Famous People with Asperger Syndrome or Similar Autistic Traits

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:

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.