Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant who was interviewed in the New Scientist on January 3rd, 2009. I found his answer on connecting human minds rewarding:
"The abilities of savants have been pigeonholed as somehow supernatural, almost inexplicable and certainly not as part of the natural continuum of human talent. This has deformed how the public and, crucially, scientists, view the brain and human potential. It is insulting and potentially dehumanising. The future is an immensely scary place, full of all kinds of challenges. We will need every kind of mind, so why not bring along every kind of intelligence?" (c) The New Scientist
