Autism and Invention Are Connected
Interesting read.<p>Minor point of clarification: It&#x27;s noted that many autistic folks struggle with empathy. There are two dimensions to empathy, <i>cognitive</i> and <i>affective</i>. Cognitive is more about perspective taking, or reading the feelings &#x2F; intentions of others, while affective is the ability to share&#x2F;understand the emotions of others, and respond appropriately.<p>Putting aside that the two may overlap, it&#x27;s often the cognitive aspect that challenges the autistic, leaving them susceptible to being tricked, or unable to pick up on, say, whether or not a person is interested in dating them.<p>I point this out b&#x2F;c it&#x27;s important that this deficiency isn&#x27;t construed as simply a predisposition to acting like an unfeeling jerk. There are many layers to empathy, as well as the related concept of <i>Theory of Mind</i>.