How Autism and Invention Are Connected
Our unique ability to analyze patterns is at the root of a psychological disability and the talent that drives human development Illustration: Jon Krause Dec. 12, 2020 12:01 am ET
On the face of it, we shouldn’t expect any link between a neurological disability and one of the crowning talents of our species. But new research is revealing a surprising connection between autism and the uniquely human capacity for invention.
As the archaeological record shows, our ancestors started inventing things 70,000 to 100,000 years ago. This was when humans evolved the capacity to seek patterns particularly to spot and experiment with the basic cause-and-effect relationship of
will deliver their final arguments. a verdict could come as early as saturday. the house of representatives is expected to vote on and pass a one-week spending bill. it would keep the government running through october 4th and avoid a government shutdown. finally this half-hour, one of those completely compelling people who are difficult to forget. he is the nephew of camilla parker bowles. the wife of britain s prince charles. but that hardly matters. this is an incredible story. he is a pianist who performed a concert last night, written just for him. abc s nick watt met him right before the big show. reporter: derek paravacini is one of the world s most extraordinary pianists. he is severely autistic and totally blind. jump. reporter: also known as the human ipod. here s why. derek, i am going to play you crazy in love by beyonce.
will deliver their final arguments. a verdict could come as early as saturday. the house of representatives is expected to vote on and pass a one-week spending bill. it would keep the government running through october 4th and avoid a government shutdown. finally this half-hour, one of those completely compelling people who are difficult to forget. he is the nephew of camilla parker bowles. the wife of britain s prince charles. but that hardly matters. this is an incredible story. he is a pianist who performed a concert last night, written just for him. abc s nick watt met him right before the big show. reporter: derek paravacini is one of the world s most extraordinary pianists. he is severely autistic and totally blind. jump. reporter: also known as the human ipod. here s why. derek, i am going to play you crazy in love by beyonce.
play him a tune he has never heard before. he can play it right back. crazy in love with a flourish. yea! derek is continually reinventing the material. he is not an ipod at all. no, no, no. you re an ipod with a creativity chip, derek. yeah. reporter: unable to see or communicate at the age of 2, derek started banging a keyboard. and he hasn t stopped since. he is what i call an exceptional cognitive environment when the whole mind becomes focused on this one thing. reporter: you say you think? you don t know for sure.
no one knows for sure. i don t think we ll ever know for sure. reporter: and he is way more than a human ipod because ipods don t improvise. reporter: nick watt, abc news, london. huh. that kind of god-given talent is to me staggering. if you want to learn more about this guy, his mentor who you saw in the piece, he wrote a book derek s biography. in the key of genius. so check that out. it is indeed. that is the news for this half hour. don t miss our updates on facebook. wnnfans.com.