The author of "American Nerd" discusses history of

Page 1 of 1 [ 9 posts ]

Previous topic | Next topic

alex
Developer

Joined: 13 Jun 2004
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,216
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

20 May 2008, 3:56 pm

Quote:

Can you explain the connection you draw between the symptoms of Asperger's syndrome and people who might be thought of as nerds?

People with Asperger's syndrome tend to be good at what psychologists call systemic thinking. They tend to be bad at what the psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen calls empathic thinking, which is the kind you need to interpret nonverbal social cues, the kind you need to program a computer. I think a lot of people we've historically called nerds would have been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, had Asperger's been around at the time.

One of the slightly frightening things about the explosion of Asperger's diagnoses is that because Asperger's syndrome refers to a hard-wired neurological state, kids are essentially being told that they are hard-wired to be nerds. It's a really fraught diagnosis. I wonder if there are kids who would've benefited from just being able to think of themselves as nerdy, and then gone on to become something else, instead of being told when they're young, "You have Asperger's syndrome, you're always going to be a socially awkward systemic thinker."

http://www.salon.com/books/int/2008/05/ ... ican_nerd/

_________________
I'm Alex Plank, the founder of Wrong Planet. Follow me (Alex Plank) on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/alexplank.bsky.social

slowmutant
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 Feb 2008
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 8,430
Location: Ontario, Canada

20 May 2008, 4:15 pm

I think these kids just don't like what they're hearing, Alex. The doctor informs them that they are hardwired a certain and they rail against it, resent it. Which is a silly thing to do, since one's neural wiring is unchangeable.

LoveableNerd
Deinonychus

Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 380
Location: USA

20 May 2008, 4:34 pm

The best thing I ever did for my own mental health was to embrace my nerdiness... and this was before I had ever even heard of Aspergers.

_________________
Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.---George Bernard Shaw

8th Cmdmt: Thou Shalt Not Steal.

Hodor
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 907
Location: England

20 May 2008, 5:02 pm

Quote:

"One of the slightly frightening things about the explosion of Asperger's diagnoses is that because Asperger's syndrome refers to a hard-wired neurological state, kids are essentially being told that they are hard-wired to be nerds. It's a really fraught diagnosis. I wonder if there are kids who would've benefited from just being able to think of themselves as nerdy, and then gone on to become something else, instead of being told when they're young, "You have Asperger's syndrome, you're always going to be a socially awkward systemic thinker."

Kids with AS aren't being told that they are hard-wired to be nerds. At least, they shouldn't be. Saying that all people with Aspergers fit into the 'nerd' category is a vast generalisation.

Kids with AS could be kept in the dark, and not told about their diagnosis. But I know that I, for one, would have much preferred to have had my diagnosis at age 6 than at 18. Kids with AS can't just become something they're not - they will never be very popular, they'll never have a huge group of friends, they'll never read body language and nonverbal cues very well, and there's a chance they might always be socially awkward. But I feel it would be cruel to tell them otherwise.

Of course, they could always be told about the benefits of AS but we can't have that, can we? Certain organisations would pop a vein if they found out that Autism can actually (gasp) be portrayed in a positive light.

_________________
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig."

slowmutant
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 Feb 2008
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 8,430
Location: Ontario, Canada

20 May 2008, 7:25 pm

There are many support agencies who advocate autistic individuals and play up their positive qualities. Kerry's Place Autism Services in Ontario, Canada is one of them. KP has supported me for years.

Pop your own vein.

Orwell
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Aug 2007
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 12,518
Location: Room 101

20 May 2008, 7:38 pm

LoveableNerd wrote:

The best thing I ever did for my own mental health was to embrace my nerdiness... and this was before I had ever even heard of Aspergers.

I'm the same way. A proud nerd my whole life, even before any talk of Asperger's. Embrace your inner nerd.

_________________
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Hodor
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 907
Location: England

21 May 2008, 6:18 pm

slowmutant wrote:

That is not the point I was making at all. :-|

_________________
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig."

Inventor
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,014
Location: New Orleans

21 May 2008, 9:13 pm

Pre Nerd, Bookish was the term back then. Professor was my nickname.

Later when the medical types got involved it was a State Hospital and Thorizine, check with Nominalist for the details.

After they were closed, Nerds were let run lose for a few years, which caused the computer era.

Then the Psychos came with the black book, filled with vauge curses and ways to identify the Demon Posessed.

They can all be the new consumers of the pharmacy industry.

Progress changes things, and that goes against Conservative Values.

Those that resist treatment should be burned at the stake.

The big step in my life was no matter what family, teachers, the church, said, I liked being me, and did not like being around them. I would rather be thought of as dumb by strangers.

Better Nerd than a person with a lifetime pervasive developmental disorder.

Better anything than this lets cure the incurable.

Cure Progress Now!

61 years and I still see it as the power of mindlessness in action.

Kids should grow up to be whatever they are.

pakled
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 7,015

24 May 2008, 4:07 pm

heh..I'm the classic nerd (know way too much about Star Trek, been fixing computers for 21 years, no fashion sense.. but as for analytical thinking, don't have it. I'm way more intuitive, I just look at things and see the answer (except for people, in which case I'm 99.7% wrong, with both hands tied in front of my back to make it fair...

Page 1 of 1 [ 9 posts ]

Jump to:

The author of "American Nerd" discusses history of Post Reply New Topic

The author of "American Nerd" discusses history of