Zatera Ul

I came across this old Autism-Spectrum Quotient Test in Wired today:

In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger’s report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.

I scored 39 (!) but I am far from being autistic. Just way out on one end or the other of the Bell curve for most measures. Difficulty functioning? Usually only when I have to speak, or navigate through minefields of not-to-be-spoken subtext. I’m sure that the average score for physicists taking this test is well above 16; many of the autism-spectrum traits are virtually requirements for success in such a hard (in both senses of the word) science.