Spareink

it is interesting that you mention autism. I'd never really thought of that, but I wonder if you are aware of the theories of autism researcher Simon Baron-Cohen has put forth (I'm fairly sure Alex would be aware of him).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,937913,00.

The relevance here is that he links the condition of autism to a 'hyper-male brain' which means that pre-natal exposure to certain levels of testosterone (I think) engender thinking patterns that are heavy on systematizing information, light on empathizing- and tends to be associated with acts of "direct" aggression at an early age (ramming toy cars deliberately together, etc)

Someone who is autistic is basically taking this to a radical extreme, often undermining their ability to communicate- although they are keenly aware and very focused and effective at what they're concentrating on.

It strikes me that books like 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged' when read at 17 might well appeal to such individuals, since they are about driven, monomaniacal characters disinterested in empathy that greatly benefit the world through their individualism.

Anyway, just food for thought. I generally try to avoid explaining people's politics by recourse to neurochemistry, although that does eventually raise all sorts of other interesting questions.

If you don't know- neurocognitive psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen is a cousin to social/verbal terrorist Sacha Baron-Cohen- aka Ali G., another interesting point to ponder.

also look at the Focused in 'a deepness in the sky'

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812536355/sr=8-1/qid=1139585249/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-3631501-4863832?%5Fencoding=UTF8