Mastodawn

@punishmenthurts On that topic, are you still interested in writing to Morton Ann #Gernsbacher about the topic of popularized #mindblindness theory delaying diagnosis by convincing people they couldn't possibly be autistic? I actually wrote a draft email some time back, but I didn't get a response to my DM asking about appropriate email accounts to use, etc.

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Douglas Edwards

Apr 9

@KatyElphinstone Also, to address the article's substance, that is, the thesis that autistic differences are significantly driven by #hypopriors used in unconscious Bayesian reasoning beneath the hood of conscious thought: that makes perfect sense to me. It even fits in with my own experience.

I don't have frequent problems with autistic literalness, but it does occasionally happen. I remember particularly one mortifying instance when I was in high school, talking with two of the teachers. One of them asked me whether I could see. We were watching some high school event, and no doubt a neurotypical student would have taken it for granted that in the teacher's mind the physical functioning of a student's visual system would never be in doubt. The neurotypical student's robust prior would have ruled out any interpretation of the teacher's question based on such a doubt, and that student would therefore have realized that the teacher was asking about external hindrances to vision, such as excessive distance, or intervening obstacles obstructing the line of sight.

But my autistic mind was working from a diffuse #hypoprior that gave more than negligible weight to the possibility that the teacher might be wondering about whether my own visual system was impaired — whether I had suddenly gone blind. I was puzzled as to why the teacher would be in any such doubt as to the functioning of my eyes, but I nevertheless took the possibility seriously enough to make it the basis of my answer, without considering other interpretations. Without thinking it out further, I answered that I could see, and expressed surprise that the teacher would be in any doubt of that.

The two teachers didn't know I was autistic, but they had had enough experience with me to know that I wasn't "normal". One of them was baffled by my answer. But the other understood, laughed, and explained (correctly) the mistake I had made. He thought it hilarious that I would have understood the question as I did.

I suspect that many other instances of autistic #literalness have similar causes. Of course the #mindblindness crowd jumps to the demeaning conclusion that we come up with literal interpretations because we can't even understand nonliteralness. But I understood the teacher's explanation of my mistake perfectly well — well enough to be embarrassed to the point of mortification. We don't arrive at literal interpretations because we have any problem whatsoever in understanding nonliteral ones. It's just that our diffuse #hypopriors don't rule out literal interpretations, and thus force us to consider nonliteral ones, nearly as often as the robust, narrowly focused priors of neurotypicals would.

Douglas Edwards

Mar 30

I just read Uta #Frith's Wikipedia article, and learned at least one fact about her that I hadn't known before. Because Simon #BaronCohen is higher-profile in the media — and yes, possibly also for reasons of unconscious sexism on my part — I had always assumed that he was the leader, and ultimate master authority, of the #mindblindness school of thought. But it turns out that SHE was the advisor and mentor, and he was her student!

Maybe I've been focusing on the wrong person. Apparently instead of a Dark Lord, the #mindblindness faction has a Queen.

I also wonder whether, toward the end of her lengthy career, #Frith is finally becoming less guarded, and letting us know what she really thinks — in that ghastly interview, for example.

@hosford42 @autistics Fascinating! I'm now wondering how many of us there are, with similar stories. I'm thinking the two of us should jointly contact Morton Ann #Gernsbacher. She's written eloquently about the harm #mindblindness theory can cause, but IIRC she focuses entirely on its contribution to bigotry against autistics, and overlooks its contribution to missed diagnoses — which IMO may involve even greater harm to us. She might want to include this aspect of the problem in her future research. She's a professor and the head of a research group.

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Douglas Edwards

Jan 23

@autistics @adelinej How ironic, too, if the #mindblindness theory of #autism turns out to be a manifestation of the blindness of NEUROTYPICALS to #autistic minds!

Douglas Edwards

Jan 3

An observation about "theory of mind deficits" in #autism: what's missing in our relationship to other minds is not a THEORY. It's a set of "click, whirr" automatic shortcut mechanisms for dealing with the social world that neurotypicals use INSTEAD OF the explicit, conscious reasoning that reliance on an actual theory would entail. It's what I've termed the #EnvironmentalYoke. It's what advertising and propaganda exploit, in ways that influence expert Robert #Cialdini has built a career exposing. It's likely a large part of the reason why we're less susceptible to advertising than neurotypicals are.

It would be closer to the truth to say that NEUROTYPICALS lack a theory of mind. They actually do have one, but they mostly don't need to use it; their instinctive reactions, driven by their environmental yoke, mostly render actual theorizing unnecessary. It is WE who must reason explicitly about other minds if we are to understand them at all.

The pernicious and misleading "theory of mind deficit" / #mindblindness terminology is frequently misunderstood by the public to mean that #autistics cannot even understand the CONCEPT of other minds. From that misunderstanding, it's only a short step to regarding autistics as subhuman. The #mindblindness theory is thus a major contributor to bigotry against autistics, as Morton Ann #Gernsbacher has so eloquently pointed out.

I also have personal experience with another problem that #mindblindness theory can cause. I suspected that I might be autistic "or something like that" for DECADES before I finally reached the conclusion that I was, in late 2024. A major reason why it took so long: I, too, misunderstood #mindblindness theory to mean that autistics literally couldn't understand the concept of other minds; I knew that wasn't true of me; I accepted the #mindblindness theory as the best explanation of autism that psychological science could currently offer; and I concluded that I couldn't be autistic!

It's time to bury the "theory of mind deficit" / #mindblindness idea with a stake through its heart. We should avoid using this terminology except to criticize it — and demand that psychology professionals do the same. They can and should find more accurate terminology to express their findings about our neurodivergent relationship with other minds.

@autistics