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Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

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Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#31

Post by aqueueaqueue »

qwertox wrote: post #12
codr7 wrote: post #2

What if growing bigger, more connected brains is the next evolutionary step? Doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to me.

This is like assuming that cancer is good? More cells, better body? This is just a hypothetical counter-argument. More connectivity could be better, "more intelligent", and autism seems to be "cool" among nerds for this reason. But maybe it's just a fallacy, just a way to pretend to be something better. Again, all hypothetical. Yesterday I listened to a podcast episode about bird brains [0]. That some birds have a wa…

Autism plus "AI for social" coprocessor could be a wicked combo ;)

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#32

Post by thoo4j334324 »

codr7 wrote: post #2

What if growing bigger, more connected brains is the next evolutionary step? Doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to me.

> What if growing bigger, more connected brains is the next evolutionary step?

I don't mean to be mean - but unlike what "nerds" think "intelligence" isn't some superior trait that automatically means the gulag/eugenics for the socially popular kids who they despise. All this situation indicates is that the societies are broken/mean (on every side).

Traits need to be "rewarded" for them to be evolutionarily meaningful in the individual's environment. More connections etc. also means a lot more energy consumption. Not many societies can support such phenotypes.

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#33

Post by aqueueaqueue »

thinkingkong wrote: post #9
codr7 wrote: post #2

What if growing bigger, more connected brains is the next evolutionary step? Doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to me.

The fitness function that would govern that evolution would be new though. We’d be intentionally optimizing for brains that work that way with some new social or technical construct. Like if we said “autism is the new exposed ankles” and suddenly had many more babies who also demonstrated that trait. Or if we had access to technology that would select for that outcome, gattaca style.

Fitness function? What if end up walking down the eugenics path or genetic engineering.

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#34

Post by davidthewatson »

Does brain science have a Fitt's law?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law

This is before we even start talking about serial or parallel, concurrency, etc. And then modify the networks and the wires themselves dynamically in real-time and you have endogenous BDNF, endogenous DMT, and the fact that insulin has a different, psychoactive effect on the other side of the blood brain barrier.

It would seem that time-speed-distance would be a useful metric here, as well as accounting for the fact that we don't actually know where we are in the 6d chess of triune, bicameral, hippocampal, or glycemic variation moment-to-moment in real-time.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#35

Post by calmbonsai »

bobim wrote: post #24
qwertox wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like assuming that cancer is good? More cells, better body? This is just a hypothetical counter-argument. More connectivity could be better, "more intelligent", and autism seems to be "cool" among nerds for this reason. But maybe it's just a fallacy, just a way to pretend to be something better. Again, all hypothetical. Yesterday I listened to a podcast episode about bird brains [0]. That some birds have a wa…

This is an interesting take, along the line of elephants who need a huge brain mainly to actuate their trunk.

Akin to bottle-nose dolphins and orcas with sound. They have, easily, the most signal-processing neurons of ANY species on the planet.

And, fwiw, their encephalization quotient is just behind one species--us.

Since they're aquatic mammals (given the requisite mass for thermoregulation), that severely under-represents their effective brain/body-mass ratio too.

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#36

Post by courseofaction »

aqueueaqueue wrote: post #31
qwertox wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is like assuming that cancer is good? More cells, better body? This is just a hypothetical counter-argument. More connectivity could be better, "more intelligent", and autism seems to be "cool" among nerds for this reason. But maybe it's just a fallacy, just a way to pretend to be something better. Again, all hypothetical. Yesterday I listened to a podcast episode about bird brains [0]. That some birds have a wa…

Autism plus "AI for social" coprocessor could be a wicked combo ;)

I know several autistic adults who check their outgoing messages with AI for unintentional meanings or recommendations to better communicate what they mean. Not getting the ai to write for them mind you. Social coprocessor indeed!

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#38

Post by topato »

qwertox wrote: post #12
codr7 wrote: post #2

What if growing bigger, more connected brains is the next evolutionary step? Doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to me.

This is like assuming that cancer is good? More cells, better body? This is just a hypothetical counter-argument. More connectivity could be better, "more intelligent", and autism seems to be "cool" among nerds for this reason. But maybe it's just a fallacy, just a way to pretend to be something better. Again, all hypothetical. Yesterday I listened to a podcast episode about bird brains [0]. That some birds have a wa…

Isn't it usually assumed that birds have such an efficient brain, akin to a real-time kernel, so that they can process incredibly high resolution occular input, while managing flight, and possibly possessing unknown senses (magnetic global positioning, wind speed, etc)?

Re: Brain Hyperconnectivity in Children with Autism and Its Links to Social Deficits (2013)

#40

Post by Anotheroneagain »

There is no deficit. Their neocortexes haven't died, and they are not insane.

Just like the "intelligent" physicist concocts a theory, and then proves himself completely wrong with an experiment, an "intelligent" man concocts a social conspiracy theory, but nothing proves him wrong: instead, he pronounces those who "don't get it" hopelesly stupid, too socially dumb to participate in a society.

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