Animals in translation

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…ss it was to cause him/her to focus on things more." I think this is probably a symptom of what I described above, rather than the root cause. Read Temple Grandin's book Animals in Translation if you want a better account. The book is written by an autistic woman who discovered that she has a really uncanny ability to understand animals. Basically she is able to see which stimuli are causing cattle and other animals to freak out, and the way she is able to do this is because her perception of the world is altered in a way that makes these stimuli (and their effects) more salient. For example, she will realize that the reason the cow won't move is because it sees a shadow, which no one else can recognize even though it's right in front of them. Apparently both autistics and animals are set off by some of the same things, because they don't…

… you read the literature on selective breeding they have extensive methodologies for avoiding genetic problems. If you just want a quick overview, Temple Grandin's book "Animals in Translation" has a couple of really entertaining chapters on the subject.

The disadvantage of intelligence is probably due to single trait selection and not the extra intelligence itself. Temple Grandin's book Animals In Translation has a chapter about this. Ridiculously insightful book too.