Passion versus Reason On the Spectrum: An Aspergers Memoir

"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." — Socrates

The goal of this little book is to improve communication between people across "The Autism Spectrum." Like all spectra, it has two ends and a middle. The author, based on his research and personal experience, considers the "Passion Reason Spectrum (PRS)" a more accurate descriptor.

A pathologist by training, Dr. Morgan finds the naming of things to be of interest and importance. Pathologists specialize in the classification of health challenges. Name it a personality type or phenotype, and you'll more likely focus on finding an effective life-style and environment. The author considers this to be an essential feature of human phenotypic variation, a characteristic essential for survival of any species when they encounter major environmental upheavals.

Now in his early 80s, the author recently discovered he is "On the spectrum." Learning this explained a lot about his life, in addition to dramatically improving relationships, friends, neighbors and, more importantly, himself. Dr, Morgan prefers the term Aspergers to autism for highly functional individuals. The discovery of his personality type led to the ongoing research described in the book. Dr. Morgan, a researcher at heart, took advantage of the publicly available 50-question Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) test. The data generated by this work is provided, along with a graphical presentation of his findings and interpretation. This study provides a new way to explore at an important subject., which has serious potential social consequences.

The author describes the social challenges he faced, and the valuable social lessons he learned throughout his long career in science. For instance, he says:

"Study the values of people not like you, and allow for them during your interactions. They can be extremely sensitive to perceived slights, slights to which we may be completely blind."

"When you see someone enjoying an activity you consider trivial, don't judge them, be pleased they are having a good time, even if it's not enjoyable for you."

A fascinating journey, full of short stories about the author's life as a farm veterinarian in England, a pathologist in Switzerland, an established researcher in the USA, and finally how he found his element in the new world of "Omics," and essential nature of mathematics for our understanding of dynamic biological systems.