Because this randomly can go into off topic, so why the hell not. What do you think about people who are "different"? At an autism help group, someone said she was popular all her life as an actor even though she was autistic, only because she was acting 24/7. She lied to everyone her whole life, never really told them the truth about herself, made up what they wanted to hear. She said the act makes her break down and cry at times, how she envys others with autism who shut themselves away like hermits because they simply allow themself to be an outcast but at least what everyone sees is really who they are, so there is no pressure to keep lying to everyone, and they do and follow their interests without having to keep their interests a secret It makes sense. People talk about "autism". I was once told I was autistic. Well, one may simply think autism is not liking mainstream and being an outcast, but that is stupid anyway, almost nobody likes mainstream. Everyone mutters it under their breath. Not a lot of people are brave enough to say they don't like popular things outloud. Even then a lot of people do say it outloud. But even then, all of society plays a fake act to sort of fit together, even if not all the way, just enough to be acceptable in public. But, almost nobody likes "Mainstream" or "Normalcy" or "what all the popular public likes". Like skinny weight. Or celebrities. Or acting all functional in public. MOST people are medium-heavy weight. MOST hate celebrities and politicians. MOST are a little loud, curse a little, and fight with kids and parents and siblings. Everyone says it to themselves in private. Nobody is "Normal" People think "normal" is what most everyone else is, when "normal" is the least common thing that anyone is. Some pretend to be close to the concept of "normal". Some even loudly protest the concept of "normal". But everyone conforms to a standard that makes them capatible to some section of socialization, some group of others to socialize with. There are some people who can't handle faking being similar to others or liking "clothes" or "weight" or "make-up" or "supermodels". Some people get hurt by how fake things are, they literally believe they are unacceptable because they don't like what the "normal people" "like", when really nobody "likes" it and nobody is "normal", almost everyone is far from "normal". Those people who feel they aren't acceptable and are so different and "wierd", are no different and wierd than "most other people", but they shun public and crowds and connections with others, and are called autistic when they avoid social interaction. Maybe they would connect more if they knew others weren't so scary and fake, but underneath actually felt and liked the same stuff. Maybe they would connect more, if they knew they walk by 1 person out of 10 who also reads books, who also like the Animorphs series. They are a freak for such interests, who reads books anymore? In actuality, they walk by 1 out of 10 people who quietly have the same interest in secret. Do you like Animorphs? Did you think I liked them? Or even knew about them? Do you think, any of the people you pass on the street, in suits, in high heels, with makeup and lipstick, or sagged pants and backwards baseball caps, like animorphs? now you see what I mean... They don't broadcast it, they broadcast their socially connecting attire and all sorts of pop culture. Yet, everyone acts like everyone else is so different. Underneath, EVERYONE is different, even all the people that look the same. Yet SO MANY PEOPLE have similar secret interests, when everyone thinks their interest is wierd and nobody else shares it. When I see an animal, I know they accept me and are kind so I say "Hello Buddy" and talk to them. When I see a person, I avoid eye contact and hope they don't even notice me because if they do they will consider how I am different or wierd. I think you understand the point of the deep conversation. It is wierd how we hurt and frustrate and cry everyday, thinking the world is uncaring and hurts. When really, we ALL do it, and we ALL could avoid it if we just openly publicized that we all do it. But what we publicize, is that cool people party all the time, and drink, and have normal family gatherings with no fighting. Almost nobody is that perfect, yet when we publicize that, it makes everyone feel that they are strange and cruddy, and everyone makes themselves feel miserable and like life is a waste. America is the worst about it. America is the absolute undenyably fakish. In hard off 3rd world countries like Bosnia and Uganda, autism rates are less. Maybe because everyone sees how human they each are, nobody appears better off than anyone else, nobody puts on an act like they are doing better and have no problems. Everyone sees everyone else with real problems, and so nobody feels a disconnection or a fake difference between each other. Nobody feels unaccepted by each other or different and freakish compared to the other 99%. I bet someone with no problems, someone painted up to look perfect like the "normal" in America, would look "freakishly wierd" to them. They say, autistic people are usually smart. That is because, society puts a distance and negative feel on intelligence. Being dumb is cool, you go to parties and drink and hit on hot women, and smart is unpopular, you are boring and read books and correct people all the time and it pisses them off. They thought I was autistic, when I was young in school. I always avoided public and just quietly found a quiet place to do my work. If "doing my work" looked good to everyone in public, I would have done it in large social groups, but everyone sees someone always doing work and not chatting much, and thinks they are a loner. I wonder, if people who focused on sports, would also be "autistic" if "the image of a normal person" was "always kept quiet and did their work". Would quiet book readers have big social groups? Would sports enthusiasts be loners? If sports were unpopular and didn't have a big public gathering, would all athletes quietly avoid eye contact when at school or in public and be evasive of social interaction? Would they be autistic? What do you think?
I didn't properly read the whole thing but I think the reason playing sports and displaying athletic ability is "cool" is because there's several thousand years worth of existence where it was the only thing that mattered. That kind of association over the length of time tends to stick.
Was a hypothetical. Like a "candidate for Star Trek" episode type of hypothetical. Like you know all those beings that evolve past war and physical forms? That sort of hypothetical. Like, it wouldn't be a real situation, but what if scholarly work was publicly focused as important and socially mainstream, and athletics were considered "weird"? Would autistic folk then trend to be folk that are immensely talented athletes, gifted by their uninterrupted focus in athletics from lack of social interruptions, their endless time devoted to it gives them rapid advancement in it? Makes you want to build a society on an island or planet, completely out of touch of our own society, and tweak the way they act so their normal is our "abnormal", and see if roles reverse. That would make a pretty extreme "Truman Show". Except pretty much the opposite of the "Truman Show".
I think the Sims and Simcity taught us all we need to know about what happens when you make a person basically god.
I don't think autism is the right word for what you are describing.. autism is a pretty severe neurological disorder as far as I know. There is the whole autism spectrum thing, but having social anxiety or just having a preference for being alone does not make one autistic. Anyway, social interaction and wanting to 'fit in' is a basic human need. Simply sharing things with someone else is basically what makes life meaningful in the end. But life can definitely be really difficult for people with different sensibilities. I was yesterday at a dinner party with people from my workplace. I was the only person out of 20 or so who didn't drink alcohol. It does make one stand out, there is definitely strong social pressure to get drunk because everyone else does. When they get drunk enough, they finally blurt out the questions, "why don't you drink?" "Are you pregnant?" (to a guy), etc. And these are highly educated people ranging from 30-60 in age. These workplace gatherings are pretty much compulsory, you can't just say "I have other plans" and not go (which is what I would have wanted to do), at least not where I work. And it does make you feel like **** just because you are different from everybody else, because everyone wants to fit in. I think it is just a defense to say "screw them", "I don't care", or whatever. I also don't see how sports and being a loner are mutually exclusive. Most sports are social by their nature, and school makes you hate sports for that reason if you don't like people in general, but there are plenty of "loner" athletes out there.
