"nerds"

[James Devine]

LBO-talkers will be glad to know that the DSM-IV, the psychology
profession's diagnostic "bible," actually has a category that corresponds
to "nerds" or "dweebs." (It's a judgement call whether of not "dork" fits.)
It's "Asperger's Syndrome," which is considered to be a mild form of
autism. Folks with AS can be extremely smart (using narrow definitions of
intelligence such as those measured by IQ tests). But they lack social
skills, having a very hard time "reading" other peoples' body language (and
what Baron-Cohen terms "the language of the eyes"). They deal with social
situations in an intellectual, reasoned-out, way rather than (as is normal)
in an intuitive way. (It's a matter of slow cognitive processing of social
stimuli.) 

Over the weekend, I went to a camp-out with a bunch of AS kids and their
parents (because my son's diagnosis fits). At the campfire, there were all
sorts of kids simultaneously trying to attract the attention of the crowd
trying to tell stories, sing songs, or whatever, in a very chaotic way. 

People with AS tend to gravitate toward computer science and
research-oriented academia. As Hans Asperger noted, people with AS tend to
look at the world in a different way than do ordinary folks. They thus can
make major contributions.[*] I recently heard an audiotape that argued
(convincingly) that Albert Einstein had Asperger's. 

Autism -- and the milder form (AS) -- are becoming more prevalent, as are
related illnesses like ADD. Maybe it's due to environmental pollution
traumatizing fetuses in the womb. It might also be due to drug abuse.
No-one knows. 

For more info, see: http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/

[*] Of course, Asperger was working in WW2-era Germany. He emphasized the
positive contribution to avoid having the kids killed. 

Jim Devine jdevine at popmail.lmu.edu &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html
"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain;
as far as they are certain, they really do not refer to reality." -- Albert
Einstein.