[Lammy]

> it could indicate that at least mild Autism is a beneficial adaptation

Not picking on you or your post, but it's interesting that we still consider this an adaptation. What if this is humanity's natural state and allistics are the adaptation?

[solarmist]

I think you meant this tongue in cheek, but this seems highly unlikely.

The neocortex handles rational thinking and reasoning, so an increased reliance on it would put autism further from evolutionary predecessors. Also, you would expect the ratios of allistics:autistic to be reversed as well.

Also, as a mildly autistic person, I don't believe autism would be a beneficial trait in the wild. I would probably be fine, but some of my tendencies would lessen my likelihood of survival.

[PeterisP]

If that would be the case, then it would also then manifest in behavioral traits of non-human primates, since they would not yet have this relatively recent adaptation.

[solarmist]

I'll bet it does. We don't have a generic description of what autism means yet. I'm sure what we describe as autism is a cluster of differences.

So it's hard to imagine what it would look like in other primates.

Like these[1] loners in slime mold colonies. We don't even know if these kinds of variation are common or not. Autism-like variations might be like this or it could be human specific.

[1] https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/slime-molds-sh...

[wavegeek]

> allistics are the exception?

Actually this seems unlikely given the sequence of evolution. But...

Here is a spoof of Allistic Spectrum Disorder imagined as if it affected a small minority of people (trigger warning for those obsessed with status).

From [nonexistent] DSM-VI: Hyper-Social (Allistic) Spectrum Disorder

HSSD is a syndrome in which there is an over-focus on social phenomena at the expense of other aspects of the world. Contrast with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, which is in many ways the opposite.

Diagnosis: Any 5 of the following are present:

Inability to express self clearly; use of ambiguous and vague language; discomfort with clear language

Obsessive interest in knowing personal details of acquaintances or strangers e.g. celebrities, or even fictional characters

Unfounded belief in being able to read other people's minds, in particular to know if someone is lying or not.

Difficulty in thinking in a systematic logical way, e.g. to do math or program computers

Tendency to try to bend and stretch rules for no obvious reason. Discomfort with accurately following instructions and processes.

Forms beliefs based on the opinions of others rather than on facts and evidence Tendency to affiliate with groups and to align all opinions to the group

Frequently lies, mostly for social convenience (studies suggest 3-5 times a day)

Preoccupied with social status and “looking the part”

Focus on status symbols, and symbols of virtue and group affiliation

Focus on appearances more than underlying reality

Intolerance of diversity of opinion

Intolerance towards people who do not have HSSD

Spends large amounts of time on shallow “social” activities with little actual content. May lead to destructive activities such as substance abuse e.g. alcohol, and over-eating.

Lack of interest in mastering difficult, especially technical, subjects in depth Tendency to stare into people's eyes, and to believe that this gives great insight into the other person's mind. Usually unaware that this can create discomfort in the other person.

Tendency to think that staring into people's eyes demonstrates trustworthiness.

[lazyasciiart]

Interesting thought. Are autistic traits also seen in animals?

[greyface-]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_model_of_autism