5 ms·

Do people feel autism is an explanation for shitty behavior like posting sexually explicit images on internal company slack channels?

labster 2y ago
An explanation, sure. A justification, no. Just a reminder: the autism spectrum is wide, and two autistic people are likely to be more different from each other than a neurotypical person.
autoexec 2y ago
It sounds to me like that's more of a teenager trait than an autistic one. Not to say that every teenager would find humor in putting dicks in unexpected places, or even that only a teenager would, but it's pretty on brand for boys in that general age bracket. Teenagers are also biologically predisposed to occasionally making bad decisions. The kid in this article had a brain whose prefrontal cortex wouldn't finish developing for nearly another decade. I suspect that had a lot more to do with posting links to a penis in Uber's internal chats than autism did.
- sulandor 2y ago
  > Teenagers are also biologically predisposed to occasionally making bad decisions. humans are
  - autoexec 2y ago
    True, but it's a lot worse for folks who haven't fully developed the part of their brain that is responsible for things like complex planning, impulse control, emotional regulation, logical thinking, the evaluation of risk and the awareness and careful consideration of long-term consequences. Not that I'm saying that teenagers can never do those things or that adults always will, but because their brains are still developing teenagers are, on average, going to make mistakes and take risks much more often than adults past their mid 20s, and that's without even taking into account the flood of hormones and the additional stress of adolescence. Making mistakes and taking risks is just a normal part of growing up, and some people feel that it's even advantageous for young adults to be prone to recklessness.
    - ABraidotti 2y ago
      Agreed. Also, look who they're learning from. Growing up in the 90s, I had my everyday IRL friends but also some BBS friends. In that latter peer group--pseudo anonymous and extremely online--edgelord morality prevailed.
  - bitcharmer 2y ago
    I think you completely missed GP's point. Teenagers ARE much more likely to make a bad decision than other groups.
  - Ylpertnodi 2y ago
    Depends on the human...either the one making the 'biologically predisposed' bad decision, or the one judging it.
dokyun 2y ago
No, the explanation is that it's hilarious.
aithrowawaycomm 2y ago
No, autism is an explanation for not saying "wow this guy is a real stain on society" and being reluctant to put him behind bars. That being said I don't like infantilizing people who have autism without more profound disabilities in cognition (I am speaking as someone who has "mild" schizophrenia). Kurtaj seems to have normal intelligence and is not so disconnected from society as to be unaware what he allegedly did was wrong. In particular his alleged motivations and mental state during all this are not that different from a angry teenager with few friends and terrible judgment. There are other factors that are important for sentencing. Unlike the angry teen, it sounds like Kurtaj might have trouble holding down a job even if he gave his best effort at emotional and occupational therapy. But when people with autism seem perfectly capable of making moral choices, their diagnosis should inform your empathy. Turning that into an exoneration not only excuses certain bad people, but also denies that certain good people actually understand they're doing the right thing. It's totally dehumanizing.

labster 2y ago

An explanation, sure. A justification, no. Just a reminder: the autism spectrum is wide, and two autistic people are likely to be more different from each other than a neurotypical person.

autoexec 2y ago

It sounds to me like that's more of a teenager trait than an autistic one. Not to say that every teenager would find humor in putting dicks in unexpected places, or even that only a teenager would, but it's pretty on brand for boys in that general age bracket. Teenagers are also biologically predisposed to occasionally making bad decisions. The kid in this article had a brain whose prefrontal cortex wouldn't finish developing for nearly another decade. I suspect that had a lot more to do with posting links to a penis in Uber's internal chats than autism did.

sulandor 2y ago
> Teenagers are also biologically predisposed to occasionally making bad decisions. humans are
- autoexec 2y ago
  True, but it's a lot worse for folks who haven't fully developed the part of their brain that is responsible for things like complex planning, impulse control, emotional regulation, logical thinking, the evaluation of risk and the awareness and careful consideration of long-term consequences. Not that I'm saying that teenagers can never do those things or that adults always will, but because their brains are still developing teenagers are, on average, going to make mistakes and take risks much more often than adults past their mid 20s, and that's without even taking into account the flood of hormones and the additional stress of adolescence. Making mistakes and taking risks is just a normal part of growing up, and some people feel that it's even advantageous for young adults to be prone to recklessness.
  - ABraidotti 2y ago
    Agreed. Also, look who they're learning from. Growing up in the 90s, I had my everyday IRL friends but also some BBS friends. In that latter peer group--pseudo anonymous and extremely online--edgelord morality prevailed.
- bitcharmer 2y ago
  I think you completely missed GP's point. Teenagers ARE much more likely to make a bad decision than other groups.
- Ylpertnodi 2y ago
  Depends on the human...either the one making the 'biologically predisposed' bad decision, or the one judging it.

dokyun 2y ago

No, the explanation is that it's hilarious.

aithrowawaycomm 2y ago

No, autism is an explanation for not saying "wow this guy is a real stain on society" and being reluctant to put him behind bars. That being said I don't like infantilizing people who have autism without more profound disabilities in cognition (I am speaking as someone who has "mild" schizophrenia). Kurtaj seems to have normal intelligence and is not so disconnected from society as to be unaware what he allegedly did was wrong. In particular his alleged motivations and mental state during all this are not that different from a angry teenager with few friends and terrible judgment. There are other factors that are important for sentencing. Unlike the angry teen, it sounds like Kurtaj might have trouble holding down a job even if he gave his best effort at emotional and occupational therapy. But when people with autism seem perfectly capable of making moral choices, their diagnosis should inform your empathy. Turning that into an exoneration not only excuses certain bad people, but also denies that certain good people actually understand they're doing the right thing. It's totally dehumanizing.