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Think about this: this statement, right here, is a completely unfounded (i.e. you have no evidence about any of the 3 people being ASD, and the probability of a

Think about this: this statement, right here, is a completely unfounded (i.e. you have no evidence about any of the 3 people being ASD, and the probability of all of them being ASD is really low even among geeks like us), passive-aggressive (you are attacking people with ASD but making it appear sympathetic), pseudo-intellectual (how much do you really know that you didn't read in superficial internet threads) insult (oh yes it is) toward people with ASD. Ironically, presumably from a neurotypical, who by implication is supposed to be more sensitive than the alternative. Congratulations. You bully in a thread about bullying being bad.

kyro 14y ago
I've worked with people with Asperger's and Autism in a clinical setting. I'm not talking out of my ass.
- peterarmstrong 14y ago
  While you might not be, you're probably the exception. The typical interaction sequence is: 1. Someone is rude on the internet. 2. "Ooh, look, undiagnosed ASD, lol, most software devs are ASD." 3. Self-applause, occasionally followed by discussion about whether Asperger's is different than Autism or whether it's a spectrum disorder, occasionally someone mentions the new version of DSM. (Sometimes this really bothers someone, and then there's the meta-thing where people smirk and say that of course people with ASD don't like reclassification, etc, etc. It's so tiresome.) I think this may well be a worthy successor to Godwin's law.
  - jessedhillon 14y ago
    It's not just rudeness that triggers this response -- it's when someone displays a severe doesn't get it moment. The most significant moment on HN I've had of this is when someone tried to argue that sexism can't exist in tech because there's a Wikipedia page that lists 50 women with significant contributions to the field. That sort of thing makes me wonder, if after 20-40 years of being part of our society, that is your understanding of one of the major grievances held by people out there, then there is a missing connection. You don't have to agree with the sentiment or conclusion, but if you can't even understand the complaint then you are either woefully sheltered or perhaps it's time to consider cognitive deficiencies. And this sort of failure mode happens all the fucking time in this community.
    - kyro 14y ago
      This is exactly it. Time and time again you see large groups of people in this community exhibiting behaviors that show that they are unaware of normal social and societal conventions, and an inability to relate and sympathize/empathize with others.
      - papsosouid 14y ago
        No, you see that. I see different social groups having different social conventions. The fact that you can't imagine how someone in a different social group could possibly not follow the social standards you deem correct speaks only of you, not of them.
  - richardjordan 14y ago
    +! on succeeding Goodwin's law with tiresome and prejudicial accusations of autism spectrum disorders (often by people who really don't understand how offensive and insulting they're being The fondness of this community to use words like retard and retarded as insults and use implications of special needs issues as forms of abuse is disappointing given the overall level of smarts of the community. But at least that's obviously offensive. The folks trotting out autism spectrum disorders don't even seem to realize they're being just as problematic and perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes.
  - richardjordan 14y ago
    +! on succeeding Goodwin's law with tiresome and prejudicial accusations of autism spectrum disorders (often by people who really don't understand how offensive and insulting they're being The fondness of this community to use words like retard and retarded as insults and use implications of special needs issues as forms of abuse is disappointing given the overall level of smarts of the community. But at least that's obviously offensive. The folks trotting out autism spectrum disorders don't even seem to realize they're being just as problematic and perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes.
bjourne 14y ago
Thanks for writing this. As someone who has ASD (and who thinks he is not an asshole) it always makes me cringe when someone connects being a douchebag on the internet with it. Prejudices like that makes it very hard to tell people about it when some automatically assume you're an asshole for having ASD. All kinds of people behave bad on the internet for various reasons because they can and they are emotionally detached from the people they are writing about. ASD has absolutely nothing to do with it.
babs474 14y ago
Ugh, this is exactly the 'asperger pride' mentality I mention in a thread below. You are trying to make it politically incorrect to talk about the problem of aspergers in the dev community. The parent is a bully? really? A bully? come on. Maybe these specific people have aspergers or not, but the problem of a high concentration of socially inept people in the technology world causing strife amongst each other is a real problem. This is a problem and it should be talked about.

kyro 14y ago

I've worked with people with Asperger's and Autism in a clinical setting. I'm not talking out of my ass.

peterarmstrong 14y ago
While you might not be, you're probably the exception. The typical interaction sequence is: 1. Someone is rude on the internet. 2. "Ooh, look, undiagnosed ASD, lol, most software devs are ASD." 3. Self-applause, occasionally followed by discussion about whether Asperger's is different than Autism or whether it's a spectrum disorder, occasionally someone mentions the new version of DSM. (Sometimes this really bothers someone, and then there's the meta-thing where people smirk and say that of course people with ASD don't like reclassification, etc, etc. It's so tiresome.) I think this may well be a worthy successor to Godwin's law.
- jessedhillon 14y ago
  It's not just rudeness that triggers this response -- it's when someone displays a severe doesn't get it moment. The most significant moment on HN I've had of this is when someone tried to argue that sexism can't exist in tech because there's a Wikipedia page that lists 50 women with significant contributions to the field. That sort of thing makes me wonder, if after 20-40 years of being part of our society, that is your understanding of one of the major grievances held by people out there, then there is a missing connection. You don't have to agree with the sentiment or conclusion, but if you can't even understand the complaint then you are either woefully sheltered or perhaps it's time to consider cognitive deficiencies. And this sort of failure mode happens all the fucking time in this community.
  - kyro 14y ago
    This is exactly it. Time and time again you see large groups of people in this community exhibiting behaviors that show that they are unaware of normal social and societal conventions, and an inability to relate and sympathize/empathize with others.
    - papsosouid 14y ago
      No, you see that. I see different social groups having different social conventions. The fact that you can't imagine how someone in a different social group could possibly not follow the social standards you deem correct speaks only of you, not of them.
- richardjordan 14y ago
  +! on succeeding Goodwin's law with tiresome and prejudicial accusations of autism spectrum disorders (often by people who really don't understand how offensive and insulting they're being The fondness of this community to use words like retard and retarded as insults and use implications of special needs issues as forms of abuse is disappointing given the overall level of smarts of the community. But at least that's obviously offensive. The folks trotting out autism spectrum disorders don't even seem to realize they're being just as problematic and perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes.
- richardjordan 14y ago
  +! on succeeding Goodwin's law with tiresome and prejudicial accusations of autism spectrum disorders (often by people who really don't understand how offensive and insulting they're being The fondness of this community to use words like retard and retarded as insults and use implications of special needs issues as forms of abuse is disappointing given the overall level of smarts of the community. But at least that's obviously offensive. The folks trotting out autism spectrum disorders don't even seem to realize they're being just as problematic and perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes.

bjourne 14y ago

Thanks for writing this. As someone who has ASD (and who thinks he is not an asshole) it always makes me cringe when someone connects being a douchebag on the internet with it. Prejudices like that makes it very hard to tell people about it when some automatically assume you're an asshole for having ASD. All kinds of people behave bad on the internet for various reasons because they can and they are emotionally detached from the people they are writing about. ASD has absolutely nothing to do with it.

babs474 14y ago

Ugh, this is exactly the 'asperger pride' mentality I mention in a thread below. You are trying to make it politically incorrect to talk about the problem of aspergers in the dev community. The parent is a bully? really? A bully? come on. Maybe these specific people have aspergers or not, but the problem of a high concentration of socially inept people in the technology world causing strife amongst each other is a real problem. This is a problem and it should be talked about.