I would like to take this opportunity to point out that “nerdiness” is not the same as autism, and to voice my opinion that the relationship of autism to interest in rationality has been overemphasized, possibly severely. Autism is only one possible cause of “nerdiness”; if a person (to use a completely hypothetical example) happens to suffer from a combination of high intelligence, OCD, and social anxiety, they may have all the usual “symptoms” -- such as hating small-talk, having trouble getting dates with “normal” people, et cetera—without being autistic at all.
I would like to take this opportunity to point out that “nerdiness” is not the same as autism, and to voice my opinion that the relationship of autism to interest in rationality has been overemphasized, possibly severely. Autism is only one possible cause of “nerdiness”; if a person (to use a completely hypothetical example) happens to suffer from a combination of high intelligence, OCD, and social anxiety, they may have all the usual “symptoms” -- such as hating small-talk, having trouble getting dates with “normal” people, et cetera—without being autistic at all.