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There are psychological reasons for this. Material possessions are vulnerable to the “hedonic treadmill”, says Montier, whereas experiences are not. In other words, we quickly get used to new things and they become part of our norm. “We might get a new fast car and at first be out washing it every weekend but six months later we have become accustomed to it, the kids have scuffed up the seats in the back and the boot is full of dog hairs, ” he says. “This is hedonic adaptation at work . . . material possessions are likely to be assimilated relatively fast.”

Experiences, on the other hand, become more valuable to us as time goes on. Their charm does not wear off but increases as experience is central to our identity. “Experiences seem to be open to positive review,” says Montier. “For instance, I have recently returned from diving in the Red Sea. The boat we were living on was an unmitigated disaster, from fires in the engine room to diesel fumes being pumped into the cabin. However, looking back, the things I remember most were a couple of stunning dives. We create our own revisionist histories with experiences. This isn’t available to a solid, hard material possession.”

Autistic children lack empathy. Couldn't autism simply be the result of a lack of empathy from the mother?

I mean, your theory of hormones is still valid. Testosterone inhibits empathy. It seems that we all go through an autism phase in childhood and autistic children get "stuck" there - meaning they aren't nurtured through that stage.

No refrigerator mom needed - with an autistic genetic propensity a less than perfect one is all that's needed. I mean, most people aren't really that empathetic and for most children they simply learn that amount of empathy and they're fine. But what if your thresh hold is smaller?

Most of the time the child will be fine b/c they're not particularly weak in this area. Good enough parenting will suffice.

All of our problems in civilization seem to be the result of our normal socializing process which is far from perfect in the area of empathy. Therefore, you're going to repress certain emotions to fit in with your family (big boys don't cry, etc.) These repressed emotions are going to come out, either in acting our behavior or a physical weakness failure like being stuck in your normal autistic phase.

Personally, at least on TV, all of these autistic mothers "seem" the same in some weird way. They're not cold, nor do they need be to make autism happen. But they seem less empathetic. Not cold, but children need you to notice when they feel things before they can notice themselves. If not they'll just stew in their own emotional juices. You have to notice and say "are you sad Timmy" b/c a lot of the time they don't even know and they'll just be moping around the house, waiting for someone to notice.

For most kids, good enough empathetic parenting is enough but for those that have a genetic weakness (for whatever reason - it could be neoteny)...haven't you noticed that all of the therapies are simply over-interacting therapies where they look the child directly in the eyes and ask him all sort of questions about his emotional state and get him to express himself. This seems like the opposite of his home environment doesn't it, or why would it work?

The answer may be simple but it forces parents (not to take the blame, they're trying their best) to face the unfortunate truth that the problem may be within. Source

 If one realizes that these clouds are all at about the same altitude then the Earth will begin to appear round.

It's interesting to re-train your senses to see the truth.  Actually, this is a constant process physically and psychologically.  We're taught so much untruth through actual training or simple neglect. 

The Summer Solstice is today!

The ultra rich create the poor. I know that people think that the poor people exist b/c they're lazy but consider this. Imagine that you live in a garden of sorts where there is a limited amount of fruit. You live there with 10 other people. The smartest person figures out how to get most of the fruit. One rich person and 9 poor. Such is the situation is the world.

The hoarding of the rich creates the destitute poor regardless of whether they hoard fruit, grain, livestock or money (symbolic labor). Just b/c you're smarter than everyone else, doesn't mean you deserve to have all the riches of the world. That's the crux of the problem - meritocracy gone overboard. Is it ever going to change? Hardly, but knowing the truth is some consolation. If I'm smarter than you, should you be hungrier? That's the way it's set up now. Really, the more gifted I am, the more I should give back, not take away. That old saying "To much is given, much is expected". Sure, but I know it's not going to change.

I saw this sports figure the other night on TV. He said he deserved to be rich b/c of his great body. Deserved is the funny word he used. I mean, it's mostly genetic isn't it, having a great body? It's not like he worked that hard at it. Heck, none of us really work that hard at anything we accomplish - it's mostly what comes naturally, otherwise it would be too much of a chore to do and we wouldn't bother.

Let's all stop patting ourselves on the back constantly for things we would've done regardless of the benefit.