AS -- the purest form of a human being?

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alblurt_06
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26 Jan 2006, 9:12 pm

I posed this question to my psychiatrist the other day: I asked him whether people who had AS where the purest form of human beings. This is however, not to take any credit away from NTs. Here are my reasons why: (Please note that these aren't all the characteristics, nor may it actually be true. I'm just stating an observation.)

Aspies tell the truth - People with AS love telling the truth, even when it's not intended. Heck, for a lot of years, I would just tell it like it is and hurt people's feelings. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I actually started lying. When I got away with it, I was kind of proud. Honestly, lying is something I would avoid as much as possible but in life, it's something you need to know how to do. Heck, maybe this thread is a bit too truthy and a bit blunt for it.

Aspies are inherently nice - You know, as young kids, we're told to be nice to others - and we take it literally, we are nice to others, even to people who aren't really our friends. I know NTs are nice to people too, but it's just the fact that people with AS somehow overstretch it. Even more so, they trust those they don't know--kind of like an early earth feel--you know everyone else, why not trust them.

Aspies take things way too literally - How many times has someone told you something that was meant to sound some other way but you took it some way else? I find myself doing things that aren't supposed to be done but I did it anyway because it's what the person said -- in a nearly literal sense.



Yupa
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26 Jan 2006, 9:36 pm

alblurt_06 wrote:
Aspies are inherently nice

My grandfather's an aspie. Apparently, you don't know him.
There was also this really mean, angry thirteen year old I once knew who claimed to have AS.
I don't think you know him either.

alblurt_06 wrote:
Aspies tell the truth

You've never met me, have you?

alblurt_06 wrote:
Aspies take things way too literally

OK, you've definitely never met me.

As for aspies being the purest form of human being? There is no such thing as a pure form of human being, and I've really had enough of this aspie elitism rubbish that seems to have poisoned this website.



alblurt_06
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26 Jan 2006, 11:28 pm

Perhaps you failed to read the bold print, which stated that I was merely stating an observation. So I haven't met your grandfather, the 13 year old or even you for that fact. I'm just stating a mere observation. I gave you the right to disagree.

As for people displaying AS elitism, I hope you know you are on an AS and Autism Community. There's a tendency to have that here, as we all have something in common...



Roybertito
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26 Jan 2006, 11:34 pm

Actually, I feel a little bit of that elitism myself, only a little bit, because we have our own quirks, but we don't have the stranger quirks that belong to NTs, such as feeling repressed and anti-everything every 2 weeks.

While I don't believe there's a PURE human form (because by nature humans are evil :P), I DO believe that Aspies in general do have those traits. Hell, I know I do.


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venom
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26 Jan 2006, 11:35 pm

yeah I get what you mean. Trusting, sincere, guileless. We should all strive to cultivate this inherent goodness and not let it be overshadowed by depression/negative thoughts. Personally I really want to build up my life such that I have enough self esteem and respect to allow these traits to shine through unfettered by self doubt.



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26 Jan 2006, 11:56 pm

Personally, I think the world would be a better place if we were all trusting, sincere and guileless.



RazielDarkScythe
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27 Jan 2006, 12:26 am

True, very true, It would be a better place if people were all nice, but also kind of scary.. Like one of those B Movies wheres everyones all happy happy.. Frankly ive learned over the years, that sometimes the Truth is well Relative, So sometimes twisting it to make other people happy, and they will never know is inherently bad, but.. what harm does it do.

Second Aspie are nice, I agree with Fully, I find myself being nice to everyone, True you have those annoying bouts of anger where you want to kick somebody in the ass for being stupid, but those tend to be quiet and in your mind, well for me atleast.


And with the taking to literally, Thats a yes right there, I always take things to Literally, wondering hey.. why is he saying that... what in the hell? But, ive also learned to notice peoples facial expression, or just use natural instinct or common sense. Common sense, I think is hard to learn, for Aspies, maybe.. Im just saying on my own exprience that common sense was, but once you get shoved into the world, you start learning fast, or youll just find yourself in a unhappy place.

Now for being A Purest form of human being, Im not sure, frankly Pure sounds like we are trying to compare the ideas of Angels to a Demon, Frankly nothing is pure, or I hope not, where is the fun in that, ya know?



danlo
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27 Jan 2006, 12:40 pm

Quote:
yeah I get what you mean. Trusting, sincere, guileless. We should all strive to cultivate this inherent goodness and not let it be overshadowed by depression/negative thoughts. Personally I really want to build up my life such that I have enough self esteem and respect to allow these traits to shine through unfettered by self doubt.

Oh dear, lol! Perhaps if that were ALL Aspies were: Trusting, sincere, guileless. It's funny how you focus on a couple of positive traits, and ignore an overwhelming number of negative ones. There's a lot more to Aspies than just those 3 traits; a lot that would make getting along with each other a whole lot of trouble. Aspies aren't a "purer" form of human being, merely because they possess a couple of traits that may be considered moralistically good. Social white lies perform a useful function, as well as being able to let things slide. Inability to do that would kill any attempt at making an Aspie community. We simply aren't as adapted to living in harmony with other people as NTs are. While you may consider them "purer", they aren't "better".


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thepeaguy
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27 Jan 2006, 12:58 pm

Everytime I read this eltism BS, pretty common in most AS online communities (the real-life ones couldn't give a s**t), I always think of the question: What the hell do you people smoke?

