I was thinking about sifting this, glad you did.
Daniel is one of a kind, I recommend his book 'Born on a blue Day' - Daniel Tammet for a great insight into autism, savants and the like.

As a side note, I wish my linguisic abilities were like his'.

No problem. My Mom is very religious and my Dad has Asperger's so I tend to be a great diplomat. But, these type of scientific insights into psychology are awesome when they come out. Especially, in my case where I can see that it hit's the nail dead on.

I think we underestimate our physical imposed mental limitations too much. Everything we've learned about modern psychology tells us that our psychology is in a "ready" state when we're born; to the extent that you could say one person uses "ATI" to see and the other "Nvidia" if you know what I mean.

In reply to this comment by SDGundamX:
Sweet, thanks for the info.

In reply to this comment by kceaton1:
>> ^SDGundamX:

>> ^westy:
I think what this video inadvertantly highlights is that Education is directly tied with atheism the more intellectual/educated sum-one is the harder it is for them to believe in bullshit and the more likely it is they will do things based on facts of reality to improve reality.

You should check out this study, which basically shows that isn't the case. The high proportion of atheist scientists compared to the general population seems to be a function of upbringing (i.e. they were raised in homes that didn't place much importance on religion). The increased education seems to have little effect on those who enter the field with religious convictions. In other words, those raised in non-religious households seem to self-select disproportionately highly into the sciences. The study states that more investigation is required before coming to any conclusions as to why, but they didn't see any indication of people giving up their religious beliefs as they advanced in their education or career.


One interesting aspect coming out in psychological studies versus genetic backgrounds shows one interesting aspect of people that have Asperger's being unable to relate to religion and are constantly looking for a more rational explanation for any event. Likewise, some people may show an inclination to be religious via their genetics.

Most likely this is due to a preference in the way the brain decides to use information. Such as: the right hemisphere versus the left; or even to the extent of specific areas on one side--like math over chemistry.

This is VERY new information. Their was another study out on Friday I believe (look for it at physorg.com) that showed that people that were religious tended to be more healthy both mentally and physically. However, the study (from what I could find) doesn't really say whether they took the disparity of between population numbers into account. Also they never took into account situations like autistic savants, Asperger's, bi-polar, and other conditions that tend to "create" extremely smart people (I'm guessing this might happen as they tend to favor the left hemisphere and also have a very different perspective than a normal healthy average human--giving them "fresh eyes" and a new perception intrinsically), comparatively.

>> ^SDGundamX:

>> ^westy:
I think what this video inadvertantly highlights is that Education is directly tied with atheism the more intellectual/educated sum-one is the harder it is for them to believe in bullshit and the more likely it is they will do things based on facts of reality to improve reality.

You should check out this study, which basically shows that isn't the case. The high proportion of atheist scientists compared to the general population seems to be a function of upbringing (i.e. they were raised in homes that didn't place much importance on religion). The increased education seems to have little effect on those who enter the field with religious convictions. In other words, those raised in non-religious households seem to self-select disproportionately highly into the sciences. The study states that more investigation is required before coming to any conclusions as to why, but they didn't see any indication of people giving up their religious beliefs as they advanced in their education or career.


One interesting aspect coming out in psychological studies versus genetic backgrounds shows one interesting aspect of people that have Asperger's being unable to relate to religion and are constantly looking for a more rational explanation for any event. Likewise, some people may show an inclination to be religious via their genetics.

Most likely this is due to a preference in the way the brain decides to use information. Such as: the right hemisphere versus the left; or even to the extent of specific areas on one side--like math over chemistry.

This is VERY new information. Their was another study out on Friday I believe (look for it at physorg.com) that showed that people that were religious tended to be more healthy both mentally and physically. However, the study (from what I could find) doesn't really say whether they took the disparity between population numbers into account. Also they never took into account situations like autistic savants, Asperger's, bi-polar, and other conditions that tend to "create" extremely smart people, comparatively(I'm guessing this might happen as they tend to favor the left hemisphere and also have a very different perspectives than your normal healthy average human--giving them "fresh eyes" and a new perception intrinsically).

This video is definitely made to provoke. I don't necessarily like how it does it and I'm atheist. While I disagree with religion in any capacity where it wants to use faith/belief to solve a situation instead of the logical tried and true method, that is where I draw a line in the sand (like Creationism; it's useless to us in every aspect: it explains nothing, is useless in practice, and assumes everything). Religion doesn't necessarily bother me when it's used in a social setting. The only time this isn't true is when it crosses the "religion/state" barrier and rights of others; as is the case for many gay people. I know a lot of religious people that sit on a logical side of the fence and many that sit on the other side and try to (in my estimation) usurp the rights of others for poor reasons and in fact religious ones (state vs. religion again).

