Autism and the Internet

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Greetings. I haven't been around here in a year or so, because I wanted to explore cyberspace and find other forums and chat rooms which commensurate with other hobbies and interests I have.

I have Asperger's disorder, and I have an interest in philosophy, psychology, religion and the paranormal...yet, I have been banned from every forum, site and chatroom on the internet (about 30) pertaining to these things...and it's not my fault.

I have just woken up today, only to find my account has been de-activated from yet another two, with the reason given "for being a disruptive influence" and that is always the reason given as to why my accounts always get banned from sites...and it always...always occurs thus:

I have a theory or an opinion on something to do with the interests above, backed up by personal experience and anecdotal evidence...which I make very clear at the start...that in no way does my opinion have any real basis in actuality.

I post the opinion/theory according to 'scientific method'...outlining the factors involved and giving reasons I have found which support the conclusions I make...

...and here's the basic outline of what happens next (in every single case):

Reply #1 - "What a total load of BS! only an delusional person would ever think that way" (post gets 6 'likes')

Me: - "would you kindly stop being so rude to me and please tell me, what part of my hypothesis do you so obviously disagree with?"

Reply #2 (same person) - "How dare you tell me what to do. This is a free internet and a free forum, so I can say whatever I like here". (post gets another 6 'likes')

Me: - "I am not telling you what to do, I would just prefer if people would just look at my hypothesis and base their argument on the actual merit of it and not just say "it is BS".

Reply #3 - "Poster #1 is right, you know. You should learn to grow a 'thick skin' and accept criticism...if you want people to hold your hand and agree with you, here's not the place to be". (post gets 10 "likes")

Me- "If I cannot post a hypothesis and have it critiqued on a forum for that very purpose, then where do you suggest I go?"

Reply #4 - (poster of reply #3) - "The reason why nobody is critiquing your hypothesis, is because it's a waste of our time even reading such trash and drivel" (post gets 8 "likes").

Me- "If you think my hypothesis is 'trash and drivel", why waste your time in this thread just to tell me so? Now could everybody please just get back on topic, look at my proposal and tell me what is wrong with it?"

Reply #5 - "There you go, telling us all what to do again. What makes you so 'important' and 'entitled' on here? *reported*" (post gets 12 "likes")

Me - "Would you prefer it if I just ignored you all then and waited for somebody else to come along and just be reasonable about this?"

Reply #6 - (same as poster #3) - "If you were going to ignore us, you would have already done so and not just sit there 'handwaving' and 'attention seeking'. You really have some nerve, know that? *reported* (post gets 8 "likes")

Me- "*sigh* so I guess you are all just going to validate my hypothesis by refusing to even critique it then?"

Reply #7 (same poster as reply #1). "We are not critiquing it because there's nothing there that's even worth examining or discussing and like poster #3 said, if you can't accept criticism, then get the hell off our forum" (10 "likes")

Me- "So I get it...it's okay for you to tell me what to do and not vice versa. That's just hypocritical".

Reply #8 "I see, you are calling me a hypocrite now?" *reported* (post gets 8 "likes")

Then, I just go ahead and make another post to break down every single aspect of my hypothesis, giving explanations and reasons thinking "maybe I made this just a bit to 'general' for anybody to understand and I may get a better response if I just simplified it and broke it down.

Reply #9 - "The 'end' does in no way justify the 'means' and your ludicrous and ridiculous claim is only based on anecdotal evidence which is the result of confirmation biases and not hard, scientific fact". (10 'likes')

Me- "So, all you are saying there is I have just expressed an opinion which I said it was at the very beginning?"

Reply #10 (the same poster as reply #3) - "If you are willing to actually believe that, you are just as gullible as the rest of those quacks out there" (8 "likes").

Me- "so now, you insult my intelligence for having the courage to express an opinion? That's pretty rich".

