People like to theorize about almost anything. Why men “drive better” than women, why Mentos react when thrown in a bottle of Diet Coke, why Tony Blair went along with Bush in the Iraq War, what happens after death, or where all the missing socks disappear into. We can’t live without explanations so we make up all kinds of theories no matter our lack of information or, most importantly, our blatant disregard for empirical evidence. This is what Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls “the Narrative Fallacy”. Here’s an example of this uncontrollable urge from somebody who theorizes that autism, far from a brain disorder or malfunction, is an evolutionary improvement in the way we think, compute and imagine. Abbas Raza has the patience to explain:

Why There Are so Many Men

by Abbas Raza

Confusion reigns in many popular discussions of evolution, and 3QD is not immune. I was inspired to write this Monday Musing today at least in part by a comment left by Ghostman on a post about autism a few days ago. In it, among other things, he theorizes that:

...autism, far from a brain disorder or malfunction, is an evolutionary reaction to the electrified, computerized world, and that once our brains iron out the wrinkles, we will come to look at modern autism as the first difficult steps toward a biological advancement of the human brain—an evolutionary improvement in the way we think, compute, and, yes, imagine...

...I believe the electrified, computerized world is actually changing the makeup of our brains. And that autism is one of the effects of this change...

...Consider the two most well-known symptoms of autism: lack of social skills (encompassing language, empathy, etc.) and enhanced recognition of and appreciation for patterns (often including improved memory and mathematical ability). These, I thought, do not seem to be the characteristics of a human; they are the characteristics of a computer. Computers are bad at emotions, language, social situations. Computers are good at math, memory, patterns. Furthermore, as one reads the literature, one is struck by how many teachers, parents, therapists, etc., comment on how compatible their autistic students, children, patients are with computers. Half of them seem outright amazed. But if one thinks that autism comes largely from computers, one would not be amazed by this, one would expect it...

—Ghostman, June 5, 2007

It's late at night. It is too hard for me to attempt a sympathetic interpretation of this, and in the space that I have, I really cannot even seriously address the various confusions about evolution that are displayed here. (Even if brains were changed by "electricity" or "computers," whatever that means, you should know, Ghostman, that ONLY changes to the DNA of the nuclei of sperm or egg cells can possibly be passed on to one's offspring—and that is just one of the many misunderstandings of evolution that you betray.) Ghostman, I have no doubt that you are well-intentioned, but, my friend, you've got to learn something real about evolution before popping off, okay? Instead, all I can do is make my column today all about how Ghostman and others can most quickly educate themselves about evolution and its surrounding theory.

Complete article...

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