Famous People with Asperger Syndrome or Similar Autistic Traits

lostmyway said:

Why was Julian so opposed to Christianity?

Hope said:

I have recently read The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus (a collection of essays on the Absurd). Camus argues that the Actor is an exemplar of the Absurd existence because he/she plays many different roles in a lifetime, and thus pays homage to the ephemeral, fleeting nature of existence and its lack of stability/fixed meaning. I thought this was interesting as many autistic people describe themselves as 'acting' and lacking a fixed sense of self. I can certainly relate to this - I am always 'acting'. Perhaps a modern day Camus could add a chapter about Autism and the Absurd!!

Yes, it is interesting.  From a child, I always thought I'd like to be an actor - but I lacked the confidence.  I now have that confidence, in some measure, because I have been an 'actor' all of my life.  I adopt a role to suit particular circumstances - which everyone does, to some extent.  Nobody knows the real me, though.  I can never be me when I'm around anyone else.  A few years ago, I did a couple of stints of stand-up comedy.  I was a wreck before each performance, but once I was on stage and started my routine, something came out of me.  Someone spoke to me after the first performance and commented about how I seemed to be transformed on stage - all the anger and passion.  In many senses, it was a rant about the stuff that annoyed me about life and people.  And finally, I was in the spotlight saying it, and everyone else was paying attention.  It was a very powerful feeling.  It gave me a strong sense of validation.  It wasn't an act.  It was me.  And everyone was finally seeing it.

I haven't done it since - but I've done some fiction and poetry readings.  I've found writing to be another way in which I can get that stuff out and show the real me - with my preoccupations and ways of looking at the world.  Sometimes, I read stuff I've written and wonder where on earth it came from.  People who've read my stuff say it shows confidence, self-assurance and insight... yet these are the opposites of the way I am in real life with other people.  More often than not, I end up feeling like a bumbling idiot.  Increasingly, as I get older, I find other people to be draining and debilitating.  I can't be around them for very long before I feel the energy and confidence draining out of me.  Psychological and emotional vampires - that's how I think of them.  Forums like this are really my ideal medium for social connection.  Yes, I have a very unstable sense of self.

Life is absurd, as the Sisyphus figure exemplifies.  What are we here for?  Camus posits that the decision to commit suicide amounts to answering the ultimate philosophical question: Is life worth living?  Of course it is - if we give it meaning.  If we confront the contradiction between the desire of human reason and an unreasonable world.  We don't accept the absurd - we revolt against it.  We find meaning in whichever way we can - politics, art, giving meaning to the lives of others. We don't succumb to the absurdity... become automatons, robots, rats in a circular run.  We don't accept what we're told, whatever the authority doing the telling.  We constantly ask questions.  We look for the truth and continually question ourselves.  We leave our minds as open as possible.  We accept challenges as opportunites to learn, however uncomfortable they might make us feel.

Hope said:

Another thought comes to mind.....The Absurd is described by Camus as the gap between the human need for order/coherence/meaning/unity, and the inhuman indifference of the Universe which is unreasonable because it does not provide any meaning. When a human being contemplates this divorce between desire and reality, they experience the feeling of The Absurd. And surely if anyone experiences this sense of disorientation, a prime candidate would have to be someone with autism (as Martian Tom alluded to earlier)

In fact, some people argue that the universe is not really there until we observe it. So, one man's reality is not necessarily another man's (or woman's) reality.

What reality is to an NT, therefore, is a function of their perceptual apparatus so that if this was a world only populated by Aspies, reality would take on a quite different complexion.

It's no wonder Tom calls himself 'Martian Tom!'

You can't help wondering how alien species (assuming they exist) experience reality. Would their version of it be any less valid than ours?

Another thought comes to mind.....The Absurd is described by Camus as the gap between the human need for order/coherence/meaning/unity, and the inhuman indifference of the Universe which is unreasonable because it does not provide any meaning. When a human being contemplates this divorce between desire and reality, they experience the feeling of The Absurd. And surely if anyone experiences this sense of disorientation, a prime candidate would have to be someone with autism (as Martian Tom alluded to earlier)

What about some of the tales of Hans Christian Anderson? The Emperor's New Clothes, in particular; the little boy shouts out, 'he is naked'!!. Everyone else is pretending and deceiving themselves out of respect and decorum.

I have recently read The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus (a collection of essays on the Absurd). Camus argues that the Actor is an exemplar of the Absurd existence because he/she plays many different roles in a lifetime, and thus pays homage to the ephemeral, fleeting nature of existence and its lack of stability/fixed meaning. I thought this was interesting as many autistic people describe themselves as 'acting' and lacking a fixed sense of self. I can certainly relate to this - I am always 'acting'. Perhaps a modern day Camus could add a chapter about Autism and the Absurd!!

Mlle Lermontova said:

I like his 'primus inter pares' approach to being Caesar.