I'm new to the knowing-I'm-an-aspie thing and didn't know "logical thinking" was often attributed to aspies. I quite agree with everything Amy said. I'm very emotional internally.
What I do that I think is an aspie trait is LITERAL thinking. I try to be specific with my words when discussing something, and take other's words as they are specifically said. That means if I say something, I mean it in LITERALLY the terms I used. I find that NTs seem to speak in more general terms and expect you to pick up the meaning from a combination of the words, tone and facial expression. That's hard for me to follow.
I'm new to the knowing-I'm-an-aspie thing and didn't know "logical thinking" was often attributed to aspies. I quite agree with everything Amy said. I'm very emotional internally.
What I do that I think is an aspie trait is LITERAL thinking. I try to be specific with my words when discussing something, and take other's words as they are specifically said. That means if I say something, I mean it in LITERALLY the terms I used. I find that NTs seem to speak in more general terms and expect you to pick up the meaning from a combination of the words, tone and facial expression. That's hard for me to follow.
What we may be referring to as literal thinking, and even, in some ways, Aspielogic, is probably an extreme lack of intellect in one or more areas (in other words, a learning disability.)
Ha! It's just as likely that the learning disability is on the side of the people who can't seem to use the correct words to express their emotions, and can't follow a complete sentence - based on the actual words used - as it was intended to be received.
Yeah, see literal thinking is what makes me wince whenever someone on TV or the radio says 'literally.' Her eyes were literally jumping out of her head? Were they really? I hope not. Not my fault people say stupid things.
I've been thinking about this kind of thing, and I'm actually glad I have trouble with non-verbal cues; it's useful to me as a writer. Because I'm used to not relying on such things, I'm better at carrying meaning with pure dialogue.
As for logic, it's more that I wish everything was logical. But alas, one cannot apply logic to differences of opinion. I do find myself reluctant to express an opinion sometimes, partly because I can't justify it but mostly because I don't like to talk about personal stuff.
I'm new to the knowing-I'm-an-aspie thing and didn't know "logical thinking" was often attributed to aspies. I quite agree with everything Amy said. I'm very emotional internally.
What I do that I think is an aspie trait is LITERAL thinking. I try to be specific with my words when discussing something, and take other's words as they are specifically said. That means if I say something, I mean it in LITERALLY the terms I used. I find that NTs seem to speak in more general terms and expect you to pick up the meaning from a combination of the words, tone and facial expression. That's hard for me to follow.
What we may be referring to as literal thinking, and even, in some ways, Aspielogic, is probably an extreme lack of intellect in one or more areas (in other words, a learning disability.)
Ha! It's just as likely that the learning disability is on the side of the people who can't seem to use the correct words to express their emotions, and can't follow a complete sentence - based on the actual words used - as it was intended to be received.
Do you mean the non-Aspie side of the conversing party?
Yep. Wasn't that clear from the words I used? That was a joke.
I did rather well in Critical Thinking at Uni for Philosophy.
My ex used to say she used to get nasty in a fight just to try and push for an emotional reaction because she reckoned I would just logically dissect, refute and dismiss her points.
Amen Brother!
I have my Gall Bladder out next Wednesday. Less pain more smiles.....perhaps
Yeah I'm very analytical, have a very consistent internal logic which I have found does not necessarily correspond to "being logical", but I feel a lot of emotions-- well, of the emotions I feel I feel them very strongly-- I just don't express them properly or appropriately. I don't feel sadness except for the few times I've grieved for people I actually cared about. I feel happiness sometimes, and when I do it's "jump around the room like a frenetic maniac" happy. I feel anger and frustration strongly a lot, but when I feel extremely angry or extremely frustrated I cry. I randomly laugh-- that's the one that weirds people out-- even if what I'm hearing/seeing isn't funny.
But at the same time I can pick something apart and analyze it. I guess that's why everyone comes to me with advice-- I'll pick apart the situation piece by piece without pulling any emotion into it and give my honest opinion and analysis of what's going on.
And I understand computers more than people because I don't understand others' emotions and points of view. Well I understand others' points of view if they sit and explain until I understand, but I don't readily understand like most people seem to. But I get computers, they just make sense. So everyone does confuse that for logical. Plus I've always prided myself on my logic-- till lately I've found that I'm only internally consistent and objective, not necessarily 'logical'.
