Are we emotionless?

Post Reply New Topic

There are many people think that people with Aspergers Syndrome doesn't have got any bit of emotion, and they also add that we are acting like robots.
So, they think that we are emotionless, selfish and living with no feelings.
Ok! Maybe we are facing some problems to show our real feelings to other people (both in verbal and physical ways)

1)But, can this not-showing thing make us people with no hearts?
2)Has "having less emotion" been proven by scientists?
3)And, Are we really self-centered?

4)Do you think that you are selfish, and emotionless?


I personally think that I have more emotions than other people has.
I just face problems to show it to others.
Sometimes I even can't smile because I don't know if it's the right time to smile
So, a person that sees me may normally think that i have no feelings, but really do have.

It's kind of funny how they claim that NTs can read other people's emotions and feel what others feel, but when it's shown differently, they think there aren't any.

I keep wondering why it's so often depicted as a nearly magical ability, obviously it isn't.

You can't compare people's emotions except by brain-scans. All emotions are self-reported other than that; so what you're really measuring is emotional expressiveness and subjective experience of emotions.

That said, from what I have seen, it seems like autistic people are, on average, about as emotionally expressive as neurotypicals. However, autistics have a wider range of expressiveness--there are more of us who are either very expressive or hardly expressive at all; as well as more of us who report feeling very intense emotions, and more who report feeling very little emotion.

The idea that autistic people don't have "hearts" is an incorrect stereotype. From all the things I've read, autistic people do not have an impairment in compassion. What we do tend to have, more often than NTs, are impairments in detecting emotion in other people. (There are hyper-empathic autistics out there, though.) So, we may have no clue that someone else is hurting; but once we figure it out, we will be just as compassionate as the average NT. Autism is not a problem of compassion; it is a problem of communication.

You are correct in saying that autistics are more often "self-centered" than neurotypicals are; but that's only a true statement when you use a specific definition of "self-centered". Consider a two-year-old (neurotypical) child, who has not yet learned to take another's perspective, whose theory of mind is still very primitive. He is quite capable of loving his mother and quite capable of caring about her when she is upset. However, he will not know how to take her perspective; so when she is upset, he may well try to comfort her by bringing her his favorite toy, because that toy would comfort him. He doesn't understand yet that his mother thinks differently. That is the "self-centered" action of a child (I have to put it in quotes, because it means a totally different thing from what it means in ordinary conversation). Many autistics are similarly unable to take another person's perspective. Most of the time, theory of mind does become available, though later than it does in neurotypical children, and usually through logical rather than empathic development. Rather than instinctively understanding how another person feels, many autistic people have to reason it out logically, which can take longer. So, "self-centered"... maybe, but not in the way most people define the term.

Ditto. I consider myself pretty emotional. Many people have told me I'm passionate about the things I care about. But those are people who I've allowed myself to get close to. I've also been called ice-cold by others. I find that certain things, like music, evoke almost uncontrollable feelings in me. Music inspires mental imagery which can often move me to tears regardless of the mood of the image. Many others things which "normal" people find moving have absolutely no effect on me.

I kind of look at it as running on different emotional operating systems. I am quite capable of emotion. I just don't necessarily arrive at them by the usual processes, and I don't necessarily express or deal with my emotions in the usual ways. That doesn't mean I don't have them. Just means I have them differently and one can't always tell by just looking at me, as most people are used to being able to do because most people they run into are running on the same operating system as they are.

You missed out "Both NTs and Aspies aren't emotionless".

I only know what my emotions relating to things are months later, and do so by analyzing things, and I probably don't display as much empathy as NTs, but I'm by no means emotionless at all.

Last edited by Asp-Z on 18 Jan 2010, 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am really emotional, but I don't really show it to people? I dunno. . .

I have emotions... many usually manifest as anxiety. For the most part, I separate my emotions from immediate decision making, so I don't act impulsively. I generally just try to ignore emotions and to the smart thing. At the end of each day, I go home and let my mind unspool, and feel everything I have been suppressing in private. Nobody else needs to know what I feel or think.

No we are not self centered but some aspies are.
I am not selfish and I do have emotions.

My husband can feel from me but my ex's claimed they couldn't feel anything from me and hugging me was like hugging a robot but my mom said she could feel from me so maybe it was just them. After all one was aspie and the other had traits.

No valid option. Both NT and AS individuals are emotional; empathy does not translate as emotion, though many seem eager to do so. My own reactions tend to fall on extremes... either rather flat and disinterested, or passionate and intense. Don't walk that middle ground very well.


M.

Poll choices are far too limiting here.

One school of thought holds that we are super-emotional and lock up because of so much emotion. Others hold that our emotions are equal, but skewed and that we express emotion over things the mainstream considers "inappropriate". Example: You may cry over a video game but sit stone-cold at a relative's funeral.

If I may abuse the Bard: There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in this poll's philosophy.

I have been called a robot and told that I don't seem to have emotions, but I think my emotions are actually very strong and overwhelming.

It obviously varies from individual to individual more than it does from one group (AS) to another (NT). I don't feel or express as much emotion socially as most NT's but I appreciate solitary emotional experiences. I'm greatly moved by things I perceive beauty in. For instance, when some music comes on that I really like others around me will often talk through it while I'm the only one who becomes quiet as the music overtakes me. Same thing happens when I'm hiking in some beautiful surroundings, I just want to be silent and absorb the environment while others around me can't seem to quit talking.

The poll choices are too limiting..I am not qualified to make generalizations about NTs..I really cannot accurately respond to this thread...

yes. poll choices are too limited and i don't like the NT references in just about every choice.

that being said, I live in a realm of either no feeling or the other extreme - which is intense, rudimentary feelings which rule my world and affect my relating with others. I am hyper-expressive with no mid-range and it is painful as people constantly misinterpret this in me all the time. I have a lot of meltdowns and I go from stony mothing to intensity on a scal of 1 to 10 in a second. people have accused me my whole life, of over-reacting, and yet I have not mid-range emotions to express. they do not exist in me. Nor does a soft and tender smile or a host of other outwardly expressed mid-range feelings. My face is overly expressive to the point it embarrasses me. I can look beautiful in a photo but WEIRD and strange in real life, with all the expressiveness ruling things.

NT's come in a wide variety, from emotionless (for an infinite number of reasons) to overly emotional (for an infinite number of reasons).

I can only speak for myself.

I'm not emotionless. I think I'm less emotional than most people and / or that I . . . experience emotions differently, or something.

A lot of people seem to be mildly emotional most of the time. They're obviously in a good mood, or a bad mood, or whatever.

My natural state is emotionlessness. I react emotionally to emotionally provocative situations, but if the emotion isn't overwhelming, I tend to keep it to myself. I do like to share pleasant emotions with people socially when it suits the occasion, and I like to use writing and music to express unpleasant emotions. If I feel emotionally overwhelmed by something, I may act strangely; it is so rare for me to experience extreme emotions that when I do, it kind of confuses me.