Bill Gates states what has long been suspected

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He never even said he had autism anyway and said he would never seek to get diagnosed.

How can you have lived for 7 decades and be super rich, have a condition that causes a great deal of stress but not enough to be bothered to pick up the phone for instantaneous help or be diagnosed

The idea just makes a mockery of our struggles.

What does nuerodiverse actually mean?

Its used to describe someone who`s autistic, dyslexic or ADHD, but also used casually to describe a NT with an unusual mind, which Bill Gates probably has.

I think it would be fair to include folks with BAP under the ND label.

If Gates doesn't meet the diagnostic criteria for autism he almost certainly would qualify for a BAP diagnosis.

As for why he doesn't pursue diagnosis, he's an old man who would gain little from confirming his suspicions at this point in his life. But, not wishing to pursue a diagnosis isn't proof that he isn't on the spectrum or at least closely adjacent to it.

Yeah I think that's probably what Gates meant. Seinfeld also attributes his weirdness to aspergers but there's no evidence he has it either.

Bill Gates says:"If I were growing up today, I probably would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum." In plain words he says: "I am probably autistic."

I’m looking forward to reading his new book!

There is no question in my mind that he is neurodiverse.

He has never said anything about his current or future diagnostic status but for arguments sake let’s assume he has not been diagnosed a good assumption in my opinion.

What help can a clinician give him that he already has not figured out at this stage?

He obviously has products that other people feel can make them a lot of money. Good businesspeople make deals with people they don’t like everyday. Me and you do not have that advantage.

I mean if most neurological conditions are a spectrum then its possible many people have traits otherwise their condition flies under the radar. I don't find it that spectacularly mind blowing that Gates (or Musk/Branson) fall on a neurological spectrum somewhere. I am beginning to suspect its being fetishized as some type of superpower by some people?

I think every person is capable of living up to their potential and environment also plays a role in individual circumstance like for Bill Gates.

Why was he being pushed towards sport? He had no talent for it and if he had pursued sport, he'd be a few orders of magnitude less wealthy and I'd be writing this on an OS/2 PC instead of a Windows PC.

Last edited by RetroGamer87 on 20 Feb 2025, 8:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

As he mentioned it was an attempt to socialize him.

Me too. I quite like Bill Gates these days. I didn't much, back in the day when Microsoft was busy stifling all competition to their products (and I still hate that there's no native Office for Linux). Compared to the current batch of Tech barons though, he seems to have his head screwed on straight. I'm interested to read his book. From what I understand he inherited a strong sense of public duty, or the responsibility that comes with great wealth, from his parents. I do think he's trying to make a positive contribution to the world, as opposed to plant tracking chips in us through vaccine injections or whatever nonsense people think.

As for his neurodiversity, I'd buy it. Having heard him talk about his early experiences with computers, the apparent innate understanding and hyperfocus on learning how to program those machines to make them do what he wanted...it's not a diagnostic in itself but its an indicator.

His success came early, he was in the right place at the right time. He had the exposure to the machines and the brain to see the potential in them. His special interest just happened to be a future mega industry in its infancy, and deeply lucrative as it developed. Then he had the money to shape the world around him to be comfortable to his needs from quite a young age.

I wonder how much trouble most NDs would have if their special interests were marketable or they just had the resources to make their worlds comfortable? I don't think his success excludes him from being autistic at all.