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Dijit, Why is a rule about “Not being an asshole” incompatible with welcoming Autists ?

• dijit 3y ago
  argiopetech stated the problem much better than I did: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37200670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37200670 The fundamental issue is that Autism itself is at least partially characterised by being unable to read social cues, this is harder in text form. Its very easy to say something in perhaps not the best way. To welcome autists you have to do what the hackernews guidelines do: State that “Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.” This is not essential to operating your site, but if you are trying to be inclusive to neurodivergency then its extremely helpful to them to have a guideline like this which allows them to feel a bit at ease. A rule like “don’t be an asshole” requires a emotional intelligence that may be lacking, it will feel like a guillotine around the neck waiting to strike if you comment something which is interpreted in way other than it was intended. A fantastic example of this, ironically, is this thread and the original thread with Kris. Mal-intent was assumed but was not intended; people in this thread have genuinely called me an asshole- with no sense of irony.