The density of hight intelligent and creative people who
think differently, which means not in words but in pictures, might be nowhere
higher than in the Silicon Valley. Their primary use of the right side of the
brain, which is responsible for creativity, could be the reason for their
success but also for their flaws.
What came to my mind when I read this is the opening scene
of the movie The Social Network. Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend is really annoyed
by his obsessive personality and breaks up with him. This is the stereotypical
for the Silicon Valley geek. Geeks are brilliant with technology but lack
social skills. Scientists think that leaders of high-tech companies all over
the world suffer from Autism or Asperger’s syndrome, which is not classified as
distinct disorders but as a milder form of autism. The characteristics of these
illnesses range from social and behavioral to language problems.
Another example that comes to my mind is Sheldon Cooper from
the TV series The Big Bang Theory. He does not understand sarcasm and obviously
lacks social skills but is brilliant as hell. Even when I think back to the
time at my high school I remember some people who were brilliant at school but
hardly had a social life.
A reason for the high autism rate in the Silicon Valley
might be once again the high density of highly intelligent and creative people
who already carry some autism genes. Their children then will inherit too much
of those genes and become autistic.
Back to my Mark Zuckerberg example. Rumor has it that he
himself suffers from Asperger’s syndrome. He is prone to spend several hours
obsessing over Facebook. Before Zuckerberg’s girlfriend moved to California to
live with him, he had to agree on 100 minutes per day which he will not spend
on computing. Co-workers told that he lacks eye contact, does not listen when
people are talking to him and seems absent during meetings and interviews. In
addition, Zuckerberg is known for his weak sense of humor and awkward facial
expressions.
Here are some characteristics of people of suffer from
Asperger’s syndrome or Autism
(just think of Sheldon Cooper and you will have a great
example)
- Repetitive routines provide security
- Stresses when routine suddenly changes
- Do certain things in an inflexible repetitive way
- Lack of empathy
- Find it hard to understand what others are thinking/feeling
- People often say he/she is rude even when this was not the intend
- Have difficulty making friends
- Difficulties understanding subtleties of communicating through
*Eye contact
*Body language
*Facial expressions
- Unusually strong, narrow interests
- Can focus on certain things for very long periods
Here are some more famous “suspects”
Bill Gates
Rocking motion
Socially awkward
High intelligence
Flat tone of voice
Steven Spielberg
Odd social tendencies
Childhood obsession with film making
Courtney Love
Reacted negatively
to affection
Had a
variety of inappropriate affects (including sudden fits of screaming)
Albert Einstein
Late onset
of speech (age 3)
Had no
friends as a child
Repeated sentences
obsessively
Appeared to
be in his own world
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