Is Technology Making Us Autistic?

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Is our technology making us autistic? Stupid? Yes. Autistic? No.

We even see it in how tech companies try to use “Big Data” to understand social behavior by customers and communities when empathy is pretty much all you need. It provides insights that data analysis won’t reveal. Lack of empathy towards others is a sign of autism.
Click to expand...
 
Autism is caused by a lot of other things. Chemicals, genetics, and who knows maybe ozone? One things for sure, communicating through your electronic device is not the root cause. If anything it's a symptom.

Making articles with headlines that's sure to get clicks is getting out of control.
 
Summary: Lack of eye contact and a lack of empathy are sure signs of autism...
Click to expand...

Actual article content: Google has meetings and people continue to use their fondle-slabs instead of paying attention to that shit.
 
I'd think so. There's a lot more painting and music available thanks to widespread technology. Even if more of us aren't becoming famous painters or playing more instruments or making sculptures, just having access to stuff like that without having to go outside where it's scary is a good thing.
 
The exponential growth of autism is easily explained by the massive expansion of the already soft definition of autism.
 
Why do we feel that everything must be lumped into one bucket ... there are a range of disorders within the autism camp and I would put my money on chemistry rather than electronics for most of them (since we have been saturating our bodies with chemicals much longer than we have smartphones and tablets) ...

I think we have developed a culture (particularly in the USA) that favors sociopaths and psychopaths (look at the study where it indicated that CEOs exhibited the traits of psychopaths at 4 times the level of normal society) ... we also have many cultures that are very self centered and misogynistic ... none of these things encourage empathy to develop (or be rewarded)

Blame society - check
Blame chemistry - check
Blame religion and political structures - check
Blame technology - not so much

:cool:
 
In some cities if you make eye contact that is a nono , unless you want a beating ;).
In a way you can almost find autism in anyone ;) . Like twisted Kidney said.
What is lack of empathy? Lack of caring in general or just being ego centric?
It is all so broad and it is ZDNET , the home of really bad articles ;)
Talking about autism that site is :) stuck in it's own fantasy world .
 
Access to so much information through so many types of electronic toys definitely has resulted in lack of focus similar to ADD.
Where we once had to focus for hours in a library tracking down and reading books for finding information we can just type Google in an address bar and be done.
The information being so readily available gives little to no incentive for retention.
 
I'm pretty sure the leading cause of autism is NOT the internet and is entirely Sonic the Hedgehog.
 
No - Autism is an early developmental disorder and diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old. Causes of autism are more likely to be a combination of genetics and environmental toxicity.

The question should not be "Does technology cause Autism", but something simpler like, "Does technology cause Social Recession". To which, I would answer, sure, in certain individuals.

It's too broader of a question to really have any valid or cohesively defined answers.
 
sir-gold said:
A complete lack of empathy is also a sign of Psychopathy....

http://www.politicususa.com/2012/04/19/corporations-people-psychopaths-2-2.html
Click to expand...

You are confusing emotional empathy with cognitive empathy.

Emotional empathy is the ability to feel what another person is feeling.

Cognitive empathy is the ability to identify how your actions affect another person and how another person is feeling.

Psychopaths have excellent cognitive empathy; they know how their actions affect other people. What they lack is emotional empathy; the ability to feel bad or sorry for someone or the ability to feel remorse or guilty.

Autism is the reverse. Autistics have emotional empathy, the ability to feel what another person is feeling (and remorse and guilt), but lack in cognitive empathy, the ability to identify how their actions might affect or make other people feel.

An autistic would not make a very good psychopath because psychopaths are excellent at social relationships and manipulating other people. Someone with autism would have trouble doing that.
 
Another article written from the cesspool known as ZDNet. Actually having an autistic spectrum disorder, and finding technology to be my only social grasp, I find hinting at this topic here offensive.
 
Problem is, we are now all autistic. The DSM-IV expanded the definitions of autism to cover just about everyone. Like many diseases that require lifetime treatment (so they can get you in for an office visit every month to make $$$$), they kept expanding the parameters until they could fit virtually anyone. That's why you see so many normal kids being referred to as autistic; it's an easy 'out' for parents to avoid responsibility for their child's underachieving at school, or poor social skills. "Oh, he's autistic, I'm sorry" has become a common response for so many parents everywhere. Now, don't bash me by complaining about me being insensitive; I know that there are REAL autistic children out there, and I feel bad for them because I know those kids are a real handful to take care of. But like ADHD, it's way overdiagnosed.
 
"How can we get more money for our social disorder programs?"

"Let's hijack the term autism so we can pull at people's heartstrings who still think we're talking about the old colloquially used autistic term."

The money grab is one thing but the people who use to be called autistic will now not be perceived properly and get appropriate funding and allowances as the public is de-sensitized and de-educated by over use of the term.
 
Autism is an extremely broad term these days,my son has Sensory Processing Disorder or what appears to be a light case of it and when he goes to speech therapy there are some autistic kids there.

The doctor said he is in the same range as children with autism but after having seen those kids and speaking with there parents it's apparent that it shouldn't be all lumped together.
 
Made friends half a year ago with an autist (aspergers is filed under that these days right?) woman and she's the normal amongst people her age. Technology is doing something to the weak-willed people who can't help but look into a screen and fiddle with electronics at all time, that's for sure.

Out for a walk? She and I are ones who take deep breaths of fresh air, others just have to check facebook or get in a call or text because they cannot take not being online and connected at all times. Outside of a few ticks it's hard to tell many people have the diagnosis they do.

(please, let the fittest survive, amen)
 
from what ive seen of autistic children, all of them were raised by tv screens, instead of parenting.
 
Ocean said:
from what ive seen of autistic children, all of them were raised by tv screens, instead of parenting.
Click to expand...

Have you dealt with autistic kids? If the child has full blown autism parenting literally only goes so far.
 
sir-gold said:
90% of American children born since 1990 were raised by the TV, what is your point?
Click to expand...

With the hugenormous number of ways we can diagnose someone, I betcha just about anyone can get their own specific disorder and prescription for it. It's kinda sad, but a lot of diagnosis only happens after someone discovers a drug to treat a specific symptom. Then the symptom set gets its own condition terms and there's a sudden surge in the number of people that are diagnosed with that specific thingey who were earlier probably being treated for something else related but not quite it. It's pretty much the way stuff is and eventually we'll all get our own special diagnosis! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top