Or is there just something wrong with this instrument for self-evaluation?
The average score is pegged at 15 for a woman, 18 for a man. The “Asperger’s” range is 32-50.
I scored 30.
Now, I have this reputation (at least in the geek circles with which I run) of being social and diplomatic and empathetic and good at communicating. But these results would tend to suggest … not so much.
Although I’m wondering how accurate the self-assessments are. How good a judge am I of my facility at chit-chat or of how well I “read” other people? Also, the items that ask about what you prefer (rather than what you’re good at) might assume that preferences tend to track skills.
But I think the main thing that struck me about the quiz is how many of the items concern tendencies or habits of mind that seem to be enhanced by the study of analytic philosophy. Categorization? Check. Obsessing over small details while setting aside big-picture considerations for later? Yup. Recognizing the inscrutability of others to whose minds we have no privileged access (which means their beliefs and intentions can’t be predicted with certainty from their words, actions, or facial expressions)? You better believe it.
If only I had taken a pre-test before my philosophical training, I might know how many of these points I could attribute to that training.
(Via Kevin.)
I only scored a 16. I think it’s low, and I think your score is high. I think you’re on to something re: philosophical training.
be glad that you only scored 30. I scored 45 and my social skills are definitely in the bottom 2%. But my math skills are in the top 1%.
I got 28. Apart from being locked in a small room all day by myself writing papers I’m even slightly aspergery.
I would think that anybody that has been trained to distrust their subjective judgement will probably score highly on this test. So add evidence based medicine/epidemiology to the list with philosophical training.
As noted at the linked site, the test score by itself is not a diagnosis; it’s only one of several tools a professional might apply to help decide whether someone has asperger’s.
But perhaps you chose analytic philosophy because you (nearly) have asperger’s … indeed, if only you knew what you would have scored before.
I got a 38. I tried again, trying to answer all questions as I would have at age 21 (when I entered college), and got a 44. So maybe 4 years majoring in computer science reduced my Asperger’s? Of course it isn’t that simple. I tried to answer as I would have at age 10 and got a 48.
I’m one better than the average math contest winner (25). I feel unfairly penalized for my ability to notice patterns where others don’t, like tasty tasty morels hiding in a forest full of similarly shaped pine cones.
Does analytic philosophy give you Asperger’s Syndrome?
No, but academia is a sheltered workshop for autism-spectrum disorder.
I scored 39, which seems about right to me. I usually score somewhere in the bottom of the “high functioning autistic” range on these things.
(I maintain it’s not autism, I just hate and fear humans — which is neither an illness nor a prejudice, but a perfectly rational response to almost 40 years’ worth of direct observation.)
I tried to do the test but I got distracted.
Attention to detail is also a survival trait among mothers, useful in keeping track of the kids and what’s going on in their lives. Autistic or parent? You decide.
I scored 30 as well. But the question is – did philosophy make you that way, or did being that way make you do philosophy?
Like all these pop-psychology quizzes what they are really measuring is your level of neurosis. Once again the rich spectrum of personality types has been reduced to a propensity to a clinical condition. Therapists and educational psychologists must love this method of increasing their client base
I scored a 21, If I had taken the test ten years ago I would have added 15-20 points to the score. The problem with this tests is that they misrepresent Asperger’s as being a continuum, which you get closer and closer to as your score goes up. This is not the case, I am not closer to having Asperger’s than someone who scored a twelve or a five, I just exhibit behavior that is similar to those with Asperger’s.
Agree with criticisms by Mike and coathangrrr. Scored 35 the first time, hyperanalyzed the results, questioned whether I shaded my answers to achieve a predetermined result, then scored 30 after taking a deep breath and answering less neurotically.
Like a commenter on the quiz page, I was irked by a singular/plural agreement error (…or WAS it?) in Question #34.
As for your titular question, I’d venture that any Aspergerous tendencies you may or may not exhibit have more to do with the “analytic” than with the “philosophy” (or chem too, for that matter) aspects of your traits and training.
I scored a 27. I almost think that when I was younger and not as good with social situations, I would’ve scored a lower number because I didn’t recognize some of the problems (or the extent to which the average person is more socially adept than me) and so would’ve answered some of the questions differently. Not that I think the test is crap or anything, I guess it’s just one of many useful tools for people who know how to interpret the results.
26, but I’m a geek. I’d have probably scored higher when I was younger, but I’ve mellowed.
16, myself. Of course, note that the disclaimer says it’s “designed for fun”, though “not intended to make light of those who are suffering from autism or Asperger’s syndrome”. Presumably, it just makes light of your “average female scientist” and others with those ratings, unless the designer went out and did a statistically significant survey of female scientists’ scores on this test…
I scored a 31, but as long as we consider AJ Ayer to be an analytic philosopher, then no, it doesn’t necessarily give someone Aspergers (check out the section on Ayer vs. Mike Tyson on his Wikipedia page). But I think analytic philosophy does attract people with many characteristics of Aspergers, at least in certain specialties like epistemology, logic, philosophy of physics, and such.
I have Asperger’s (high-functioning) and got a 30. What may be throwing the test off is a) it’s self-analysis and b) I think I tend to enjoy/crave social interaction more than the AS stereotype suggests.
I scored a 30, too. I was trying to answer more toward the non-nerdy end of the spectrum than I might typically, so it surprised me that I scored so high. I think I might have had these traits to the degree that it made my social life miserable when I was a teenager, but I’ve grown a lot since then in that area of my life, and I’m happy with who I am now.
I think that academia is full of people with those kinds of traits because it’s a good place for us, not because it makes us the way we are.