tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post8848416234633056162..comments2023-10-07T11:03:10.202-05:00Comments on Autist's Corner: The Systemizing QuotientLindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10860246538349067232noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-40802806934217026232014-08-25T08:25:25.360-05:002014-08-25T08:25:25.360-05:00Nice post.
I have socred between 17-23 in SQ test....Nice post.<br />I have socred between 17-23 in SQ test.<br />My math skills are way above the average I have master's degreee in analytical chemistry with great deal of physical chemistry on the side (you probably know that advanced physical chemistry is not walk in the park for regular chemist but it was for me.).<br /><br />I don't systemize through day. I do tasks or duty and have a curious questioning and inventive mind when I enter the process. It also translates to extreme pain with routine if you can not discover something new. They also say I have executive disorder because I want to invent to automatize processes and not do it over again. It is actually hilarious to see the need to put extraordinary people in boxes (it really doesn't whether the box matches with you).<br /><br />Anyways I don't put much emphasis on world me and it lowers my scores drastically. I systemize concepts etc.<br /><br />If you read Baron-Cohen book about this subject he puts social hierarchies and andavancing inside them as part of systemization. Interestingly this part of systemization is out of question when it comes to autism. Territorial aspects are absent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-62612944652251591562011-01-01T18:06:44.075-06:002011-01-01T18:06:44.075-06:00I think that his focus on engine capacity, rather ...I think that his focus on engine capacity, rather than fuel efficiency, is because almost everyone, even neurotypical drivers, might be concerned with "how much will this cost me?" But only a systemizer would care about the details of a car's propulsion system -- and if they care at all, they'll definitely need to know the engine capacity. It's part of the basic description of the engine. Similarly, a systemizer would describe a computer by not just the make and model, but also its CPU speed and hard disk size, the key performance parameters. For a man, these data would of course have phallic implications. But the data also relate to things like how much it cost, how great a deal it was, and how fabulously awesome a shopper you are -- a culturally feminine value. So to me this one question makes sense ... yet I do agree that the test as a whole is flawed. The test needs greater sensitivity to detect the feminine form of the 'extreme male brain', which, I'm guessing, would be more concerned with artistic and living patterns than with mechanical systems. But I wouldn't go so far as to call this defect a "patriarchal bias," since the solution here is simply to improve the test's reasoning, not trash it in favor of matriarchal intuition. A better test will help produce a stronger theory, which in turn will command greater patriarchal authority in the minds of obsessive scientific systemizers.mediamancerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16430249099562497146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-78867548410957516292010-12-18T00:56:46.692-06:002010-12-18T00:56:46.692-06:00Really great post. I once wrote a paper on this t...Really great post. I once wrote a paper on this topic and had a lot of the same points. SBC irritates the shit out of me.<br /><br />According to his test I'm not much of a systemizer despite being autistic. Largely because I am really not interested in most of the supposedly "systemizing" interests. <br /><br />I am also severely directionally-challenged. Find my way around a new city easily? Ha, I have a hard enough time not getting lost in places where I've lived for a long time. I get easily mixed up, for instance, when I approach the same place from a different direction. To me it oftentimes looks like a different place from a different angle. Visual thinking is not my forte. In math class I aced statistics and some kinds of algebra while sucking at geometry.<br /><br />I'm like you in that I can be absolutely fascinated by the way in which a grain of wood falls, or a pattern in a piece of furniture, but I don't think particularly about how the chair might have been constructed. Why would I, unless I were knowledgeable about carpentry? And given my poor motor skills, it's probably safest that I avoid carpentry. Which is also why I can't really answer the question about DIY projects very accurately. Because I can't and don't do DIY projects! SBC is claiming that high-systemizing is a paradigm for autism, but my autism-related impairments prevent me from being a systemizer in the way which he insists is the paradigm. Ironic, really.