1- Act like you have Aspergers.

1. Act like you have Aspergers.

Okay, I know it’s a cheat, because people with Asperger’s don’t understand social conventions, but still, the number-one thing to do if you want to be a creative problem-solver is to not let yourself be constrained by social conventions.

The point of social conventions is to get everybody to act in predictable ways. What this means is that people with Asperger’s Syndrome are usually offensive, because they are unpredictable, but they see things in new ways.

 Try it.

Non-scientific evidence that Aspergers leads to creative problem-solving is that Silicon Valley is a magnet for people with Asperger’s. But also, I was talking to an editor at the New York Times, and he said, “You know how people say that the Jews rule the world? It’s not true. People with Asperger’s rule the world.” (I might argue that it’s a fine line, as I have a hunch based on no documentation that Aspergers is an affliction the Jews have selected for. Think about Shtetl life: whoever memorizes the most Torah gets the best wife.)