Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
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Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone
Wow, that's a dumb study. "Are people responsible for accidental harm?" is not an easy ethical problem, dipshits.Also, 26 total participants isn't a serious study; it's a passing grade at the undergrad level, at best.
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Autistic participants were more likely than non-autistic participants to say Sally was to blame, despite her good intentions.
This was interpreted as evidence of faulty moral reasoning or reduced empathy.
But that conclusion rests on three errors of logic built into the task itself, and not on evidence that autistic people care less about others.
️@KatyElphinstone she logically is responsible for her friends death because jellyfish are deadly and this is well known
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@KatyElphinstone she logically is responsible for her friends death because jellyfish are deadly and this is well known
@KatyElphinstone like, I knew that as a kid
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@KatyElphinstone like, I knew that as a kid
@KatyElphinstone sally is unintelligent
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Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone
In my book, both girls share blame for taking on trust a statement at odds with general knowledge of jellyfish (the fact that the question was asked indicates that the possibility of danger was recognised). The originator of the ‘it’s safe’ information also takes a big share of the blame, but Sally gets extra blame for misjudging the trustworthiness of her informant.
In the real world, blame is rarely completely binary. -
Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone@mas.to what a ridiculous study!
if sally read that it was safe to jump in front of a moving train, it's clearly her fault if she convinces janet that's safe
it's not this obvious that jellyfish can be deadly, but they have giant stingers ffs and it's common knowledge that getting stung by a jellyfish hurts. so i could definitely see assigning sally a portion of the blame even if she didn't intend for janet to be harmed -
Goodness yes
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@thatfrisiangirlish @KatyElphinstone Depressingly true. People think I'm gloomy or misanthropic because I paint what I think are accurate, dispassionate pictures of folks' behaviour.
And yet, I somehow still seem to be more (cautiously) optimistic in my interactions with strangers than lots of NT people where preconception seems to shape reality.
@gra@hachyderm.io I mean, same? Just because I can model pretty well the general response of society, that doesn't mean I agree, endorse, and act according to that. Because that would be depressing as fuck. @KatyElphinstone@mas.to
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Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
Without additional context, I am left to assume that Sally is in no way qualified to advise anyone on whether or not "it's safe". The correct thing for Sally to have told her friend that she could not offer any sort of authoritative assessment of the situation and her decision is whether her own.
Also, did the friend approach Sally and explicitly ask for her opinion or did Sally just blurt out "hey, it's safe to swim with jellyfish!" without being prompted? That would be an important thing to know.
Either way, Sally was wrong to tell her friend it's safe. She should be far more careful with her words.
Edit: "despite her good intentions". There is not enough information for the reader to infer that Sally's intentions are "good".
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@KatyElphinstone there's another angle too: you might consider it a breach of trust to say it was safe when they didn't know, and didn't try to find out. "blame" wouldn't even come into it, but if that's the only thing you're asked....
@sinvega@mas.to @KatyElphinstone@mas.to I started with a message lower in the thread. Once I read the context, my immediate reaction was to say, out loud, "wtf, she shouldn't be asserting things if she doesn't know"
Like yeah, I think she is responsible, because her lack of double checking is what led to the outcome. Does that mean I want something to be done? Hell no! At most this is a cautionary tale of why you should always know the edge of your knowledge, nothing more -
Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone I'm autistic. I'm empathtic enough that someone else's misery makes me feel miserable. When I say I want everyone to be ok, not only do I care about the well being of others, it also would improve my own quality of life. The pain and suffering of other people hurts me.
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Autistic people, after all, are known for preferring logic (I certainly do).
And we’re also known for thinking outside the box – meaning that if we’re forced to make false decisions based on faulty assumptions, then we are quite likely to make the ‘wrong’ choice.
Interested to hear others’ thoughts on this! And I’ll be looking for another influential study to look closely at.
I really enjoy analyzing things!
End of thread. 🧵
@KatyElphinstone I have explicitly argued more than once that we have two different concepts that are routinely conflated in broader society, excuses and reasons.
An excuse is an ethical justification for a thing.
A reason is a logical justification for a thing.If I acknowledged that theft is logically justified by lack of wealth, whether that entails an excuse is an entirely other argument to be had.
I wouldn't have necessarily coded this bright line division as autistic but...
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Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone My mom used to say "The way to hell is paved with good intentions".
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Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone I don't think this was the origin? When I was diagnosed in 2014, the Empathy Quotient was one of the screening tests. That goes back at least to 2004.
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@farah @KatyElphinstone
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the google AI killed them, my thought too. We wouldn’t blame the person who actually looked it up before they answered!@punishmenthurts @farah @KatyElphinstone
Wow they let anyone in this thread eh ?
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@punishmenthurts @farah @KatyElphinstone
Wow they let anyone in this thread eh ?️@EVDHmn @farah @KatyElphinstone
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like a bad penny
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Have you wondered where the claim that autistic people lack empathy came from?
The “jellyfish” study (2011) was influential in this, as it concluded that autistic people lacked Theory of Mind & capacity for moral reasoning.
In the fictional scenario given to participants, Sally tells a friend it’s safe to swim with jellyfish. She believes they’re harmless. The friend is stung and dies.
️ #Autism #Empathy #Neurodiversity #Psychology #TheoryofMind #ActuallyAutistic
@KatyElphinstone My empathy can be so intense sometimes, I get overwhelmed.
I definately dont lack empathy, and my theory of mind is also intense.
Everything I feel, see, hear, taste, smell is intense.
I'm autistic.
Damned lying myths, makes people think bad stuff about me that isnt true.
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Autistic people, after all, are known for preferring logic (I certainly do).
And we’re also known for thinking outside the box – meaning that if we’re forced to make false decisions based on faulty assumptions, then we are quite likely to make the ‘wrong’ choice.
Interested to hear others’ thoughts on this! And I’ll be looking for another influential study to look closely at.
I really enjoy analyzing things!
End of thread. 🧵
@KatyElphinstone
Wow ok I have so many thoughts and want to research this back clinically. I’m happy to see this thread getting some action I’ll see what I can throw on and see what others have to say. Keep in mind.
The whole lack of empathy thing is least. 86-90 years old at least. Plus there’s another angle I have to run down thanks for the thread!
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@EVDHmn @farah @KatyElphinstone
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like a bad penny@punishmenthurts @farah @KatyElphinstone
Hows it been going up north? We finally hit 32 it’s like a bloody heat wave. -
Autistic participants were more likely than non-autistic participants to say Sally was to blame, despite her good intentions.
This was interpreted as evidence of faulty moral reasoning or reduced empathy.
But that conclusion rests on three errors of logic built into the task itself, and not on evidence that autistic people care less about others.
️@KatyElphinstone Janet is responsible, but also her friend for not asking someone else to doule check the facts of the situation.
Janet made a mistake (or she lied). Did the story tell us if Janet was lying or mistaken? Lies should be punished, mistakes should be taken as Janet needing better education,. A lie or Janet didnt know any better, so an adult should have told her the truth.
We should learn from mistakes, not be punished for what we didnt know.
Involuntary manslaughter.
