7 ms·

Last year, when I realized that Zuckerberg was an amoral, Asperger’s-like entrepreneur Bad sentence. It implies that Asperger's is a derogatory term.

by frossie 16y ago

joeyo 16y ago
Regardless of whether or not it should, Asperger's (and related terms like "aspie" and "spectrum-y") can have derogatory connotations.
- frossie 16y ago
  Dude, that was my polite way of saying "HINT: You don't want to be one of those people that use that word in the derogatory sense."
staunch 16y ago
If he said "Zuckerberg is a cancer on the internet" would you have the same response? Asperger's is an illness. It is a bad thing.
- frossie 16y ago
  <sigh> It was linked with the word "amoral". Amoral is not an illness, it is a personal flaw. It's his blog. He is allowed to call the guy a retard if he wants. I, on the other hand, don't have to like it, and it seriously detracted from selling me his POV. Just saying.
- hristov 16y ago
  Asperger's has nothing to do with being amoral or immoral. Asperger's people have trouble following certain more subtle social norms but that has little to do with morality. Some of the biggest amoral criminals in the world have been very adept socially (think Goebbels or Bernie Madoff), while some people whose morality was always lauded were known to be socially awkward (e.g. Einstein). So while Aspergers is a disorder it is completely wrong to equate it with lack of morality.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
    - pyre 16y ago
      The word 'amoral' is in the quote in the comment you are replying to. It's disingenuous to imply otherwise. You've also neglected to point to the whole comment that you are replying to, instead pointing at the part of the comment that you were replying to and insinuating that it is the entirety of the comment itself.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
      - staunch 16y ago
        Yes. How disingenuous of me to point out the part of the comment I was replying to. I give up.
        pyre 16y ago
        My point was that you were trying to imply that the part of the comment that you were replying to was the entirety of the comment itself, which wasn't true.
  - devinj 16y ago
    Actually, there is also some problem with Asperger's folks and empathy. They don't have a lot of it. This is a fairly well-known characteristic, and there are related things: only talking about things that interest you, that sort of thing. From this perspective, AS folks could be called "less moral". Of course it wouldn't really be a fair comment. And calling them "amoral" is just being a dick.
- kragen 16y ago
  For the purpose of this comment, I'm going to assume that you're just ignorant and not actually a neurotypical bigot. Understanding Asperger's "syndrome" through the metaphor of a "disease" is pretty misleading. It has its advantages and its drawbacks. Without people with Asperger's, we probably wouldn't have an internet to discuss this question on. Diseases are progressive; often they are curable; often they are acquired; and they do not convey advantages. None of these things are true of Asperger's. Maybe the biggest difference is that it's not something that can be cured; it's a fundamental part of who you are. A person with cancer is still the same person as before the cancer; if they cure the cancer, they're still the same person afterwards. The cancer doesn't give them the ability to do anything other people can't do. None of these things are true of Asperger's. So I think the closest analogy is, what if he had said, "Last year, when I realized that Zuckerberg was an amoral, Negro-like entrepreneur..."? (This analogy is weak in a couple of ways: first, clear memory, near immunity from social pressure, and improved logical ability are probably more significant abilities in today's world than resistance to sunburn; second, people with Asperger's tend to be wealthier than average, not poorer, so it may seem a little strange to treat them as an oppressed group.) Calacanis is a neurotypical bigot. The clear implication of his statement is that people with Asperger's tend to be amoral. This is entirely false.
  - what 16y ago
    Do you really think the only positive quality of black people is their resistance to sunburn? Who's the bigot? Maybe you. Also, Calacanis didn't link amorality with AS. Both amoral and Asperger-like are being used to modify entrepreneur.
    - jasonmcalacanis 16y ago
      Correct. I'm using two different words to describe a certain type of entrepreneur--but not using amoral to describe Aspergers. That being said, I can understand that some folks might read into it that I am.
    - kragen 16y ago
      > Do you really think the only positive quality of black people is their resistance to sunburn? No, of course not. But their other positive qualities are due to being people, not to being black.

