Why isn't it said that neurotypicals lack empathy?

Post Reply New Topic

Ummm, no. Must be 18 years of age. Now you are talking about lack of maturity. Maybe even a lack of understanding (and not just onesided). Mixed in with some blanket statements by you of questionable accuracy?

EDIT: Plus http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt85338.html


P.S. If heartlessness was so rampant why would the military have to work so hard to train their soldiers to kill at will and to work so hard to dehumanize the enemy?

normal is conformity to society's standards. If what is read is true then normal must actually mean sociopathic behavior and since normal people conform to whatever normal is then perhaps they have conformed to the sociopathic way of life.

Ah, I think I'm seeing one point of confusion here. Empathy can inform action but it does not dictate it. Bullies, for example, can have empathy. In fact it is quite useful resource if you intend to harm someone.

Last edited by DwightF on 15 Dec 2008, 12:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

NTs in general master manipulation and dishonesty much more easily than Aspies do. I don't think it would be unfair to say that, overall, an Aspie is probably much less likely to do something intentionally malicious against another person than an NT.

Broken logic, doesn't follow. That only suggests they'd be more overt about it, whatever the relative rate of occurance. Furthermore "manipulation and dishonesty" are names for social tools and techniques that have "positive" uses, or at least intended positive uses.

The answer simply is, they're the majority. Because NTs ARE the majority, they can manipulate others to fit their views. "Tyranny of the Majority" basically.

Also, they can make up illogical and BS social reasons like "he's stupid so he doesn't deserve to be coddled" or "he's disrespectful so why should I tale the work to understand him" or "I worked my way up to here, so I don't have to take s**t from you" or some other BS

"positive uses"? For the person who gains from that, you mean!



because "back then" the military (in the USA) tended to be made of conscripts. That's a factor



hmm. I don't think that's 'anger' but more accurately surprise or a 'WTF
reaction from them.



in their minds they're wrong because there's a difference in their lool, culture, behavior, etc.

that or they're from the same culture, etc and they deviate from it too far and that's "evil".



some NTs aren't supportive of that and hate it too.



some Aspies might do the same thing...looing at the reactions from those on the /b/ board on *chan sites to the Juliana Wetmore incident....some of them probably had some autism. /b/ can be attractive to some of us...



the DSM does have things on that...



they were not acting malicious. They were liely drunk too, and as a result of that they were not thinking of that. Clumsy and scatterbrained, but not malicious.

I've always tried to understand NT's, but they escape understanding. I agree, in (most) NT eyes if the government or police does something no matter how wrong or horrific, it is considered all right. I also met two women at a conference, one skinny and "good looking", and the other fat and good looking. I like the fat one better because of her personality, and NT's teased me about it. For now on, I think that I will want to make sure that anyone I date is somewhere on the spectrum.

Still, at the core of anyone's foundation is themself. And there are aspies with the ability to manipulate and decieve quite well, as well as some ability to read people. If I have enough of a motive, I can convince most people of anything simply by manipulating language in a way that causes them discomfort and shakes the core of their foundation. I also can read a person just well enough that I can tell how to go about manipulating them.

Also OTHER NTs often wonder the same. People complain about Psychology and how it is FAR from accurate sometimes, etc.



Or they don't speak out out of self-interest or fear. Currently, it's not that bad...currently in the USA. but then again, given the government is made of the people....

see



they're doing something similar in many western countries today



(got that off a tor service)

because the point is to make it as NTs are not lacking but we are. Its to reinfornce their beliefs of superiority instead of what it should show as many aspies having too much empathy (where little things disrupt them) I on the otherhand do lack empathy but thats my personal choice not to improve in it.

This whole debate is rather lacking in real content IMO. I don’t think NT’s have a solid grasp of what they are talking about when they use the word "empathy". The word has different shades of different meanings depending on the context in which it is used.

whole heartedly agreed with the entire statement. Now if my statement could be long enough to at least match yours in length, for the absolute oddity of it, I would be really amuse, but it doesnt look as though this is so.

Edit: Or maybe it is?

And I don't even know what is empathy... Could anyone explain?

I would, but its an abstract topic, and I want to save my abstract thinking for my Philosophy exam on Wednesday.

Ack, this is one of those themes you could write endless dissertations on. I bet there are enough posts about this on WP to make a pretty decent dissertation.
Maybe to get the full meaning one has to go back to Han's Asperger and his orginal case studies?
There's a great book called American Normal by Lawrence Osborne. I read a bit of it online, now I want to go find a copy of my own.
In the past, I haven't familiarized myself with Hans Asperger's original study as much as the DSM diagnostic criteria for AS. American Normal discusses the four boys Hans Asperger's studied. One in particular sounds so much like how I was.
Lack of empathy would be, perhaps, not comprehending certain things...like your relationship to others. Being in your own world, the far away look to the eyes, the self absorption. This denotes the lack of empathy in the diagnostic criteria. It's a total state of being that permeates one's entire existence as a child. You aren't as connected. Not that I was completely disconnected. I just wasn't all there *shrugs*

Onto the NTs. Do they lack empathy? Most likely not in the same way. This is what might happen inside them: They experience the empathy and, depending on circumstance, they rationalize. Does whomever deserve my understanding? Deserve any sympathy of compassion from me?. The feeling is there, but what follows in it's wake depends on what the NT thinks of the situation. Many variables. Compassion fatigue, previous actions, sense of indebtedness, realization of authority, awe and respect, need to impress, love, hate, all possible cofactors on how NT wishes to respond, or not.

Last edited by ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo on 15 Dec 2008, 2:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

That's me right there.