Thread by @de_bose

Considering that modern humans, due to the Neanderthal assimilation (we carry their DNA), are entirely different from the misnamed extinct pre-contact Homo sapiens, it might be time to rename the latter in order to distinguish them from us, maybe as Homo socialis.

1/N

Since the Neanderthal assimilation most Homo sapiens have retained their predominantly social nature & therefore tend to ostracise those of a predominantly individual nature who, beginning in the 1940s, are being pathologised with the label of #autism

2/N

“modern human-specific alleles that could correlate with a shift towards prosociality in modern-humans, we highlight one allele in AVPR1A (rs11174811), found at high frequency and linked to prosocial phenotypes in modern humans,…”

biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

3/N

Human progress is driven by autistic individuals because of their original thinking, lack of conformity, immunity to group dynamics & peer pressure, scepticism of authority & discontentment with the status quo

MBA: pro-social
PhD: autistic (no longer true due to dilution)

4/N

“Instead of approaching #neurodiversity conditions (#autism) as disorders, brain defects or the result of poor socialization or parenting, it claims that neurodiversity is fully functional human variation.” ~ Leif Ekblad

rdos.net/eng/asperger.h…

#Neurodiversity

5/N

In the past most people considered Neanderthals somewhat like a parody of mankind, the hillbillies of the Upper Pleistocene.

Neanderthals are never compared to their Homo sapiens contemporaries (Homo Socialis)

Today we know better - we should know better

6/N

There are many aspects of Neanderthals that are reminiscent of autism.

They preferred to live in very small groups, had a significantly larger occipital lobe which gave them greater visual & pattern-recognising abilities, & they were less social than Homo sapiens

7/N

The study of mirror neurons is still in its infancy. Mirror neurons are present in all primates and are responsible for our abilities to imitate and emphasise with others. However, in autistic persons these neurons appear to come with rationality and privacy filters. #autism

8/N

While non-autistic people tend to copy an entire action, regardless of the necessity of the individual steps, autistic people tend to leave out all steps they know to be superfluous

psychcentral.com/autism/autisti…

#Autism #autismawareness

9/N

As it is implausible that millions of autistic individuals independently develop a new type of mirror neuron, the cause must be sought in the past.

The differences are a result of separate developments after Neanderthal & Homo sapiens split from the last common ancestor.

10/N

Eye contact is considered a sign of aggression by many primates, & it is likely that this applied to the LCA and Neanderthals as well. Amongst Homo species the use of eye contact as a social tool is probably unique to Homo sapiens

#Autism #autismawareness

11/N

In #autism lacking of social nature is considered a disorder by most, it also brings with it an increased ability for independent thinking, recognition of patterns, spatial intelligence, attention to detail, focus, scepticism of authority figures, immunity to peer pressure

12/N

“autistic people were much more likely to reject the opportunity to earn ill gotten money by supporting a bad cause than were control”

Autistic folks we tend to be incorruptible (which the researchers consider a social deficit) 😂

jneurosci.org/content/41/8/1…

#Autism

13/N

From #COVID19 POV, autistic folks were more cautious to “trust” brainwash & manipulation by governments & #BigPharma.

Scientists used to be more moral & autistic. But over time, as fiat machinery kicked in, pressure to conform to a narrative infiltrated academia as well.

14/N

All those “autistic” attributes that brought mankind out of the Stone Age.

In his Solitary Forager Hypothesis the author argues that mankind would take a great leap backward if these “autistic” abilities were to disappear.

researchgate.net/publication/23…

#Autism

15/N

Pre-@facebook era was different.

As pro-sociality increased exponentially through the emotional contagion mediated by social media platforms such as FB, the “dark side” of social conformity also magnified

pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

#Autism #autismawareness

16/N

People with a high Neanderthal Quotient (NQ) are more likely to display (amongst other traits) autistic tendencies, depressive tendencies and social fear. These three have the same source.

psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/darwin…

#autism #autismawareness

17/N

Everyone is in the “spectrum”. !

Basically, our inner Neanderthal tells us to do the sensible thing while our inner Homo sapiens tells us to do what everybody else is doing or what we are told to do

sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/…

#autism #autismawareness

18/N

In fact the famous Milgram Experiment around “obedience to authority” wouldn’t work if conducted with pure autistic (functional) subjects.

#Autism #autismawareness

19/N

https://twitter.com/de_bose/status/1460516493980954629

All autistic people walk a tightrope between their desires to be their authentic selves & to be accepted. The more they have internalised society's autismophobia & consider themselves defective, the more they'll try to fit in & fulfil any social expectations

#Autism

20/N

A handful of autistic people also manage to be financially successful (usually on the backs of others; Quants/Scientists/devs) & thereby achieve acceptance despite not fitting in.

If a maverick autist has $44B for a corporate buyout, social conformity doesn’t matter

21/N

Interestingly, the story doesn’t end here :)

“We find that, consistent with the recent finding of Meyer et al. (2012), Neanderthals contributed more DNA to modern East Asians than to modern Europeans.”

academic.oup.com/genetics/artic…

#autism #autismawareness

22/N

Monastic asceticism has its roots in #autism.

“The rigorous behaviours associated with asceticism can be compared with a set of traits characteristic to the population group belonging to the autistic spectrum conditions (henceforth ASC)”

researchgate.net/publication/27…

23/N

TL;DR

Neanderthal, individualism, divergent thinking, non-obedience to authority figures, social conformity seems to be related & #autism is not a DEFECT.

From Neanderthals to Monastic Monks to revolutionary scientists - all should be celebrated, not banished as marginals.