Last year, when I realized that Zuckerberg was an amoral, Asperger’s-like entrepreneur Bad sentence. It implies that Asperger's is a derogatory term.

by frossie 16y ago

Last year, when I realized that Zuckerberg was an amoral, Asperger’s-like entrepreneur Bad sentence. It implies that Asperger's is a derogatory term.

joeyo 16y ago

Regardless of whether or not it should, Asperger's (and related terms like "aspie" and "spectrum-y") can have derogatory connotations.

frossie 16y ago
Dude, that was my polite way of saying "HINT: You don't want to be one of those people that use that word in the derogatory sense."

staunch 16y ago

If he said "Zuckerberg is a cancer on the internet" would you have the same response? Asperger's is an illness. It is a bad thing.

frossie 16y ago
<sigh> It was linked with the word "amoral". Amoral is not an illness, it is a personal flaw. It's his blog. He is allowed to call the guy a retard if he wants. I, on the other hand, don't have to like it, and it seriously detracted from selling me his POV. Just saying.
hristov 16y ago
Asperger's has nothing to do with being amoral or immoral. Asperger's people have trouble following certain more subtle social norms but that has little to do with morality. Some of the biggest amoral criminals in the world have been very adept socially (think Goebbels or Bernie Madoff), while some people whose morality was always lauded were known to be socially awkward (e.g. Einstein). So while Aspergers is a disorder it is completely wrong to equate it with lack of morality.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - pyre 16y ago
    The word 'amoral' is in the quote in the comment you are replying to. It's disingenuous to imply otherwise. You've also neglected to point to the whole comment that you are replying to, instead pointing at the part of the comment that you were replying to and insinuating that it is the entirety of the comment itself.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - staunch 16y ago
      Yes. How disingenuous of me to point out the part of the comment I was replying to. I give up.
      - pyre 16y ago
        My point was that you were trying to imply that the part of the comment that you were replying to was the entirety of the comment itself, which wasn't true.
- devinj 16y ago
  Actually, there is also some problem with Asperger's folks and empathy. They don't have a lot of it. This is a fairly well-known characteristic, and there are related things: only talking about things that interest you, that sort of thing. From this perspective, AS folks could be called "less moral". Of course it wouldn't really be a fair comment. And calling them "amoral" is just being a dick.
kragen 16y ago
For the purpose of this comment, I'm going to assume that you're just ignorant and not actually a neurotypical bigot. Understanding Asperger's "syndrome" through the metaphor of a "disease" is pretty misleading. It has its advantages and its drawbacks. Without people with Asperger's, we probably wouldn't have an internet to discuss this question on. Diseases are progressive; often they are curable; often they are acquired; and they do not convey advantages. None of these things are true of Asperger's. Maybe the biggest difference is that it's not something that can be cured; it's a fundamental part of who you are. A person with cancer is still the same person as before the cancer; if they cure the cancer, they're still the same person afterwards. The cancer doesn't give them the ability to do anything other people can't do. None of these things are true of Asperger's. So I think the closest analogy is, what if he had said, "Last year, when I realized that Zuckerberg was an amoral, Negro-like entrepreneur..."? (This analogy is weak in a couple of ways: first, clear memory, near immunity from social pressure, and improved logical ability are probably more significant abilities in today's world than resistance to sunburn; second, people with Asperger's tend to be wealthier than average, not poorer, so it may seem a little strange to treat them as an oppressed group.) Calacanis is a neurotypical bigot. The clear implication of his statement is that people with Asperger's tend to be amoral. This is entirely false.
- what 16y ago
  Do you really think the only positive quality of black people is their resistance to sunburn? Who's the bigot? Maybe you. Also, Calacanis didn't link amorality with AS. Both amoral and Asperger-like are being used to modify entrepreneur.
  - jasonmcalacanis 16y ago
    Correct. I'm using two different words to describe a certain type of entrepreneur--but not using amoral to describe Aspergers. That being said, I can understand that some folks might read into it that I am.
  - kragen 16y ago
    > Do you really think the only positive quality of black people is their resistance to sunburn? No, of course not. But their other positive qualities are due to being people, not to being black.