Reply #11 (the same poster as reply #1) - "If you actually said something intelligent, you'd get a much more favourable response" (8 "likes")

Me- *sigh* "why so much hate on this forum? You guys are not real skeptics, you are just critics and have a very mean and nasty attitude".

Reply #12 "so now you are criticising the whole forum then? way to go!" *reported* (post gets 10 "likes")

Me- "For the last time, won't somebody even look? critique? reply? anything?"

*no response after that*

Then I get frustrated and log out...only to try and log on the very next day, only to find my account has been 'deactivated' (they will NEVER straight out ban me, because that only makes me look like a 'martyr' to others who have an opinion, but who are too afraid to express it).

This has happened not only once...or two times...or even three times...but over 20 times now. It's like nobody in cyberspace even wants to listen to anything I have to say.

When I went to my ISP to recharge my pre-paid voucher, I told them this story and they said: 'people on the internet will just ask for an opinion they don't want to hear'.

So now, my misanthropy and total hatred for mankind has just been rekindled and is raging into a burning fire within, causing me to have suicidal and homicidal ideations..

Hence why I return here.

It'd be better if you hung out with real people more, perhaps.

People are the internet hide behind their anonymity. They wouldn't dare talk that way to you in person. Real people wouldn't be so bitchy, frankly.

I can only take the Internet in doses. I have to live in the real world.

I would suggest, perhaps, starting a blog so you could present your hypotheses--and people who have enough reading comprehension and patience could respond to that hypothesis.

Frankly, people in chatrooms are not usually that patient. They don't think too deeply when they're involved in chat. They think in sound bytes, usually. Hypotheses, theories, and sound bytes don't mix too well.

Thank you for that thoughtful response.

Yes, I realise I'm probably wasting my time using the internet for anything more than just research and resource and I was thinking about starting up my own blog about my thoughts and experiences.

It's pretty bad when one must keep such things to themselves for fear of ridicule and insult.

It just leave me wondering where all the 'nice' people are online...

All I can find are people with emotional insecurities, using the anonymity the internet provides to take out their frustrations online.

I have been cyberbullied into oblivion here, my friend...how does one get over that in the short term?

Realize that people on the Internet, by and large, are not totally "real." They are usually personas created by that person--the percentage of what's "real" varies greatly.

I don't care if a persona insults me; I care more of a person in real life insults me.

Take it for what is is----personas with angst are insulting you, rather than actual people with angst.

And how the heck could these people know what you're thinking?

This is why I never posted any theories online. Ever. Aside from I lack of strong opinions and experiences in general.

Because people do not need to know. They do not need to because they don't want to.
If they do not want to, it means they're the waste of time and energy.

But yes. Skeptics would judge the post. Critics won't judge the post but the poster.


You didn't "lose" potential friends. You lose potential "time wasters" who couldn't comprehend or accept your posts.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.

I agree with Kraftie.

To be honest, now I'm curious to know what this hypothesis is that got your account deactivated.

The Internet is filled with a bunch of morons and sociopaths, better get used to it.

I'm pretty much myself on the Internet, too.

The Internet is a release. You might have perfectly decent people acting like a**holes online--because it's escapism. They wish they could be as asshole-like in real life. It's weird--but it's true.

Most people on the Internet do not deal solely in logic and fact. They want to win arguments. They don't care if the argument is actually correct. Many arguments are won using methods which rely neither on logic or on fact. Like you state, they rely on rhetoric.

What I would do: stick to the facts, stick to your personality. If people want to get on your case, just ignore them. Appeal to logic--just say: I won't talk to you until you stop with the attacks. I only deal with reasoned discussion. Maybe you could try reasoned discussion some day. Something like that.

If they're not reasonable, I just don't bother to argue with them.

It would be nice if SOMEONE could be reasonable, though. This would advance the discussion beyond the bullcrap.

There are Sour Grapes hiding in the many dark nooks and crannies of the Internet. It's much better to hang out in the sunny places where all the Sweet Peas are. WP is one of the places where the wise Sweet Peas are.