aspergers & computers (was: Re: [thechat] Whisky Question)

[Erika Meyer]

>Perhaps I suffer more from this than I thought:
>http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html

Strange... I thought aspergers was a form of attention deficit 
disorder... sort of an ADD/autism combo.

And I've had a theory that computers/TV aggravate ADD.

And I'm even more convinced that computers and the Internet are like 
flypaper for ADD-ers.  But I think that there is a connection between 
ADD & autism also, just like I think there's a connection between 
diabetes and alcoholism.

What they are calling "autistic" behavior here (Gate's rocking, for 
example) is relatively mild and I don't think Gates or most 
greasy-haired socially-backward hacker would be called "autistic" by 
most doctors.

I think the nature/nurture thing is much more intertwined than most 
people assume.  It's well known that the human brain develops long 
after a child is born, in response to outside stimuli.

The computer/TV urban manufactured environments are so different, and 
so new.  It's no surprise to me that new brain "disorders" become 
more and more common.

But then again, I'm not sure how much of this is really about 
"disorders."  It seems like our society has pretty rigid ideas about 
what "normal" is.

Erika
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