Geek syndrome is a colloquial term for the symptoms of Asperger's syndrome in people with a passion for math, computers and new technologies. The sources of this term lie in the stereotypical image of a computer scientist as a closed person, having difficulty making contacts and obsessively focused on his own interests. Is geek syndrome just a stereotype or a scientific fact?

The termgeek syndromeis used to refer to people who are exceptionally gifted in science, most often IT specialists, who exhibit personality traits similar to those affected by Asperger Syndrome.

Geek syndromeis to explain why modern societies have more and more cases of mild autism, especially among children of parents, at least one of whom works in the science and technology industry.

Although this theory has gained great popularity in the West, no official scientific evidence has been presented to support it. There are, however, some minor studies that show some association between above-average intelligence and some symptoms of Asperger's syndrome.

Geek syndrome - who is it?

Geek syndromwas created by combining the wordsgeekandsyndrom .Syndromcomes from the name of the diseaseAsperger syndrome , i.e. Asperger's syndrome. In turn,geekis a slang term for people who are extremely intelligent and show special interest in specific areas of knowledge (mathematics, computer science) who also have big problems with interpersonal relations.

Geeks are more commonly referred to on the Internetnerds( nerdy ) - both terms have very similar meanings.

There are several times less women with Asperger's syndrome than men. However, their position is more difficult as they are less often appreciated for their intellectual qualities than men.

A stereotypical image of a geek or nerd is a slim boy with glasses, with absent eyes, dressed in an unfashionable, pulled-out sweater, who likes to talk about his greatest passion, which is computers.

A geek can spend hours discussing the benefits of C ++ programming and how to declare variables inPython, but it's hard to talk to him about ordinary, everyday topics. He also has a limited sense of humor - he doesn't usually "get" allusions about himself, which is why he often becomes the object of jokes.

Geek has a very high IQ index and is well versed in advanced technologies. Most often he works in professions requiring strict technical knowledge. The geeky basin is said to be Silicon Valley, the center of America's tech industry.

Geek syndrome - how is it manifested? Geek syndrome and Asperger syndrome

A geek and a person with Asperger Syndrome share a similar mindset and some aspects of behavior:

  • mechanical understanding of reality - both people with Asperger Syndrome and scientists have a scientific, logical approach to reality. They prefer to explain the world through repetitive mechanisms, not human actions;
  • specialization and focusing on details - One of the important symptoms of Asperger Syndrome is a very narrow area of ​​interest and an almost obsessive focus on only one area. The same is true for geeks;
  • unambiguous understanding of a language - both types of people prefer concise, unambiguous messages. They have a problem with deciphering the interlocutor's intentions if he uses irony, allusions or communicates at the level of gestures or facial expressions;
  • closing in their own world - people with science and Asperger Syndrome are so involved in activities that interest them that they completely neglect external matters. As a result, they are often considered people detached from reality or even weird.
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Another geek term isnerd . The two terms have very similar meanings and are often used interchangeably. Sometimes the differences between a geek and a nerd are pointed out: the former does not have to be passionate only about maths and computers, he can, for example, be an avid fan of a series or game.

The nerd is only interested in science.

Geek syndrome - stereotype or scientific fact?

Are common observations confirmed by scientific facts? Yes, in part. There are several studies that do show that science-minded people are more likely to show symptoms of Asperger's syndrome than the average person.

One of them is an experiment from 2001, in which 4 groups of people were selected: 58 patients diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, 174 non-studying adults, 840 Cambridge students and 16 winners of the British Mathematics Olympiad.

They had to answer the questionnaire so-called Autistic Spectrum Quotient,which is used to determine to what extent (on a scale of 0-50) a person exhibits autistic features. The results were as follows:

  • among all students, the highest results were obtained by students of science and science: mathematics (21.5), computer science (21.1) and physical sciences (19.6). For comparison, the average among all students was 17.6, and those studying humanities achieved results that did not differ from the average;
  • among the 11 participants in the study with the highest Autistic Spectrum Quotient (above 32 points), all were students of mathematics or natural sciences;
  • very high scores were obtained by the winners of the mathematics Olympiad (24.5).

Another study was conducted in the Netherlands. It covered 62,000 children from three cities: Eindhoven, Haarlem and Utrecht. The number of inhabitants was similar in all of them, but only in Eindhoven 30% of them were employees of the computer industry.

The city has 229 cases of autism spectrum disorder per 10,000 children. In the remaining cities the number was much smaller: in Haarlem there were 84 cases and in Utrecht 57 cases, which is 4 times less than in Eindhoven.

The quoted results seem to confirm the thesis that among mathematically gifted people there is a greater tendency to behave typical of Asperger's syndrome. In turn, the Dutch experiment gives grounds to believe that genes have a significant impact on the development of the disease - in a city where almost 1/3 of employees were people working in the IT industry, there were more children with various forms of autism.

Geek syndrome - arguments against the theory

Some psychologists, however, question the results of similar studies. They point out that linking a children's higher incidence of Asperger syndrome with their parents' IT profession is an abuse. It does not take into account the fact that better educated people usually decide to have children at a later age, and the age of parents is an important factor that increases the risk of autism.

Generally, in such families, the awareness of autism is also higher, so the diagnosis is made faster. In addition, autism-like symptoms in geeks are not as severe as in people diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Rather, they are personality traits that favor specialization in strict fields of knowledge.

A sober, logical view of the world or the ability to focus as much as possible on the analyzed issue are features very desirable in the case of technological or IT professions. As long as they allow normal functioning in society and performancefavorite work, should not be viewed in terms of a disease.

Category:

Psychiatry