Autism and Evolution (Installment #1)

Where do our expectations for one another (and ourselves) come from? I often see social media posts challenging standards for women, claiming that the media negatively influences our perception of feminine beauty and womanhood. There currently isn’t as much conversation regarding the portrayal of men in a negative or expectant way, but it certainly does happen as well. We all seem to notice that certain physiques or personality types are lauded as ideal or more advantageous, but the archetypes don’t change despite our complaints and calls for more diverse representation.

My question is: “Why”? Dr. Leon Festinger, an American social psychologist, attempted to answer this question with the social comparison theory. The social comparison theory states that humans naturally compare themselves to one another to determine what behaviors or attributes are correct to possess. I believe this ties into theories of physical attractiveness discussed by evolutionary psychologists, such as the bilateral symmetry of features and bone structure. Our genetic drive to reproduce viable offspring causes us to value certain traits over others, which then creates the desire to resemble those that are deemed most worthy of reproducing with.

Notice the similarity in the facial structure of popular actors

These things amount to nothing more than superficial physical characteristics. I’ve begun to wonder, though, if we have started to analyze personality characteristics in this same, unconscious manner. According to evolutionary psychology, both sexes really only look for partners that are “kind, understanding, dependable, sociable, stable, and intelligent”; everything else comes down to personal preferences. Even so, I’ve noticed a trend in the personality traits displayed in successful male protagonists. I’m going to call it the “Aspie Effect.”

Characters such as Dr. Gregory House, Tony Stark, and Sherlock Holmes all fit into this model of the Aspie Effect, in my opinion. Each of these characters possesses stereotypical male Asperger’s characteristics, such as: 

• An intense interest in and extensive knowledge of a certain subject that deviates from the norm
• Difficulty with interpersonal relationship
• Use of maladaptive coping skills due to emotional difficulties
• A pretentious attitude that comes from a lack of social skills
• A reliance on others to compensate for their social deficits

We also see traits similar to these in current successful businessmen, such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. TV shows such as Silicon Valley satire this phenomenon that seems to be occurring in the tech sector. Now, we have companies intentionally recruiting individuals on the spectrum. How does this affect the majority of the population who are neurotypical?

I believe that the admiration and over-abundant portrayal of an anomaly has created unreasonable expectations for human behavior. Inadvertently, we are both increasing the occurrences of autism spectrum disorders in our population, as well as setting ourselves up for failure. We have reshaped what it means to be a successful doctor, businessman or inventor into an unattainable goal. Essentially, we are metaphorically pointing at Einstein and telling everyone to work harder to be like him if they want to be taken seriously as a scientist.

Am I saying that individuals with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s are Einsteins? Absolutely not. I am stating, however, that it is not possible for a neurotypical individual to function in the same way as a person on the autistic spectrum. Autism is a developmental difference that begins in utero, not a personality type shaped through socio-environmental factors.

Source

So how do we meet these impossible standards? I think that the abuse of stimulants such as Adderall has been society’s answer. I’ll approach that theory and what I believe it means for the way we approach medication, as well as the possibility of autism becoming the new human archetype in post #2.