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313619400997453196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-20521047748501788272010-12-16T20:51:34.568-06:002010-12-16T20:51:34.568-06:00Wow, this is really interesting. I'm an extrem...Wow, this is really interesting. I'm an extreme systemizer and an extreme empathizer. I think it's part of the patriarchal bias of the tests that these things are split up as though you can only have one and not the other. For me, they feel very interrelated.<br /><br />I would probably score very low on the systemizing test, mainly because it's biased in terms of mechanical systems and being able to read maps, neither of which I'm very good at (or very interested in). But I am forever organizing anything I can get my hands on or wrap my mind around, seeing patterns all around me all the time, and focusing intently on how to see the order in a great many things that don't include cars or the stock market report.<br /><br />These kinds of biases are part of the reason that I wasn't diagnosed till I was 50.Rachel Cohen-Rottenberghttp://www.journeyswithautism.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-75268157918496740652010-12-16T15:09:19.579-06:002010-12-16T15:09:19.579-06:00@Jess Kahele, yes I had similar internal conflict ...@Jess Kahele, yes I had similar internal conflict over how to answer a lot of these, because while I often didn't do whatever *specific* thing he asked about, a lot of times I did something very like it in a different domain. I went with my literal-minded instincts and answered "no" --- maybe I should take it again and err on the side of "yes" for those questions and compare the results.<br /><br /><br />@The Goldfish, @sensitive little fuck - I got a pretty low score (29), considering I am 1) autistic, 2) a huge geek, 3) good at math, 4) a visual thinker, and 5) educated (if not actually working) in a STEM field. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I get lost easily and have no sense of direction --- lots of the questions seemed to deal with being able to orient oneself/having a good sense of where things are in space. I'm also really disorganized, and don't have many of the interests the thing asks about.<br /><br />(I am very curious about how stuff works, but for the most part it is living, natural systems that fascinate me. I'm interested in *some* aspects of technical systems --- usually the physics involved --- and I tend to notice patterns and details, but don't usually *interpret* them to the degree that the test questions seem to assume. I'm also very interested in how society, people, and brains function, too, but there don't seem to be any questions reflecting that).Lindsayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10860246538349067232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-43560063152680978552010-12-15T22:29:49.712-06:002010-12-15T22:29:49.712-06:00I got a very low systemizing score, but I'm no...I got a very low systemizing score, but I'm not terribly sure it's accurate, as I work as a programmer and in everyday life I'm always analyzing things and trying to figure things out. But I tend to be more interested in things like how society functions or how people function or how my own brain functions rather than mechanical things per se. <br /><br />Plus, a lot of the questions to me seemed to depend on someone being really observant of the world around them, but I tend to be lost in my daydreamy world a lot of the time. But I love to analyze fiction and pick out all the tropes I can find using the TVTropes wiki, which seems rather systemizing to me. <br /><br />I don't think you can take it as a good measure of ability but rather of certain kinds of interests, and a lot of them stereotypically masculine interests at that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-42384272290899954772010-12-15T10:33:37.440-06:002010-12-15T10:33:37.440-06:00Excellent critical review of the test questions. I...Excellent critical review of the test questions. I have taken it before and had a major problem answering the questions too literally, especially the clearly masculine ones. I simply have a hard time answering yes to a question about liking sports scores even though I know it's designed to gauge how systematic I am. It feels like I am telling a lie which is hard for me to wrap my brain around. If the question were to reference say an ordered list of the latest knitting patterns by amount of sales, etc., then I could answer the question accurately because both parts of it would be true. The knitting part and the systemizing part. I'm glad you have pointed out these specific flaws in the test, now I won't feel bad about replacing the words "sports" with "knitting" and know that I will be answering accurately.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06001020811877167957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-530548799681444324.post-1304726587775726502010-12-14T04:18:50.763-06:002010-12-14T04:18:50.763-06:00I scored 52 and I'm neurotypical, as far as I ...I scored 52 and I'm neurotypical, as far as I know. My boyfriend scored 53 and he is the greatest "empathizer" I have ever met - it is as if he is able to read other people's minds. <br /><br />Your posts on this are absolutely excellent!The Goldfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.com