Re: Fwd: Re: Fwd: The Geek Syndrome

From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Mon Dec 17 2001 - 05:07:20 MST


On Mon, Dec 17, 2001 at 12:47:52AM +0100, Bob Arctor
or root <root@grzybnia> wrote:
>
> i recently saw an Prof Snyders work about autism and
> development of drawing, and he tries to induce autism to gain
> what he calls 'artistic skills' and which is a result of moving
> language skills to other centres (visual and music language)

Sounds rather handwavey to me - cortical reoganization only can go that
far.

> he is too an autistic, but in different field (he cannot
> understand art, and - he can't even get some drugs, because i
> saw that he tries to use magnetic device instead of dropping
> acid)

Well, it could of course be the legality aspect. Weird magnetic fields
are currently classed as drugs. But there seems to be a link between
decreased or absent response to LSD and autism disorders, in that the
serotonin system is involved:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro00/web1/Hollister.html
http://psy-svr1.bsd.uchicago.edu/ldn/5htrev.html

However, inability to understand art doesn't sound specific to autism.
There are many other agnosias, amusia and of course lack of interest
that can explain that. If professor Snyder claims he cannot understand
art, then his understanding or naming of what constitutes artistic
skills might be somewhat suspect.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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