>>17051474A brief explanation of the theory is that, essentially, Asperger's, ADHD, and other neuro-atypicalities are not really "mental illnesses" in reality. They are previously adaptive natural behavioural phenotypes in humans, and the traits and symptoms had purpose in the past. Consider ADHD, for instance. Today it can be a detriment, because it makes it hard to stay still in one place and focus on menial or boring tasks/work/study. But as a hunter-gatherer society, having enough ADHD individuals was paramount to survival and success. Such individuals need to "go-go-go" and receive a constant stream of dopamine through their actions and stimuli. This makes them very ideally suited for hunting in the wilds, where they are naturally obtaining this stream of dopamine - a tendency to desire sitting still would be maladaptive. This is a very simplistic way to put it, but I'm sure you can see the point.
As for Asperger's, there are advantages for the tribe in having one to a few such individuals around as well. If they have typical obsession and like to tinker around, it is possible they will build tools the entire tribe can utilize and even occasionally come up with minor improvements or inventions. They socially maladaptive behaviours would be overlooked due to the advantage they brought the tribe as a whole.
But the more interesting part of the Neanderthal theory is that it is suspected that a great deal of human neuro-atypicalities were originally caused by the hybridization of humans with Neanderthal and other hominid. That Asperger's itself is a relic of that hybridization, and "sufferers" possess many Neanderthal mental/behavioural traits. When you get down to really examining it, it makes a lot of sense - it also explains why Blacks and SS Africans have much less chance of Asperger's: they never really hybridized with Neanderthal, just with a much more primitive hominid.
