Editing Openai/69177fbb-14c4-800f-bc57-ccb5a1d88c95 (section)

=== Assistant: Your question is correct in its framing: the idea comes from RDOS aka Øyvind Hammer, the creator of the Aspie Quiz, who… ===
Your question is correct in its framing: the idea comes from RDOS (aka Øyvind Hammer), the creator of the Aspie Quiz, who has argued for many years that autistic traits—especially the “systemizing, pattern-oriented, low-social-signal” cluster—represent a partial Neanderthal cognitive inheritance.

A quick evaluation:

Correctness / standing of the idea:
This is considered a fringe hypothesis. It has no support in mainstream paleoanthropology, genetics, or autism research. Genetic studies show that nearly all non-African humans have ~1–2% Neanderthal DNA, but there’s no evidence that this DNA corresponds to autistic traits specifically. RDOS’s framework is more of a speculative narrative built by correlating personality profiles with his interpretation of Neanderthal behavior, not something empirically validated.

Who tends to find it appealing:
It often resonates with people who identify strongly with autism/Asperger’s traits and prefer an evolutionary-niche explanation—especially those who lean toward systemizing worldviews or anthropology-as-identity frameworks.

Who tends to reject it:
Researchers, clinicians, and people oriented toward evidence-based models of neurodevelopment usually dismiss it as non-scientific.

If you want, I can break down the main claims of RDOS’s theory, the scientific problems with each step, or why these ideas keep resurfacing in autism communities.