LawnNinja wrote:
Some people aren't aware of the impact of misinformation and "fictionalized satire". Coming to such a site if googling for information, unaware of the intent or scope of the e.d. site, one (maybe not you, me, or the next guy, but someone) might take the information as fact. Especially with disclaimer and "about" links at the very bottom. I notice these details, but the fact is that not everyone does. My point is that an extremely literal, fact-based person might see the encyclopedia dramatic entry for Asperger's and not know it is satire.
So what? I took people literally and seriously when they told me to flush my head down the toilet. As a consequence I did not flush my head down the toilet. I also did not try to find any short planks to take long walks down, or any lakes to jump into, even though I took directives to do so literally. The fact remains that anyone who does not know better than to shoot someone (including themselves) in the head, just because they believe they are literally being told to do so, should not have unsupervised access to anything at all, including the internet, but most certainly and specifically firearms.
I do not care how seriously someone takes the "advice", or how factual they think the "advice" is. I do care whether or not people who would take a firearm and shoot someone in the head because that's what they think someone has told them to do, has access to firearms. Anyone who would shoot anyone on someone's say-so, ought not have access to firearms, or be generally unsupervised. I'd have thought this would be both good sense and common sense.
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This has nothing to do with "stupidity" -perceived or otherwise, of an individual or a group of people. Someone not identifying "fictionalized satire" does not make them stupid.
Obviously, but being prepared to shoot someone, on the mere say-so of the internet, does not speak well of someone's intellectual capabilities at all, and frankly it does mean the person ought not be able to access the internet unsupervised. What if the person came across an extreme racist hate sight demanding people "bash a darkie" or some twiddle? What if they found a sadistic sight advising women should be raped, or children interfered with "down there", or that it is admirable and will earn a place in paradise if someone straps a bomb around themselves and kills themselves and others in the name of some particular deity?
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"Animal Farm" is a perfect example-if someone is unaware that it is an allegory when they read it, then it is just a book about talking farm animals. If the historical or political context, or the allegorical nature, are not given (by a teacher, by reading reviews or analysis of the book prior to reading it, etc) there is no way to know that it is satire, and anything but literal.
None of which would actually explain why a sensible person would think it realistically described reality. I did not know (when I first read it) and still am a bit unclear on the whole allegorical thing, but I knew very well that pigs do not talk and this did not change just because some book said otherwise.
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Not every child grows up in a home that is supporting and loving and everyone happy and accepting of differences.
I am aware of this fact.
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The suggestion though is that suicide/death is the only treatment or cure may be the final nail in the coffin for someone who cannot manage the impact Asperger's has on their lives-whether it is their own or someone else's (sibling, child, etc).
Which is a ridiculous argument. If that piece of text could serve as a trigger for someone on the edge, then just about anything could, and in the absence of that text, something else would. Someone that far out on the edge, again, is someone that needs supervision until they are in a more stable state. Persons currently in such an unstable state clearly are persons who currently need supervision.
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Planting the seed that making Asperger's go away is a few simple, horrible, and irreversible steps, is the last thing anyone needs.
The idea of suicide is readily available and accessible and pervasive in the environment without this text.
01 Jun 2009, 5:38 pm
