Vivienne wrote:
You take so-called 'not knowing or being interested in' what another person is thinking, add 'being preoccupied with their own needs' and finally 'lack of empathy' and you've got ...
... something that might *seem* selfish, but like others have essentially said, not as a matter of actual character.
Vivienne wrote:
I don't understand why this [kind of thing] is considered 'okay' if it's called mindblindness and applied to people with AS and not 'okay' if it's called selfishness and applied to NT people.
I would say it is not "okay" for anybody at all since it can still cause pain for other people even when the seeming "selfishness" is not stemming from defective character. However, other people should not be shot for being chatty any more than we should be shot for seeming uncaring.
Vivienne wrote:
Aren't we all born selfish, essentially?
And don't we all have to learn how not to be selfish, how to think about others?
So why this new term, how is it different?
It is "different" because it is not inherently a matter of our character, yet yes, it certainly *would* be selfish of us to refuse to look for ways to at least act differently.
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19 Jan 2010, 4:24 pm
