, obviously, I can't get a fucking latte without interaction and cooperation with the barista. Our nature is still selecting for the outgoing cooperators.

So yeah, perhaps Autism IS rooted in our ancient history and our DNA. It still crops up but the dominant trait is to NOT be on the spectrum. Those people are the ones that win at natural selection. At the risk of sounding completely insensitive, can we please stop celebrating a genetic failure that pollutes our gene pool? Personally, I don't give a shit what happens to the human race either way because I have chosen not to breed, but seriously, Darwin wants the Autards gone.

Sorry if I offend, I'm having a lousy day dealing with a painful injury.

I do wonder about the long-term effects of encouraging reproduction among those who cannot reproduce naturally or who could not stay alive without modern medicine. I don't mean a single intervention, like removing a diseased appendix, but requiring sustained treatment for congenital defects. As one of these people, I think I shouldn't be breeding...if not for the sake of the fitness of people in a million years, at least for the unpleasant future my offspring would face if we reverted to a pre-modern society as we seem intent on doing.

As someone who wants to live I think it's nice that we don't bash someone's head in for being a little sickly. But I wish others in this situation would recognize that we won't always live in a time of artifical surplus. If your genes suck at keeping you alive, keep them to yourself. If they don't let you reproduce, there's a reason for it.