How autism drives human invention with Simon Baron-Cohen
The Science and Cocktails Foundation
25,704 views
Is there a link between autism and invention? Is autism a unitary condition? Is autism more common in regions of the world that are rich in STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics)? Is autism genetic? Is autism a disorder, a disease, a difference, or a disability?
70,000 to 100,000 years ago, there was a cognitive revolution in the brain, transforming the behaviour of Homo Sapiens such that today we dominate the planet. The Systemizing Mechanism allowed our species alone to search for if-and-then patterns in the world, enabling generative invention; and the Empathy Circuit allowed our species alone to imagine the thoughts and feelings of others, enabling complex social interaction, including deception and self-reflection.
The archaeological record provides some of the evidence for the evolution of these two new engines in the mind and cognitive neuroscience is pinpointing their neural basis. But 3 studies also demonstrate a link between the autistic mind and the capacity for invention.
First, big data shows that those who work in STEM have a higher number of autistic traits. Second, areas of the planet which are enriched for parents who work in STEM have higher rates of autism among their children. Finally, genome wide association studies reveal that the genetic common variants associated with strong systemizing overlap with those associated with autism, suggesting the link between autism and invention lies in our DNA.
Society owes a huge debt to autistic people for the contribution that their genes have played in driving the evolution of human progress, and yet autistic people are excluded from society at multiple levels, including education and employment, and resulting in their poor mental health. It is time to redress this, through autism-friendly educational and occupational practice. Simon Baron-Cohen explains.
Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College. In 1985, Baron-Cohen formulated the mind-blindness theory of autism, the evidence for which he collated and published in 1995. In 1997, he formulated the fetal sex steroid theory of autism, the key test of which was published in 2015. He has also made major contributions to the fields of typical cognitive sex differences, autism prevalence and screening, autism genetics, autism neuroimaging, autism and technical ability, and synaesthesia.
Baron-Cohen was awarded the 1990 Spearman Medal from the BPS, the McAndless Award from the American Psychological Association, the 1993 May Davidson Award for Clinical Psychology from the BPS, and the 2006 presidents' Award from the BPS. He was awarded the Kanner-Asperger Medal in 2013 by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Autismus-Spektrum as a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to autism research. Baron-Cohen was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to autistic people. He is also the author of many books including "The essential difference" and "Pattern seekers: how autism drives human invention".
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20 Comments
Those not struggling with a lot of support needs probably still have hidden areas of struggle, and getting a proper understanding of themselves through proper diagnosis isn't a bad idea. Realizing the truth about myself and stepping into my identity has been extremely impactful for me as a teacher. I lean into advocating for my autistic students, recognizing now that I am like them. I'm truly enjoying this new understanding in my approach to teaching music.
however...There are currently a lot of obstacles to my getting the formal assessment. Insurance doesn't cover it, and I live in an area without much understanding of autism in adult women. My adult son is formally diagnosed, and after years of rigorous study, I see myself as clearly like him.
Baron-Cohen argumenta que esse mecanismo evoluiu há cerca de 70.000 a 100.000 anos e examina exemplos arqueológicos, como joias, arco e flecha, e instrumentos musicais, para ilustrar como a lógica "se e então" estava envolvida na invenção.
Além disso, ele introduz a ideia de um circuito de empatia no cérebro, que não apenas explica como fazemos invenções, mas também por que as fazemos. A empatia permitiu o desenvolvimento de habilidades sociais complexas, como a comunicação referencial.
Finalmente, ele explora a relação entre o autismo e a invenção, observando que muitos inventores famosos exibiram traços autistas e que as pessoas que trabalham em STEM tendem a ter mais traços autistas. Isso sugere uma ligação entre aptidão para entender sistemas e traços autistas.
Em resumo, o vídeo explora como a capacidade de invenção humana está relacionada com mecanismos cerebrais de sistematização e empatia, com evidências sugerindo que traços autistas podem desempenhar um papel nessa relação.
solving that would, in my opinion, help my tribe more than anything. In fact, I beleive it could prevent some of us from taking our own life. with a 9 times population average suicide rate, any help would be welcome...
How autism drives human invention with Simon Baron-Cohen
The Science and Cocktails Foundation
25,704 views
Is there a link between autism and invention? Is autism a unitary condition? Is autism more common in regions of the world that are rich in STEM (science-technology-engineering-mathematics)? Is autism genetic? Is autism a disorder, a disease, a difference, or a disability?
70,000 to 100,000 years ago, there was a cognitive revolution in the brain, transforming the behaviour of Homo Sapiens such that today we dominate the planet. The Systemizing Mechanism allowed our species alone to search for if-and-then patterns in the world, enabling generative invention; and the Empathy Circuit allowed our species alone to imagine the thoughts and feelings of others, enabling complex social interaction, including deception and self-reflection.
The archaeological record provides some of the evidence for the evolution of these two new engines in the mind and cognitive neuroscience is pinpointing their neural basis. But 3 studies also demonstrate a link between the autistic mind and the capacity for invention.
First, big data shows that those who work in STEM have a higher number of autistic traits. Second, areas of the planet which are enriched for parents who work in STEM have higher rates of autism among their children. Finally, genome wide association studies reveal that the genetic common variants associated with strong systemizing overlap with those associated with autism, suggesting the link between autism and invention lies in our DNA.
Society owes a huge debt to autistic people for the contribution that their genes have played in driving the evolution of human progress, and yet autistic people are excluded from society at multiple levels, including education and employment, and resulting in their poor mental health. It is time to redress this, through autism-friendly educational and occupational practice. Simon Baron-Cohen explains.
Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of Trinity College. In 1985, Baron-Cohen formulated the mind-blindness theory of autism, the evidence for which he collated and published in 1995. In 1997, he formulated the fetal sex steroid theory of autism, the key test of which was published in 2015. He has also made major contributions to the fields of typical cognitive sex differences, autism prevalence and screening, autism genetics, autism neuroimaging, autism and technical ability, and synaesthesia.
Baron-Cohen was awarded the 1990 Spearman Medal from the BPS, the McAndless Award from the American Psychological Association, the 1993 May Davidson Award for Clinical Psychology from the BPS, and the 2006 presidents' Award from the BPS. He was awarded the Kanner-Asperger Medal in 2013 by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Autismus-Spektrum as a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to autism research. Baron-Cohen was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to autistic people. He is also the author of many books including "The essential difference" and "Pattern seekers: how autism drives human invention".
For more cool science visit:
• Website: https://www.scienceandcocktails.org
• Facebook: Facebook: scienceandcocktailscph
• Youtube: sciencecocktails
• Instagram: Instagram: scienceandcocktailsglobal
I was talking to someone the other day and he mentioned his frustration that an autistic colleague of his wasn't higher placed in the company because the colleague was always the one finding problems, finding solutions and basically one of the best people there. It's only because he struggles with the social 'rules' when dealing with office social/political environment (he lacks the 'brown nosing' skills to get further).
Personally I also was diagnosed with ADHD (which is how they also picked up on the Autism). Once that was under control with medication my ability to see problems, see solutions and also my ability absorb/retain information became far more evident. Within a few short months I learned a CAD package, realized it wasn't right for me, learned a new package in a day and regularly am able to rapidly design solutions for all sorts of things.
I can fully understand and comprehend how and why autism quite probably drove human invention and advancement. Thank you for this lecture, it's given me yet another reason why I'm proud to be a member of the Autistic community and a massive, heartfelt thank you to Dr Baron-Cohen for his research!