Embrace The Void Autism and Humanism with Alastair Lichten
Oct 3, 2025
In this discussion, Alastair Lichten, a humanist organizer and writer, delves into the intriguing connection between autism, neurodivergence, and non-religion. He explores how autistic thinking styles might challenge social taboos, leading to a questioning of religious beliefs. Alastair also addresses the implications of assuming correlations between neurodivergence and beliefs, the significance of justice sensitivity, and the potential for neurodivergent individuals to contribute uniquely to moral philosophy, emphasizing the need for inclusive practices.
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Less Uptake Of Implicit Taboos
- Autistic people may disregard implicit social taboos, leading them to question religion where others avoid it.
- Alastair recounts personal schooling instances where questioning religion led to punishment others avoided.
School Laugh Led To Questioning Faith
- Alastair recounts laughing in religious education and getting punished despite sincere curiosity.
- He links that childhood pattern to later apostasy among autistic people from strict religious backgrounds.
Self-Made Rules Versus External Rules
- Many autistic people prefer self-created rules while sometimes resisting externally imposed ones, affecting religious rule-following.
- This tension may push some toward or away from religious systems depending on explicitness of rules.
