Fumi Bankole, author of Canaan’s Labyrinth

Thanks for the pointer to the research. I’m not surprised to see that there is a neurological explanation for the relationship between autism and psychopathology — i.e., that the ratio of white matter to gray is higher than average in psychopaths and lower than average in aspies. It seems that the white matter performs a multiplexing function for the gray matter’s processing of information. It’s interesting that white matter continues to develop into middle age whereas gray matter does not. Perhaps we have here a neurological explanation for the increase of wisdom with age? (If “wisdom” is defined as ability to understand a comprehend a wider perspective of human activity.)

From twin studies of autism, it seems that such brain physiology is not entirely genetic. Perhaps there is a point in early development when some bifurcation occurs, causing white matter either to develop too fast or too slow?

As an aside, I am a person who is unusually blunt, and easily flustered in large groups. I can’t help wondering if that has to do with a white matter deficiency. I’ve not been diagnosed with Asperger’s, however.

Interstingly, Silicon Valley seems to have a higher rate of Aperger’s than the rest of the world. There is always the possibility that this is a fluctuation, but I imagine that some of this could have to do with the fact that white matter tends to develop more slowly when it isn’t regularly stimulated. In effect, all of the highly educated scientists and engineers who have spent their lives in laboratories have stunted the growth of their white matter. That doesn’t make them Asperger’s, but if you throw in how mirror neurons contribute to learning, then it might explain why so many of their children are Asperger’s — it’s because they’re not mirroring a full spectrum of affect to their children. The problem is probably exacerbated by a general lack of time and attention to the children, which is caused by the intense work environment of startups and highly competitive technology companies.

Yours in truthseeking,
Z. M. Davis

I’m a bit surprised at your puzzlement. If you read the materials from the pick-up community the mating game seems very simple:

Men go ga-ga over good looks, woman go ga-ga over high status. Seems pretty basic and simple. That really is all there is to it. Really. That’s why woman spend so much of their time trying to look good and men spend so much of their time trying to create the outward appearance of high-status. These actitivites are simply what the opposite sex responds to, and are what signal reproductive fitness.

Disclaimer: I’m not being cynical here at all, I’m merely stating a completely amoral bald fact.

I don’t really find it that interesting. I just have to note that humans seem to invest massive amounts of their time and energy playing these mating games, and I have to wonder what could be achieved if even a small fraction of all that time and energy was diverted into other pursuits.

This ‘relationship’ business must surely drain away massive amounts of time and energy that would be better spent on learning LISP or Ruby (for programming the AGI). I know for a fact that having someone else in my face all day would just drive me completely insane. It ain’t worth it. The chicks are slowing you guys down too much

Michael: Your first sentence is obviously right, but how about people who get into moral philosophy later in life? The quote says “…those that have read…”, but also “the degree or depth of your commitment“, so it’s not clear just what it is that’s not a predictor. Google turns up other references, none of which unfortunately seem to say which factors were not good predictors; nor can I find anything on personality and the Milgram experiment. Anyway, this doesn’t have much to do with the point about stereotypes of virtue and good/bad boys.

My guess is that hitting on the female posters is . . . in bad form.

I agree and do not mind that you point it out, Michael. (I hit on Sister Y about a month ago here.) My excuse is that because of chronic illness and attempts to ameliorate chronic illness, my brain occasionally “produces too much dopamine” (vast oversimplification, tentative hypothesis) which causes impulsivity and impairs social judgement.

I too find the conversation here vastly more worthwhile than most conversations and consequently worth defending.