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So should we eject all Austism Spectrum / Asperger's people from positions of leadership, or just this one guy? [Edit] I've worked under at one, perhaps two AS

So should we eject all Austism Spectrum / Asperger's people from positions of leadership, or just this one guy? [Edit] I've worked under at one, perhaps two ASD people, both brilliant engineers, and you're probably using some of their infra software right now -- he's been poached a few times. The one certain guy did not have a diagnosis that I knew of but would come out with the most outrageous opinions regarding world issues. Logical and anti-social. The thing is you could reason him out of these opinions because he valued logic to such an extent that he 'beliefs' were secondary. The problem was he'd share these opinions before testing the waters. He was quite rightly kept away from leadership positions that required communication on anything other than technical topics because of this. I've not seen RMS engaged on sharing his 'troubling' opinions. Show me that and I'll change my opinion (the hint being here that many HNers are somewhere on the spectrum, including me.)

pjc50 6y ago
RMS claims not to be Austism Spectrum / Asperger's. Conversely, plenty of people who do manage not to behave in the way he has.
vkou 6y ago
Being on the autistic spectrum does not require you to act like an asshole. I know a couple of autistic people. The main difference between them and RMS is that they give a shit about what other people think of their behaviour. He's an incredibly intelligent man, who is quite capable of understanding that people don't want him to act like a creep. Many different people, at many different times, have explained it to him, and have asked him to stop. He's already been given far more patience and leniency and second and third and fifth chances in this respect than any other person would have. Even if he is incapable of understanding why his behavior is wrong, he is an adult that is capable of understanding that he should stop it. He just doesn't care.
hutzlibu 6y ago
So .. you propose people should be able to say anything free of consequences, because of "aspergers"? Because no one ever made that claim. It was always about sexism and co. Or is sexism related to asperger in your opinion?
DanBC 6y ago
Let's pretend for a moment that he is autistic, and it's the autism that causes him to say stupid stuff. This means he has a disability, and when people with disabilities are at work we provide a reasonable adjustment for them to allow them to continue doing the job. For RMS this might be an assistant to check his comms before release. He's had many years to put this in place. Why hasn't he? Maybe he doesn't understand that he causes work for other people when he sends out unchecked comms. Other people have to spend their time, and money, responding.

pjc50 6y ago

RMS claims not to be Austism Spectrum / Asperger's. Conversely, plenty of people who do manage not to behave in the way he has.

vkou 6y ago

Being on the autistic spectrum does not require you to act like an asshole. I know a couple of autistic people. The main difference between them and RMS is that they give a shit about what other people think of their behaviour. He's an incredibly intelligent man, who is quite capable of understanding that people don't want him to act like a creep. Many different people, at many different times, have explained it to him, and have asked him to stop. He's already been given far more patience and leniency and second and third and fifth chances in this respect than any other person would have. Even if he is incapable of understanding why his behavior is wrong, he is an adult that is capable of understanding that he should stop it. He just doesn't care.

hutzlibu 6y ago

So .. you propose people should be able to say anything free of consequences, because of "aspergers"? Because no one ever made that claim. It was always about sexism and co. Or is sexism related to asperger in your opinion?

DanBC 6y ago

Let's pretend for a moment that he is autistic, and it's the autism that causes him to say stupid stuff. This means he has a disability, and when people with disabilities are at work we provide a reasonable adjustment for them to allow them to continue doing the job. For RMS this might be an assistant to check his comms before release. He's had many years to put this in place. Why hasn't he? Maybe he doesn't understand that he causes work for other people when he sends out unchecked comms. Other people have to spend their time, and money, responding.