This article reviews etiological and comparative evidence supporting the hypothesis that some heritable genes associated with the autism spectrum were naturally selected and represent the adaptive benefits of being cognitively suited for solitary foraging.

Baron-Cohen, and many who have followed him, has performed a great deal of research showing that systemizing is part of the genetic profile of autism and that the autistic spectrum is continuous with normal human variation. He has demonstrated that the parents and relatives of people with autism are good at systemizing but not very good at empathizing. He has compiled data showing that fathers and grandfathers of males with autism are twice as likely to be engineers compared to males in the general population [8]. He has also shown that students in the natural sciences have a higher number of relatives with autism than do students in the humanities [8]. Baron-Cohen and others have also shown that in Asperger’s syndrome and in high functioning autism, individuals can perform at normal or often superior levels in tasks requiring the systemization of information. People with Asperger’s performed better on his Systemizing Quotient (SQ) [40] and tests of intuitive physics [41] and can reach extremely high levels of achievement in systemizing domains, such as mathematics, physics, and computer science [42]. This has been called the “autism advantage” in popular autism advocacy. It is thought that these high functioning autistic individuals may be neurologically well suited for certain jobs that are detail oriented, repetitive, and involve the identification of technical errors [37]. A popular conceptualization of this purports the idea that quirky computer specialists working in Silicon Valley, for example, desire jobs allowing them to work alone on computing problems, tend to marry others who are high on systemizing but low on empathy, and tend to have a propensity to have children that, like them, are on the autism spectrum. Baron-Cohen pointed out that, “If systemizing talent is genetic, such genes appear to co-segregate with genes for autism [8].”

Baron-Cohen has extended his theories into the “extreme male brain theory” of autism [33]. He pointed out that women, when compared to men, are more verbal, more socially adept, and have more sophisticated capacities for empathy and theory of mind. He asserted that the differences between non-autistics and autistics could be thought of as analogous to the differences between women and men. This extreme male brain theory is fascinating, well supported, and may produce testable hypotheses. Unfortunately, the theory can be difficult to relate back to natural selection and, in its present state, may not appropriately address ultimate or evolutionary concerns. Baron-Cohen’s analogies could be expanded if one concludes that autism represents the cognitive style of an individual who is well suited for living alone. Comparing non-autistic and autistic individuals then may be more like comparing a dog (a pack animal) to a cat (a largely solitary animal) rather than comparing a woman to a man.

ScienceDaily (June 3, 2011) — Though people with autism face many challenges because of their condition, they may have been capable hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times, according to a paper published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology in May.

The autism spectrum may represent not disease, but an ancient way of life for a minority of ancestral humans, said Jared Reser, a brain science researcher and doctoral candidate in the USC Psychology Department.

Some of the genes that contribute to autism may have been selected and maintained because they created beneficial behaviors in a solitary environment, amounting to an autism advantage, Reser said.

The "autism advantage," a relatively new perspective, contends that sometimes autism has compensating benefits, including increased abilities for spatial intelligence, concentration and memory. Although individuals with autism have trouble with social cognition, their other cognitive abilities are sometimes largely intact.

The paper looks at how autism's strengths may have played a role in evolution. Individuals on the autism spectrum would have had the mental tools to be self-sufficient foragers in environments marked by diminished social contact, Reser said.

The penchant for obsessive, repetitive activities would have been focused by hunger and thirst towards the learning and refinement of hunting and gathering skills.

Today autistic children are fed by their parents so hunger does not guide their interests and activities. Because they can obtain food free of effort, their interests are redirected toward nonsocial activities, such as stacking blocks, flipping light switches or collecting bottle tops, Reser said.

Iridia skrev:Hm, ja det skulle ha varit som spårare då. Men då är det fortfarande i grupp, fast man har en särskild position i den gruppen. Något som inte är bra att ha när man ska jaga är för mycket sympati med bytet, man behöver vara som en psykopat som förstår djuret utan att bry sig om hur det känner.

Annars blir det som i filmen Powder.

lasseivägen skrev:

Iridia skrev:Hm, ja det skulle ha varit som spårare då. Men då är det fortfarande i grupp, fast man har en särskild position i den gruppen. Något som inte är bra att ha när man ska jaga är för mycket sympati med bytet, man behöver vara som en psykopat som förstår djuret utan att bry sig om hur det känner. Annars blir det som i filmen Powder.

Jag tror inte att man kan kalla en stenålderman för psykopat för att han jagar och dödar djur. Psykopatin har troligen en betydligt yngre historia.
Att jaga och lägga ner ett byte är inte enbart att spåra. Lika viktigt är att kunna läsa djurets beteende och åt vilket håll det flyr. Att kasta spjutet bara lite fel, när det skall fällas, betyder ju att hela gruppen inklusive kvinnor och barn, får vara veganer ännu en dag.

Iridia skrev:Jag tror inte man jagade ensam på stenåldern, om man inte blev enda överlevande efter någon katastrof. Det kan absolut inte ha varit en evolutionär fördel att vara introvert och solitär på den tiden.

Teorin är inte heller ny, fast då gällde det ADHD och 'jägare' mot 'farmare'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_vs._farmer_theory

lasseivägen skrev:För att inte bli för manschauvinistisk får jag väll skriva lite av vad de kvinnliga autisterna troligen bidrog med, förutom att kanske ha deltagit i jakt.
Eftersom kvinnor ofta varit hemma för att ta hand om barnen, borde deras förståelse av djur, varit viktig när det gällde ett skaffa, tämja och hålla tamboskap.

“Conceptualizing the Autism Spectrum in Terms of Natural Selection & Behavioral Ecology: The solitary forager hypothesis,”