Lot's of the religious people (I'm in Utah so I know my situation is semi-unique) I know that refute many logical tenets, like evolution, tend to do so in a way that shows they are INCREDIBLY insecure when it comes to "smarts". I've had some people tell me they belong to MENSA and in the same sentence tell me evolution is fraud and it should be obvious as to why this is true (they usually have no "logical" reason to explain why this is true other than faith; I have yet to hear a good reason...). This may also be an indication that even in religion there is a disparity between other religious people and that it may even be a psychological/physical condition that causes it via genetics.

It would be a new world if you could wager whether someone is religious or not, before they are even born. To me that is a game changer, but to others I know they will not see why that is true.

/edit

as far glass ceilings and sexism being a nonissue in western society, @blankfist ...... and others for that matter.

i lived in so cal for a while, but i never worked there... so maybe you do live in a mecca of enlightment or some bullshit... but...

have you ever been threatened and written up for telling your boss you weren't going to press charges, but you also weren't going to work 12 hour long graveyard shifts alone with the dude who pins you to the wall and tells how he likes to be touched and constantly tries to fuck you in between patients?? have you ever found out that your male coworkers were given raises because they "had families to support" ??? have you ever been written up for not attending a meeting due to child care issues and then found out 2 of your male coworkers were exempt from attending any meetings ever because they watch their kids during daytime hours??? ever been patted on the head like a dog when you figured out how to fix a technical malfunction that your opposite gendered coworkers couldnt?? ever been treated like some kind of freakish savant when the dudes you work with figured out you were really intelligent??? ever find out that all of your female friends have been victims of rape, molestation or incest??? ever had a "friend" give you some "tylenol" at a concert and wake up 3 days later?? ever see television reports about the outrageous number of teen fathers, or are they all about teenage mothers?? ever hear derogatory remarks about "welfare fathers", or is it all about "welfare moms"?? ever have people assume that you must be a poor, slutty, uneducated, night shift denny's waitress because you're divorced???

sexism is alive and well, it might look differently than you imagine it, it may not effect your bubble of existance, and it's probably more likely the result of 6000 years of systematic female subordination and oppression than advertising executives with boners for hot skinny models. but it's real and pervasive and it exists.

Basing the algorithms and overall system organization on brain biology seems very cool to me, particularly in light of what he says about the cortex being essentially uniform across its surface.

Think about what we see human brains doing under exceptional circumstances. Someone who is born blind can develop "superhuman" ability to process auditory information and use it in ways that average people scarcely believe possible. Autistic people often have obsessions with some particular system or activity, which can turn into savant-like proficiency in it.

So much of what our brains process is linked to rather mundane human survival and daily life, but if we could make an artificial intelligence like this that takes input only from a very narrow area of interest and focus, perhaps it would eventually display savant-like proficiency in processing, understanding, and predicting that particular field of input.

Very cool!

man, I said it before, and I remember the last time I did,( above here and I'll say it again) yer the cat's,fucking meow, ya need to pull out all the stops and start spreading your art around....I would venture to guess, that you resemble one of the following...

1.Autistic savant
2.NSA or clearance there and above, chumming for familiars or recruits..
C.clocking 6 figs and/or, 17 years of age and fully capable of more..

Prove me wrong baby, you need to be training school children how to survive a ride Inna centrifuge!

"see a sound" or "hear a color"

no need to be savant, its called LSD

Daniel doesn't memorize numbers; he doesn't need to do so.

>> ^xxovercastxx:
Just you and Daniel Tammet.
This video is a dupe of the one above, btw... if someone could take care of that.

Just you and Daniel Tammet.

This video is a dupe of the one above, btw... if someone could take care of that.

I love everything about Dragon Age: the level of polish, the gender equality, the autistic savant dwarf, the level of difficulty (started on Normal, at LVL 20 atm and cranked it up to Hard), the dialogue (hadn't actually laughed at anything an NPC in any game would say in years), the darker parts (oh and there are a few). I even love the, let's be honest, somewhat outdated graphics, because my PC is actually able to run it on max settings. I love how the game doesn't have the massive, frequent memory leaks ME had. I haven't even played MW2 because of how much I enjoy it. Clocked 60 hours and I'm only at 46%, having done all side quests that have been thrown at me so far, I am loving it, and so is my wife. Thanks so much for the quality entertainment, CrushBug

>> ^Lolthien:You are honestly suggesting talent and skill are unrelated?


No, but unless someone is born with savant-like abilities, talent is a small piece of the equation. Most artists are not born being able to do what they do. They learn like everyone else.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'savant, autistic spectrum disorder' to 'savant, autism, autistic spectrum disorder' - edited by kronosposeidon

>> ^Smugglarn:
Savant?


Could well be.

Savant?

ahhh the idiot savants that are missing in my life