Simon Baron-Cohen Quotes

In Silicon Valley, I point out that many of the more successful entrepreneurs seem to be suffering from a mild form of Asperger's where it's like you're missing the imitation, socialization gene.

When I achieved the European record for reciting pi in 2004, this captured the imagination of Professor Simon Baron-Cohen in Cambridge, and he finally diagnosed me with Asperger's that year.

One advantage to having a kid on the spectrum: they tend to be rule followers. Socially, things are harder for them than most kids.

There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.

Who do you think made the first stone spears? The Asperger guy. If you were to get rid of all the autism genetics, there would be no more Silicon Valley.

Comedians are innately programmed to pick up oddities like mispronounced words, upside-down books on a shelf, and generally undetectable mistakes in everyday life.

There tends to be a lot of autism around the tech centers... when you concentrate the geeks, you're concentrating the autism genetics.

Sometimes people say that kids with autism aren't capable of love. That's ridiculous. My son loves deeply. He just doesn't communicate well.

I spot detail quickly.

Take the perspective of a journalist or scientist. Really study what's around you. What are people wearing, what do the interiors of buildings look like, what noises do you hear? If you bring your analytical powers to bear, you can make almost anything interesting.

I've actually got quite a good memory. I've good recall. It's often things which other people might not notice.

When our son's autism was diagnosed at the age of 2, there was no clear prognosis. We didn't even know if he'd ever learn to talk. But we found talented people to work with him and he improved, slowly at first and then more rapidly.

If one person in a group of ten is missing the tip of his little finger, I will notice it almost immediately. This extreme attention to visual detail is not a virtue, just a fact of my person. It happens seemingly involuntarily and strikes me as neither good nor bad.

From a scientific standpoint, Aspergers and autism are one syndrome. Aspergers is part of the autism spectrum, not a separate disorder.

Attention to detail - Sherlock certainly has that, and my memory is pretty good - but not as good as his.

The way I am, I don't just look at, say, the shots being played but I observe the cricketers. I try and pick up little things from different individuals.

I've got Asperger's. I come at things from sideways.

Autistic peoples' excellent attention to detail means they may make fewer mistakes, and their narrow focus may mean that they are not satisfied until a task is completed.

Holmes serves as an ideal model of how we can learn to see and think better.

With equality of experience and of general faculties, a woman usually sees much more than a man of what is immediately before her.

You should not only have attention to everything, but a quickness of attention, so as to observe at once all the people in the room--their motions, their looks and their words--and yet without staring at them and seeming to be an observer.

I think when you practice photography or observation, you're on high alert. You polish up your antenna and stick up your head, and you're out there. You're receptive, appreciative of details. It heightens reality. You're trying to step into your alertness.

An object is frequently not seen, from not knowing how to see it, rather than from any defect of the organ of vision.

Documentary filmmaking ruins you for real life, because you learn to be extremely attentive.

Another thing all writers have in common is we're all observers. We pay attention to detail.