Seriously, I want some; I want to smoke pot, too. :(



larsenjw92286
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27 Jan 2006, 1:07 pm

I think this is true to some extent, but not a full extent.


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pad
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27 Jan 2006, 4:47 pm

Yupa wrote:
alblurt_06 wrote:
Aspies are inherently nice

My grandfather's an aspie. Apparently, you don't know him.
There was also this really mean, angry thirteen year old I once knew who claimed to have AS.
I don't think you know him either.

alblurt_06 wrote:
Aspies tell the truth

You've never met me, have you?

alblurt_06 wrote:
Aspies take things way too literally

OK, you've definitely never met me.

As for aspies being the purest form of human being? There is no such thing as a pure form of human being, and I've really had enough of this aspie elitism rubbish that seems to have poisoned this website.


Your focus is mainly on the bold letters and seem to either have not read or could'nt comprehend with his reasons behind the topics. :wink:



larsenjw92286
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27 Jan 2006, 4:51 pm

That's why I understand this to an extent, but not fully.


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Yupa
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27 Jan 2006, 6:30 pm

pad wrote:
Your focus is mainly on the bold letters and seem to either have not read or could'nt comprehend with his reasons behind the topics.

I got his reasons, alright. That's -not- to say I liked them. The reason I quoted the bold letters was out of a simple desire to be concise. Anyone could have known that, so it comes as quite a shock that you didn't.

alblurt_06 wrote:
Perhaps you failed to read the bold print, which stated that I was merely stating an observation. So I haven't met your grandfather, the 13 year old or even you for that fact. I'm just stating a mere observation. I gave you the right to disagree.

As for people displaying AS elitism, I hope you know you are on an AS and Autism Community. There's a tendency to have that here, as we all have something in common...


First of all, I understand that you were stating an observation, which I countered with examples.
Second, the fact that we all have something in common doesn't give us the right to display a supremacist, Nazi-like attitude, and it's time we all learned that.



alblurt_06
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28 Jan 2006, 12:15 am

Honestly, elitism is the LAST thing on my mind here when it comes to AS. Really, people with AS come here to find out more about themselves and find equals. You don't normally meet or see those with AS in real life. If you think I'm trying to be an elitist, believe what you want.

Geez, what is wrong with you people. I state a couple of potential facts, layer it with some bold-letter printing that implies it may not be true and I get people talking about bulls*** and what not? Is this an AS support place or is it an AS bashing session?

Take your pick...

And like larsen said, "I think this is true to some extent, but not a full extent". Exactly what the bold print meant.



thepeaguy
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28 Jan 2006, 6:32 am

alblurt_06 wrote:
Honestly, elitism is the LAST thing on my mind here when it comes to AS. Really, people with AS come here to find out more about themselves and find equals. You don't normally meet or see those with AS in real life. If you think I'm trying to be an elitist, believe what you want.

Geez, what is wrong with you people. I state a couple of potential facts, layer it with some bold-letter printing that implies it may not be true and I get people talking about bulls*** and what not? Is this an AS support place or is it an AS bashing session?



It's really quite simple: We have issues, whereas you don't, so therefore you are a winner.

Yay for random analysis.



venom
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28 Jan 2006, 10:05 am

danlo wrote:
Oh dear, lol!


Well maybe that was a bit overblown haha.. I was just in that sort of mood when I posted . I should qualify that by saying that I do not believe that every person with Asperger's is some sort of angelic and perfectly moral person.

danlo wrote:
It's funny how you focus on a couple of positive traits, and ignore an overwhelming number of negative ones.


So here, what exactly do you mean by negative. I'm inferring from the rest of your post that you're referring to the inability to proficiently navigate social currents- meeting new people, mingling amongst a group of many different people, ascertaining how appropriate actions or words are in different social contexts. Basically the issues that take up a large amount of discussion space on these forums.

The thing is that these 'negative traits' are essentially pragmatic in nature; they impede our ability to associate with people readily and comfortably in our day to day life. (as we all know) Humans are social animals, and deficiency in these skills can be extremely draining and demoralising. That said, I think that it is a mistake to focus on these extensional traits to such a degree that one ignores and devalues his own experience/values/ethics/beliefs- one's inner world that is essentially intrinsic. (and I think that this process is often unconscious)

You bring up these traits as a counterpoint to those observed by alblurt_06, and while they it is true that they are present alongside the more positive traits, in no way do they negate them. We are not bad people because we're bad at 'playing' social games- nor do we have any less to offer other people and the world.



Yupa wrote:
the fact that we all have something in common doesn't give us the right to display a supremacist, Nazi-like attitude, and it's time we all learned that.


Do...do polarising statements like that help anyone? Are they conducive to..anything?

alblurt_06 qualified his post by explicitly stating that he was not claiming to make universal statements, and you might notice that in his specific descriptions he did not describe these traits as being perfectly and sublimely expressed in people with Aspergers; "People with AS love telling the truth, even when it's not intended. Heck, for a lot of years, I would just tell it like it is and hurt people's feelings." , "I know NTs are nice to people too, but it's just the fact that people with AS somehow overstretch it." I would agree that the phrase 'purest form of a human being" has certain unpleasant connotations. But the actual content of alblurt_06's post and his subsequent posts were straight forward, rational, and did in no way warrant you (implying) that his ideas were 'Nazi-like' and 'supremacist'.