@BlastbeatCasanova: We are humans, not God, so it stands to reason that we will all be forever deficient in some way or other as the only entity which could ever even in theory be perfect is God. I think you are right about us not having had sufficient time to evolve and adapt to the modern world and that this has contributed to our rising rates of things like depression. Many of the things which once gave fulfillment to humans are now irrelevant or inaccessible to most.
I suspect that females entering the workforce en masse and taking over education has exacerbated things a great deal. No one seems to have been made happier by it. Many men are obviously less happy because wages stagnate when you suddenly double the workforce and competition for jobs, they have to wait longer to start having sex and all that because women have to finish college and whatnot, and all the other issues we know about. Women are less happy for it all too though as there are increasingly fewer men who are their financial and social superiors and, the more they enhance their CVs, the fewer eligible men there are (and this is to say nothing of whether or not the remaining men will still want them as they age).
To be honest, I'm not sure what exactly causes autism other than a genetic predisposition and a metaphorical flip of the reproductive coin. It would not necessarily be shocking to me if some concrete proof came out that things like chemical (such as SSRI) exposure, diet, etc. during and even prior to pregnancy were minor contributing factors and that, if you have enough of them at once, they add up. We already know that certain things other than randomness cause DNA mutation that can sometimes even be passed down to offspring such as carcinogens, Agent Orange, and
obesity. In the same way that things like meditation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy do, over time, alter the function and even physical structure of the brain (neuroplasticity), lifestyle choices alter one's DNA as their ever-reproducing cells attempt to adapt to whatever sort of lifestyle they have chosen.
@General Stalin: It is definitely trendy, most probably for the novelty factor I already mentioned in my previous posts here but also I think because, on the part of the parent(s), it is easier for someone to simply claim that their kid is behaving badly because they are autistic than to admit that they suck at raising children and/or have not made sufficient effort to properly socialize them and are essentially neglecting their kids and willfully depriving them of the parental guidance and support that they, as children, are in need of. Adults can be held responsible for their behavior but a child can only be expected to intuit and figure out so much on their own.
I agree that Autism is almost certainly over-diagnosed at this point for the reasons we mentioned and that a lot of it is a scam. This is why I don't believe in leaning on it as a crutch. If I make an accidental mistake of some kind and it is a direct result of the abnormality, I prefer to recognize it as such but then to address and resolve the issue whenever possible as opposed to just saying "I'm ___ and therefor I'll never be up to standard." If nothing else, what could be more damaging to a man's game than to say that he'll never be up to standard and will always refuse to engage his problems?
@chicane: I definitely agree with you here, especially as many if not most of the behavioral characteristics which indicate Autism (as always, I'm referring to High-Functioning Autism) are known to essentially be extreme variants of normal male behavioral characteristics. Personally, I suspect that Autism is not a disorder so much as it is an evolved adaptation carried in certain genetic lines. DNA is constantly adapting and mutating in response to environment and lifestyle in an attempt to both survive and compete for reproduction.
Maybe some peoples' DNA way back in the day just decided to toss some of the natural social aptitude in order to make them more sensitive to predators (noise sensitivity) and better tool makers and innovators (high IQ and weird obsessive interests). Who needed Casanova-level social skills anyway in an era (most of our evolutionary history) when men communicated more directly, communication with women was not as needed, and everyone got married and/or started screwing before they were 15? For some people, the DNA seems to have decided that those other things were higher priorities. I think a big part of why Autism is a hot topic now, unlike how it was for Archimedes and Socrates, is that society and pretty much the entire professional world (which, even more than society itself, has always been the domain of men) have been completely dominated by females who naturally impose their own rules and ways of doing things on the whole. I think that all men are being disadvantaged by this but perhaps autistic men are just more noticeably so as a result of their evolved specialized extremity.
@Mikestar: I've experimented with this in the past but found it to be harmful to my self esteem so, now, as a rule, I only mention Autism when doing so paints me in a positive and admirable light, such as when subtly bragging about how I overcame certain things instead of just giving up or when explaining some
complex and abnormal but effective solution that I came up with to solve a problem. It is wise to leverage your strengths and turn weaknesses into strengths when you can, all the better if you can make yourself more interesting in the process by emphasizing certain archetypal traits which are already present in you. If I have any role models in this regard, I'd say they are guys like the Dos Equis man, Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame, and a little bit of
Rick from Rick and Morty (0:17) because girls dig the cynical smart guy who can blow their minds by picking apart some idea or belief they have but also making them laugh in the process (that guilty laugh that they try to hold in because they don't want to admit that you're right) and I am already inclined toward cynicism so it doesn't feel unnatural for me. All I needed really was to practice delivery like a comedian.
