Re: Dangerous knowledge

[Vaughan Pratt <pratt@cs.stanford.edu>]

[Note from moderator: while interesting, this thread has strayed well
off-topic; to be posted further submissions must be relevant to
categories.]

Jim Stasheff wrote:
> I seem to recall some such work on Asperger's
> see book by Ioan James and a benefides neuroscientist

Ioan James held the Savilian Chair of Geometry at Oxford during 1970-95,
and seems to be the only author.  Where does the neuroscientist come
into it?

Autism is a pretty disabling condition.  The 20 individuals James writes
about seem at worst to be only mildly autistic and surely would be
better described as having Asperger syndrome if even that.  In 1944 Hans
Asperger described a behavioral pattern that, according to the Wikipedia
article on him, included "a lack of empathy, little ability to form
friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special
interest, and clumsy movements."

Anyone who's gone overtime in a conference talk at the expense of the
next speaker could be judged as having at least three of the first four
of these, and the audience would then be riveted on the speaker's
movements to assess their clumsiness.  And how does one judge "ability
to form friendships?"  By the number of the speaker's coauthors?  Some
people are by nature private, others compartmentalize their time into
private and social periods so that they can get some work done in their
private time.  How is someone to be judged when their social time is
only say 10% or 20% of their private time?

Wikipedia has the following article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_speculated_to_have_been_autistic

whose introduction reads

---
Famous historical people have been speculated to have been autistic by
journalists, academics and autism professionals. Such speculation is
controversial and little of it is undisputed. For example, several
autism researchers speculate that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had autism and
other diagnoses, while other researchers say there is not sufficient
evidence to draw conclusions that he had any diagnoses
---

The body of the article includes "Speculation about their diagnoses is
based on reported behaviors rather than any clinical observation of the
individual. Fred Volkmar, a psychiatrist and autism expert and director
of the Yale Child Study Center says, 'There is unfortunately a sort of
cottage industry of finding that everyone has Asperger's.' "

Here's the Amazon product description of James' book, and two customer
reviews.

---
This fascinating collection identifies famous figures from the past,
whose behaviour suggests they may have had autism, a disorder that was
not defined until the mid - 20th century. James looks at the lives of 20
individuals - scientists, artists, politicians and philosophers -
examining in detail their interests, successes, indifferences and
shortcomings. Among the profiles are those of mathematician and
philosopher Bertrand Russell, who wondered in his autobiography how he
managed to hurt the people around him quite without meaning to;
biologist Alfred Kinsey, who excelled in academia but was ill at ease in
social situations; and the writer Patricia Highsmith, who had very
definite likes (fountain pens and absence of noise) and dislikes
(television and four-course meals). From Albert Einstein to Philip of
Spain, these intriguing individuals all showed clear evidence of
autistic traits. This book will be of interest to general readers and
anyone with a personal or professional interest in autism.
---

---
FIRST REVIEW: "Offers opportunity for personal insight"

This book is not what I expected, yet I appreciate its contribution to
the literature on this topic.

Twenty biographical accounts are arranged chronologically. Each offers
basic facts about the life and accomplishments of the individual, and
includes accounts of their behaviors, their own views of their
challenges and accomplishments as well as the perceptions of their
contemporaries.

Taken together, these twenty biographies offer me insights into human
diversity and the importance of accepting ourselves and others for our
strengths as well as our idiosyncrasies. As a teacher it helps me both
understand and appreciate unique children.
---

---
SECOND REVIEW: "Not another book about famous people who might have had
Asperger Syndrome!"

I have to say, this genre is getting rather tired, and there is a lot of
overlap between all the books on this subject, of which there are many.
If you already own one of the other books on this subject, you don't
need to buy this one, and if you don't already own a book on this
subject, this one is as good as any. What else can I say? It's 20 mini
biographies of people the author has researched and considers to show
signs of having had Asperger Syndrome. Interesting enough, and probably
succeeds in the stated aim of raising the self esteem of people with AS.
---

Vaughan


[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]