✔ How brains work, in autistic people and neurotypical people ✔ Brief history of understanding autism through science ✔ Written by a scientist who is autistic herself
★★★★★ The understanding of autism is constantly changing, and with the help of technology we know more rapidly. It's our brains that are different and our differences can make a better society.
🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
It's 100% enlightening. Of course I'm interested in autism so I picked this book up but it's not strictly about autism, or diagnosed autistics. It's about how people's brains work, and we are all different when it comes to how brains function. And certain kind of people with autism have a certain traits that demonstrates or "proves" why the person thinks or behaves that way. It's like what Freud says, it's not psychology, it's physiology, it's how it is in the brain, as this book suggests.
The author naturally focuses on high functioning or Asperger kind of ASD, but as she says, the technology will soon allow autistic people who need more cares to express their own feeling.
And she goes on to talk about the society we live in - why doesn't the society take advantage of people who love repetitive work? They Love it and they're precise. Why not team up with different type of people to achieve a goal? Why is it so important that everyone is average at everything- when that's actually not humanly possible. So we all suffer from this belief that we should all have the same or similar capabilities, one way or another.
Interesting quotes;
P43 If you can think of five ways for the brain to do something, it does it in all ten. The five ways you've thought of, and the five ways you haven't thought of yet.
P68 Freud... always argued that his psychoanalytic concepts were place holders until science could do better. ... to replace the psychological terms by physiological or chemical ones.
The Wisdom of Psychopaths What saints, spies, and serial killers can teach us about success Kevin Dutton, 2012 Read in 2025.02 check synopsis and details on amazon.com
🔽 Intro and review summary 🔽
✔ How psychopaths could thrive in the society ✔ Interviews with psychopaths ✔ Analytical
★★★★☆ Attractive and decisive. If you add violence they become a criminal, if they can control it they become socially successful people. And yes, you can create a psychopath.
🔽 Book review and notes 🔽 The book is not about how Psychopaths are psycho and dangerous and crazy. It's more about how these psychopaths are among us, and usually as our leaders.
Decisive, attractive, focused, adventurous, and doesn't care about other people's opinions. If some kind of violence is added to the character, they become criminals, but if they can control that themselves, they become socially successful. For example, they can be those people who can easily fire their employees because they simply focus on the company's profit.
The book talks about nervous system, and that if you can manage to give the right nudge, the person could be a psychopath temporarily. Yes, that you can make psychopaths.
Another interesting point is that a saint "as an occupation" is suitable for a psychopath. Yeah maybe it makes sense that those who have been enlightened have the same characteristics as psychopaths. They can focus "now" and "here", without meditation or trainings.
So psychopaths are not always "bad" for the society. The problem comes when these clever folks decide to abuse their ability. It's not that this book is teaching us how to be psychopaths, but rather if you could think like psychopaths, you could be socially successful. Not sure if I'd like to though.
✔ Dystopia, life with an AI friend ✔ Challenges concepts of family and friendship ✔ Sad, heart breaking
★★★★★ As always his stories are sad. Not too dramatic but subtly and surely sad. Artificial Friends; are they friends, or pets or toys? Surely not just things?
🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
As always his stories are sad. Not too dramatic but a bit sad.
Artificial Friends are there, maybe a bit like pets, puppies, except they are things, regardless of their intelligence.
A lot happens around her but we only see it from her point of view. So we're not able to see the intention behind the actions from human. Are they selfish? Maybe not so much, it's just how things are, and for us how things will be soon.
She has her mission and asks the Sun for guidance and eventually in order to pursue she is willing to be violent simply because that is her mission. So is she a threat? But really, it seems like she's the only one to remain innocent, or "human"
✔ How physics can be seen in a mundane actions ✔ Book for anyone interested in science
★★★★☆ It really makes you feel small in this place full of orderly wonder. A book by a physicist, she shows you how you can apply physics in everyday life. Nothing is by chance.
🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
A book by a physicist, she shows you how you can apply physics in everyday life.
It really makes you feel small in this place full of orderly wonder. As you stir a spoon in your tea, the liquid moves according to the law of physics, and nothing is by chance.
Though it is interesting to read, not that I understood all, and will ever be curious enough to try to understand more.. Happy to live in ignorance that I'm just a small creature in this vast wonderful world.
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