Momentary Autism
Sometimes, cultural “moments” seem to converge from multiple, diverse areas of interest. Today, there were mentions of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking on both Slashdot and ESPN.com (which included an interview with the author). From what I’ve read about this book, it seems like a fascinating read. Here’s a quote from the author’s ESPN interview:
I use “momentary autism” to describe those moments when otherwise normal people become autistic — that is, like people suffering from that disorder, they lose the ability to mind-read, to make sense of the intentions of others. An autistic person can follow the literal meaning of words, for instance, but cannot interpret gestures. They can understand flirting, in other words, only if one party says to another “I’m flirting with you.”
Make of that what you will.