Thinking Differently: Two brilliant minds discuss what it means to analyze information and produce solutions outside the mainstream
Tyler Cowen, Temple Grandin
Language: English
Pages: 46
ISBN: 2:00063721
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
For the first time ever renowned economist and coauthor of one of the world’s most influential economic blogs, Tyler Cowen, sits down with best-selling author and autism advocate Temple Grandin for a lively in-depth exploration of the value of autism in the modern world. Just as he does in his book Create Your Own Economy, Cowen argues that individuals on the autism spectrum are integral to the world’s many faceted economy; they create all kinds of value in financial, intellectual, cultural and even political markets. Their talents regarding the organization of information are of critical value now, and they are talents we all share to some extent. Cowen and Grandin discuss the nature of autistic thinking, the historical, future and global contributions it can make, as well as the damage done by the stigma currently associated with the autistic label. Valuing the unique and specialized autistic cognitive abilities of each member of society--understanding how we think differently--is the key to the unimaginable prosperity the modern world has yet to offer.
Temple Grandin: That’s a real, real interesting question. What would be my new area? Well, one thing I’m very concerned about is career development for really smart people with the Asperger label, the nerdy kind of kids. I want to help them get into good jobs. That’s what I would have done. What could have happened to me? I had trouble in high school. I got decent grades in college, but I didn’t get good enough grades to do something, like go to vet school. You know, to get into…
last week, I’m getting little glimpses of what might be the more hardcore science fiction part of it. And that’s the part of it that I like the best. The two-hour finale is coming up on Wednesday and I’m supposed to go to a dinner. So, I think I’m going to get halfway through the dinner and then I will tell them that I feel sick. I’m really… Tyler Cowen: Exactly. Temple Grandin: …just sneaking back up to my hotel room so I can watch that two-hour special of Lost. Tyler Cowen: Lost and
emotions when it happened. My emotions are more in the present when I recall information out of the database of my mind. The emotions are mostly gone and all that information is in pictures. It’s just like watching a movie. Tyler Cowen: You know, I think one issue is that the way memories are encoded, arguably, is different in autistic people. There is some evidence for that from laboratory experiments. So, if memories from the distant past are, in a way, weaker, you have a lot of autistic
shades of gray in between, sort of like mixing paints. Tyler Cowen: That’s right. I think, also, [there are] a lot of issues when it comes to paternalism; autistic people are less likely to be sympathetic to paternalism. They… Temple Grandin: What do you mean paternalism? You’re using a lot of abstract stuff that I have problems with. Tyler Cowen: Oh, by paternalism, the notion that someone will come along and tell you what is good for you and maybe even impose it on you. I think
with teachers. When I talk about the different cognitive types, I am finding more and more teachers who have difficulty figuring out which type a child fits in. There is the visual thinking type, the pattern thinker, the mathematics mind who often has trouble in reading, and then the word thinker mind. I’m amazed just in the last few years the number of people who have difficulty figuring out if a kid is a visual thinker. Visual thinkers produce excellent art by the time they are in third or