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I recently came across this very interesting site by a Singaporean guy with a mild form of autism who claims to have learned to cope with his autistic tendencies and to have acquired a better understanding of social life by learning to tap into his previously hidden/undeveloped "instincts" as he calls them, through emotional therapy and Buddhist practice.
This got me thinking. As we know, everyone views the world through their unique "glasses" that could be thought to magnify some aspects of the surrounding world and to diminish others. Autists see the world through theirs and some of them are equipped with a great memory for things they obsess about, but they deal with the objects of their obsessions in a sterile, disconnected manner and these interests often don't have any practical application. It seems like autists have difficulty "tuning in" to the world around them. It could be thought that they don't have access to parts of the brain that non-autistic people use to make sense of the world around them. But this guy claims it is possible for autists to discover these abilities, even at an adult age.
Now, given this is true, could it also be thought that it is theoretically possible for non-autistic people to gain access to savant abilities like those of Daniel Tammet's? I personally think that's probably the case, though it would require an undertaking which would not be feasible for most people without them having to give up on central coherence (i.e. people who "see the big picture" would not see any point in making the required effort). I think that the prevalent conception of "intelligence" as something fixed is flawed. I hold that I've never encountered a person who "has more intelligence" than me.
I also don't see why it shouldn't be possible for anyone to understand philosophy, mathematics, languages, anything at all - with the exception of severely developmentally handicapped people. The real issue is how to put these abilities into practice.
What do you think?
This got me thinking. As we know, everyone views the world through their unique "glasses" that could be thought to magnify some aspects of the surrounding world and to diminish others. Autists see the world through theirs and some of them are equipped with a great memory for things they obsess about, but they deal with the objects of their obsessions in a sterile, disconnected manner and these interests often don't have any practical application. It seems like autists have difficulty "tuning in" to the world around them. It could be thought that they don't have access to parts of the brain that non-autistic people use to make sense of the world around them. But this guy claims it is possible for autists to discover these abilities, even at an adult age.
Now, given this is true, could it also be thought that it is theoretically possible for non-autistic people to gain access to savant abilities like those of Daniel Tammet's? I personally think that's probably the case, though it would require an undertaking which would not be feasible for most people without them having to give up on central coherence (i.e. people who "see the big picture" would not see any point in making the required effort). I think that the prevalent conception of "intelligence" as something fixed is flawed. I hold that I've never encountered a person who "has more intelligence" than me.
I also don't see why it shouldn't be possible for anyone to understand philosophy, mathematics, languages, anything at all - with the exception of severely developmentally handicapped people. The real issue is how to put these abilities into practice.What do you think?
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