Creative failure at the level of social context is something we all experience when we have a manuscript rejected for publication or a grant denied funding, or tell a joke at which no one laughs. These are normal occurrences, and with patience and persistence, alternative strategies can help us achieve an approximation of the intended goal, regardless of whether or not it is identical to the original one. Failure to gain acceptance from and resonate with the audience – the prevailing social context – is what distinguishes hit products, such as the Apple iPod, or popular artists from their many rivals whose names are quickly forgotten.
Autism spectrum disorder covers a wide range of abilities and impairments, and may result from many causes. Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome are at the mild end of the autism spectrum (although they face significant challenges that are more than mild for many), and are characterized less by cognitive impairment than by social awkwardness. They possess the necessary motivation, perception, mental imagery, formulation, and execution skills, and the temperament to create products worthy of society’s consideration, and some have succeeded in spectacular ways.
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is one such remarkable individual. A doctor of animal husbandry, professor at Colorado State University, and self-described techie, she developed the industry standard animal-handling equipment for cattle. She is a noted advocate for those who have autism, and has achieved celebrity status through her speeches, articles, and books.
Her most recent book, "Different Not Less" (Arlington, Tex.: Future Horizons, 2012) contains a series of 14 vignettes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder who tell their own stories of the challenges they faced in their successful struggles to achieve a "normal life." Many share similar tales of social challenges, such as being bullied in school, having difficulty forming intimate relationships, and maintaining steady employment. For example, a member of the special education faculty at Adelphi University described his interactions with classmates in elementary school this way: "Instead of talking with my classmates, I had a repertoire of sounds and actions that I would make at them. I actually hoped I would get them to repeat these sounds and actions back at me. For me, that was a more predictable type of interaction than attempting to enter into a conversation."
Although these are all stories of success, they detail the challenges that these individuals overcame to achieve a stable life for themselves in mainstream society.
However, another individual suspected of being autistic was more famously unsuccessful. Ted Kaczynski, the "Unabomber," did not begin life as a terrorist. Like many of the people in Dr. Grandin’s book, he was an intellectually gifted child who had difficulty socializing with other children – playing beside them rather than with them – and was subject to bullying. He entered Harvard College at age 16, graduated by age 20, and obtained a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Michigan where his thesis won the university’s annual prize as the school’s best in mathematics. By age 25, he was hired by the University of California, Berkeley, the youngest professor ever hired by the school. But as a teacher, Kaczynski was uncomfortable with the classroom environment. He resigned less than 2 years later and began his life of isolation that led him to a tiny one-room cabin in rural Montana without electricity or running water. He was offended by the encroachment of technology, roads, and civilization in general.
Kaczynski sent his first bomb in 1978, the first of many over a 17-year period that targeted universities, airlines, and other businesses. His bombs resulted in three deaths and 23 injuries, until he was captured following the New York Times’s and the Washington Post’s publication of his manifesto titled, "Industrial Society and Its Future," in which he essentially explained the rationale for his actions. His was the most expensive manhunt in FBI history, ending only because of his brother’s ability to recognize Ted’s writing style in the published manifesto. Kaczynski is an extremely intelligent man, but he clearly has a problem melding his skill set and goals with those of mainstream society.
Although it may be obvious, it is worth emphasizing that autism does not predispose individuals to sociopathic behavior; rather, Kaczynski’s case illustrates that individuals with socially awkward behavior are still highly capable people with the capacity to give an outlet to whatever other personality traits – good or bad – they possess.
The time line of human creativity is really one of social interaction. Another example of impaired creativity reflecting social context results from social isolation. Human hunter-gatherer groups represent the simplest form of human society. Typically, they are isolate groups, with relatively low numbers of individuals. Biologically, they are no different from us. Their level of cooperation among group members, like ours, far exceeds that of our closest primate relatives, yet technologically, hunter-gatherer groups are very primitive (Evol. Anthropol. 2009; 18:187-200). Assuming that Homo sapiens has existed for roughly 200,000 years, it took 195,000 of those years for us to invent a wheel. Everything else has since followed as a series of incremental advances. However, factors that lead to social isolation exclude the hunter-gatherer group’s members from the slow but steady advance of global knowledge and technology.