PayPal co-founder says workers with Asperger’s more effective than workers with MBA (xpost from GD)

[KamaAina]

Okay, okay, Peter Thiel is a libertarian dipstick. But he may have a point here.

http://www.autismdailynewscast.com/paypal-co-founder-says-workers-with-aspergers-more-effective-than-workers-with-mba/17109/snapshot/

In a conference hosted by Reaching Out MBA held Oct. 4, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, pointed out to his audience why workers with Asperger’s syndrome are more likely to reach their full potential in the business world compared to workers who have gained an MBA.

Thiel made a number of thought-provoking statements during the promotional conference of his book, “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future“. In his book, Thiel suggests that people without an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often walk out on ideas, that might at first seem strange, which becomes their weakness. Thiel perceives that successful ideas are often the unconventional, strange ones.

The PayPal co-founder also emphasized that the workers with Asperger’s are often behind the most successful companies as they are not intimidated by the off-beat ideas that they often come up with.

In “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future“, Thiel also argued that competitiveness hinders one’s chance to come up with unique and unparalleled ideas, as competition pressures every competitor to come up with an idea that’s almost entirely the same in concept as their rivals.

Hopefully this meme will catch on, and I can finally have a life!

[SheilaT]

1. No surprise to me.

Of course, that would only apply to certain kinds of jobs. A while back my Aspie son had a summer job doing some date input for some doctors related to research they'd been doing. He'd get to the office, they'd put him in an empty room and he'd go to work. At the end of the day he'd come out, and they'd have forgotten all about him, because he just quietly worked by himself. They loved him.

[hunter]

2. That's pretty much how I got into medical lab and blood bank work.

My obsessive perfectionism about certain things was exactly what the job required. They could put me somewhere in the morning and forget about me for the rest of the day. At lunch I'd wander off alone and make it back on time.

That I had few social skills and really wasn't interested in acquiring any didn't matter.

But I wish I didn't have to go through life "faking it." My public self, even here on DU, feels like a construction. It takes me a long time to put a post or reply together.

In my daydreams I'm sorting and classifying stuff.

[SheilaT]

3. I once made the mistake of asking my Aspie son if he'd

want to be made neurotypical, if that could happen. He didn't directly say, "Are you out of your fucking mind?" But his expression was clear.

I can't imagine dealing with a severely autistic child. That would be heartbreaking. But Asperger's can be charming and funny in my experience. I love my son's quirks. He is one of the very most interesting people I know. He's currently getting his bachelor's degree in physics and when I get him to explain to me some of what he's learning, it's always fascinating. He's also my go-to guy for astronomy questions. I am not exaggerating when I say that every single time I have a discussion with him about anything connected to astronomy I learn something new. And we have this discussions pretty often.

I'm fascinated that you say in your daydreams you're sorting and classifying stuff. I have a feeling you have quite a rich fantasy life, because that could go in all sorts of directions.

[Odin2005]

5. OMG, that sounds so much like me it's funny.

[SheilaT]

6. Aha!

Are you an Aspie?

I also have to say that I, and the father of my Aspie son, are both somewhat loners. When that son was in pre-school, and the teacher fussed about his social isolation, all I could think was, "But he comes by this honestly!"

What's equally interesting is that son #2 is hyper social, as different from Aspie son as is possible. I will say, that if the second son had been born first, I wouldn't have been so slow at figuring out that the first had real issues. Oh, well. It has all worked out. The two sons are as different from each other as is possible -- in fact, the teachers at their very small private high school told me more than once they'd never known siblings as different from each other as these two were.

What I like the best about having these two very, very different children, is that I can better appreciate how completely different people can be, even when they are siblings. That's something I would not have understood had I only had one child -- with all honest and due respect to only children.

[Odin2005]

4. I've always had people complement me on my work ethic.

I think it is because I have a no-nonsense attitude and want to get shit done. I have no time for office politics and malicious gossip.