stand up against: hitler didn't have asperger

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From the article~

"it's usually fear of repercussion that keeps us from torturing our fellow human beings. Give us absolute power over somebody and a blank check from our superiors, and Abu Ghraib-esque naked pyramids are sure to follow"

I don't agree with this at all. That's like saying that the only reason i don't steal is because I'm afraid I'll go to jail. I don't steal, because it's wrong to take the belongings of a person who has worked to earn those things, when I have done nothing to earn them. I wouldn't want someone to steal the things that I have worked hard for and I have to assume that others feel the same way. I think most people can at least identify with each others feelings when it comes to being wronged. I would never want to be the bringer of anyone's suffering on any level.

The article makes for "juicy" reading, but I'm not buying it. I'd like to believe that most people are good.

I think most people can at least identify with each others feelings when it comes to being wronged. I would never want to be the bringer of anyone's suffering on any level.

Before conducting the experiment, Milgram polled fourteen Yale University senior-year psychology majors to predict the behavior of 100 hypothetical teachers. All of the poll respondents believed that only a very small fraction of teachers (the range was from zero to 3 out of 100, with an average of 1.2) would be prepared to inflict the maximum voltage. Milgram also informally polled his colleagues and found that they, too, believed very few subjects would progress beyond a very strong shock.[1]

In Milgram's first set of experiments, 65 percent (26 of 40)[1] of experiment participants administered the experiment's final massive 450-volt shock, though many were very uncomfortable doing so; at some point, every participant paused and questioned the experiment, some said they would refund the money they were paid for participating in the experiment.

And when ZImbardo interviewed those who went to prison for AG, he didn't find any particular pathology, save being a bit more of an authoritarian follower than average.

This gets at things like, how is it that a person can work all day in the basement of the Guatamlalan State Police Headquarters, torturing people, and then go home and be a loving husband and father? Or, how could most of the soldiers who ran the Nazi death camps be "normal people" ("the banality of evil").

The difficult thing is that that kind of stuff does happen. We want to think that the 'bad people' are all slobbering maniacs who would be incapable of any normal human existence, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The people who rode in on camels and beat the Egyptian protestors didn't come from Hell, they were always there in the community, just waiting for the right conditions (the right orders from abovem, in that case) to arise. (I've always been amazed how mass beatings are never averted because there aren't enough willing participants.)

I think most people can at least identify with each others feelings when it comes to being wronged. I would never want to be the bringer of anyone's suffering on any level.

Thinking about deliberately doing someone harm is one thing, but the situations that occur in the real world aren't usually like that. There's always something else going on -- a context. Milgram showed that in the context of being ordered by an authority figure (who only had assumed authority -- there actually wasn't any) a majority of people will continue beyond another person's screaming and pleading for the shocks to stop. And the SPE (which has it's criticisms) says that if you give people authority, they will tend to abuse it. Even if they are normal people.

It's not as simple as "are people good or bad"? It seems that good people can do bad things (statistically), given the right circumstances. And this seems important for humanity to know, so we can watch out for those kinds of situations.

I.e. should the guards who committed the abuse at Abu Grahib go to prison (as they did), or should the people who set the place up bear more responsibility? (Especially since some of those people specialized in intelligence, and would likely have backgrounds in psychology (which means they'd know about the SPE and ME).)

Another aspect is to be on the lookout for abuse in places where there is a great disparity in power/authority. I.e. nursing homes, institutions, orphantages, hospitals, prisons.

Then the entire country had antisocial personality disorder, he being only the most visible among them.

Who cares? He's dead now.

Perhaps it makes people too uncomfortable to accept that someone can torture, kill, and oppress and still be perfectly sane clinically.

The OP is simply pointing out the obvious: that Hitler had no obvious Aspergian traits, and that he had an abundance of NPD traits, so it is absurd to suggest that he was the former while at the same time ignoring the possiblity that he was the latter.

