From: Bob Arctor (curious@hyperreal.pl)
Date: Mon Dec 17 2001 - 08:53:39 MST
> I think it was Eric who mentioned that Dr Allan Snyder is
> also autistic. Cf.:
>
> http://www.centreforthemind.com/newsmedia/whatshot/
>
> I haven't seen any statement from the brilliant Dr Snyder
> that this is so, but it certainly explains some of his
> more... unusual... behavior at a public dinner I attended a
> while back. He introduces himself, especially to attractive
> women, by mentioning as swiftly and insistently as possible
> that he's a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (an unusual
> distinction, it's true, for an American.) His persona is
> egregiously self-promoting, and his Centre for the Mind in
> Australia frequently emits brazen promotional emails to
> anyone they regard as interested parties, detailing his
> latest triumphs, TV appearances, etc. If he is indeed
> autistic (which seems not quite right, since he buttonholes
> people rather than avoiding their gaze), this might help
> explain his social gaucheness. Would he wish this purported
> fact trumpeted about him? Maybe--he's not shy about acting it
> out, I suppose.
you seem to miss the psychiatric terminology.
autism is a disablity in informational interchange.
there can be verbal autism, emotional autism, social autism,
and even musical or visual autism, informatical autism and so
on, one of common forms of autism is dyslexia and dysgraphia.
autism can occur at almost every level of human communications.
i understand your confusion, psychiatry had major changes
recently, i wait for DSM to be rewritten, so there will be
again common base of definitions.
i saw the BBC program which was mentioned on the page, and it
was clear for me that snyders have severe problems with
artistic behaviours - he cannot draw, nor compose music.
i understand that he is autistic due to paranoid reaction to US
goverement (or what forces him to not use drugs to treat his
illnes? dunno. i can't call him, i doubt he'll understand my
lousy accent :P maybe he is simply afraid of side effects?)
he called artists 'geniuses' - had a autistic (verbal autism?)
guy in his program which drawed hyperrealistic sketches - it is
nowhere close to genius, just because he not creates any new
information, which is considered in artistic circles as
'copism' (from word 'copy'), so he is very skilled, but not
genius, while snyders don't get anything from his drawings,
whose clearly say 'i am good enough, give me a life, i want to
come down and see more beauty, because i started to copy'...
dunno i don't know long enough his patient to say for sure :P
other patient in this program was guided by (also artistically)
disabled woman.
it is a common misunderstanding, a psychopath and neurotic,
psychopath (disabled doctor) wants to absorb shapes or sounds,
and neurotic (patient) want someone who listen or see the
images - someone who'll UNDERSTAND. this is why neurosis arises
also in doctor - he want to 'rise' the social status of his
victim by saying 'you're genius' which is obviously worthless
for patient (it appears that instead of using his skills for
expanding creative ablities of those who can easily create but
cannot put it into form they simple search for applause - a
behaviour induced by neuriosis of doctor)
gee.. mental illnes ISN'T FUN.
Snyder is artistically disabled - he didn't presented his
works, he isn't even a DJ (which is fairly easy nowadays, not
like about 20 years ago, when psychiatry started to develop)
and _wants to change his neurochemistry_ or damage his brain to
achieve power of _recreation_ (not creation! - and this is why
snyders is lost in space)
or maybe he is only a mad scientist which 'wants to know'
(but why he is not using usenet?, someone would enlight him if
he'll act lame enough)
> But I think that announcing one's autism or Aspergerish
> nature might prove, at least in the short term, the social
> equivalent of confessing to being a kleptomaniac or a
> compulsive womanizer. The public might tend thereafter to
> disregard one's utterances, however unfairly (especially if
> they involve plans to tear down the solar system for spare
> parts).
and there is other purpose for solar system? come on... :D
i think it is better to know in which field one is disabled.
you can help someone them, or not require something which is
obviously inpossible for one to make (i.e. i'll abstain from
judging quality of pictures in his neurochemistry books (if
he'll write some), instead i can aim his interest in computer
graphics, or maybe foward adress of bored graphican, also i'll
rather try to describe my thoughs when writing to him instead
of sending funny alegoric picture :P)
ofcourse idiots have their own scales, but they're idiots, they
don't count to _society_ so you again confuse the
terms.(they're so called 'passive members', or 'statists')
again i'll look on kleptomaniacs hands when he'll leave my
house, and don't call police, if i'll know he have kleptomania
disorder (but i can easily get rid of useless things :P)
if i'll know someone is compulsive womanizer i'll suggest a
less agressive dress to my woman rather than red one, and'll
sure call him if there will be any good orgy around ;P
--
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