Enough ranting. Yes, Amy, I grok what you're saying... it's true.
Well I'd have to disagree, at least in my case. I know that my views (whether on religion/politics, what to do at work, or even how I approach social situations) are very much based on logic, and many of my disagreements with people have been based on my objective viewpoint, while they are more concerned with the well-being of human beings.
In fact, if I had to sum Asperger's up, I would describe it as a very strong ability to cognitize and intellectuallize concepts, with a decreased ability to relate to things and people emotionally. Understanding this about myself has helped me see that I have my own strengths and weaknesses just like any NT does. It also helps explain why Aspies may have social problems--if the frontal lobe of their brain (which is responsible for logic) is very dominant, then the other parts of the brain (which is responsible for rapport, etc.) may be less functional. For example, I was once having a discussion with a friend and we realized I had disfunctional "mirror neurons," which are responsible for feeling empathy.
And if you look at all the possible Aspies throughout history (Einstein, Newton, Jefferson, etc.), they all showed the same tendencies with logic. However, it may be different for female Aspies. By the way, Amy, have you ever taken the Myers-Briggs test? One of the things it measures is whether you are a Thinker or a Feeler (ie. whether someone makes decisions based on logic or emotion). The vast majority of Aspies are Thinkers, but it's possible that you have this opinion becuase you're an exception to this rule.
Thanks for that, Alison, and for the link. I'll watch it when I have more time - it's time for bed now!
And what a wonderful thing for a child to say of their parent!
Kim says of his dad: "He is everything to me. My dad and I share the same shadow."
I don't think we have 'true logic'. It seems more like emotions displayed in logical sounding ways.
If you define logic in the very pure, academic terms that Amy does, than the point is well taken. The idea that as aspies "we are not openly looking at all the facts from all standpoints and carefully and with no bias coming to an honest conclusion" - is true enough, but really, who does that? It seems obvious to me that we aspies rely on a more logical, less emotional mode of thought in our dealings with the world. For myself, this reliance on logic started at around age 10 as a defense against emotions I couldn't cope with, a natural outgrowth of hyper-literal language skills and an aptitude for memorizing facts. Since discovering AS a year ago I've become more aware of how insular and narrow my point of view actually is, so again, I basically agree with Amy's point. We can be proud of our reliance on logic, while realizing that aspie insularity can, ironically, sometimes be an obstacle to logic.
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Hopefully, someday soon, "aspie" will no longer be flagged by spell-check.
If you define logic in the very pure, academic terms that Amy does, than the point is well taken. The idea that as aspies "we are not openly looking at all the facts from all standpoints and carefully and with no bias coming to an honest conclusion" - is true enough, but really, who does that? It seems obvious to me that we aspies rely on a more logical, less emotional mode of thought in our dealings with the world. For myself, this reliance on logic started at around age 10 as a defense against emotions I couldn't cope with, a natural outgrowth of hyper-literal language skills and an aptitude for memorizing facts. Since discovering AS a year ago I've become more aware of how insular and narrow my point of view actually is, so again, I basically agree with Amy's point. We can be proud of our reliance on logic, while realizing that aspie insularity can, ironically, sometimes be an obstacle to logic.
________________________
Hopefully, someday soon, "aspie" will no longer be flagged by spell-check.
I agree. Using logic in the academic sense really needs to be taught, and sometimes is in the form of critical thinking. But even if you are very practiced in it, you end up very limited to what you say, and can really only make confident statements about subjects that you have put a lot of research into in the past. Some very academic environments require it socially, but even there the subject matter gets very limited. I think it is more of a discipline and a practice that one can move towards doing, but it's not really attainable in everyday thinking.
How do we know who is a witch?
Hmmm....interesting question!
We could employ the services of a professional witch-hunter, I suppose, although I don't know if we could find one with the necessary technical skills to stick pins in people, or duck them in water, for example, over the internet.
Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there. Witchcraft and witchhunts were one of my obsessions as a child! 
One of us is a witch!!!!!??????
*looks round nervously*
This makes perfect sense Amy, I know I am quicker to become over-emotive than the average NT. I don't always know what I am feeling. However, I am often seen as the logical one because I cannot really speak on an emotional experience. This definently applies to me.
Brazil nuts have always tasted pink to me. That's just the way it is, I didn't try to impose the colour on the taste.