Michael Fitzgerald, an expert in autism spectrum disorders, concludes that Hitler suffered from, and met all the criteria of Asperger syndrome as documented by Hans Asperger.




As debated as Hitler's physical medical issues may be, his mental health is a minefield of theories and speculation. This topic is very controversial, as many believe that if a psychological cause can be found for Hitler's behavior, there would be more reasoning behind his actions.

Waite, who authored an extensive psychohistory of Hitler, concluded that he suffered from borderline personality disorder, which manifested its symptoms in numerous ways and would imply Hitler was in full control of himself and his actions. Others have proposed Hitler may have been schizophrenic, based on claims that he was hallucinating and delusional during his last year of life. Many people believe that Hitler had a mental disorder and was not schizophrenic nor bipolar, but rather met the criteria for both disorders, and was therefore most likely a schizoaffective. If true, this might be explained by a series of brief reactive psychoses in a narcissistic personality which could not withstand being confronted with reality (in this case, that he was not the "superman" or "savior of Germany" he envisioned himself to be, as his plans and apparent early achievements collapsed about him). In addition, his regular methamphetamine use and possible sleep deprivation in the last period of his life must be factored into any speculation as to the cause of his possible psychotic symptoms, as these two activities are known to trigger psychotic reactions in some individuals. However, Hitler never visited a psychiatrist, and under current methodology, any such diagnosis is speculation.

Michael Fitzgerald, an expert in autism spectrum disorders, concludes that Hitler suffered from, and met all the criteria of Asperger syndrome as documented by Hans Asperger. As evidence of possible Asperger's, Fitzgerald cites Hitler's poor sleep patterns, food fads, dislike of physical contact, inability to forge genuine friendships, and an emptiness in his human relations. His conversations in the Men’s Home in Vienna were really harangues and invited no reciprocity, for which he seemingly lacked capacity. In Munich, Hitler was distant, self-contained, withdrawn and without friends. His comrades noted that he had no humanitarian feelings, that he was single-minded and inflexible. He was obsessive and rarely made good or interesting company, except in the eyes of those who shared his obsessions or those in awe of, or dependent on him.

As far as hobbies or pastimes were concerned, Hitler spent a great deal of time examining architectural plans with Albert Speer, an activity that remained a major focus of his life throughout. His other major interest was in the music of Richard Wagner. His greatest interest, clearly, was in control of and power over people.

Fitzgerald further states that Hitler was an ideologue with unshakable convictions, and had a bed compulsion, which demands that the bed be made in a particular way with the quilt folded according to a prescribed pattern, and that a man must make the bed before he could go to sleep. He did not use language for the purpose of interaction with others, but only for the purpose of dominating others. He endlessly engaged in long-winded and pedantic speeches, with "illogical arguments full of crude comparisons and cheap allusions." He was unable to carry on a normal conversation or discussion with people. Even if only one other person was present, he had to do all the talking. His manner of speech soon lost any conversational qualities it might have had and took on all the characteristics of a lecture that easily developed into a tirade. He simply forgot his companions and behaved as though he were addressing a multitude, repeating the same stories over and over again in exactly the same form, almost as though he had memorised them. After the First World War, "his awkward mannerisms" were noted. At that time, he wore his gangster hat and trenchcoat over his dinner jacket, toting a pistol and carrying as usual his dog whip, he cut a bizarre figure in the salons of Munich’s upper-crust. But his very eccentricity of dress and exaggerated mannerism saw him lionized by condescending hosts and fellow guests. In his early days, he wore the Bavarian costume. His clothes were not clean; with his mouth full of brown, rotted teeth and his long fingernails, he presented a rather grotesque figure. His gait was a very lady-like walk; dainty little steps. Every few steps he ****** his right shoulder nervously, his left leg snapping up as he did so. He also had a tic in his face that caused the corner of his lips to curl upwards. People found his look "staring and dead."

Fitzgerald claims, therefore, that Adolf Hitler met the criteria for autistic psychopathy described by Hans Asperger, and was not schizophrenic.