Was Sherlock Holmes an aspie?

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I got to thinking. He solves his mysteries by observing fine details others often overlook, something aspies are known for. Then analyzing and deducing the information, something else we excel in, but one thing that really got me was his famous line. "Once you eliminate the impossible, what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." This is not NT way of thinking. A NT that is left with only absurdly unlikely solutions would conclude that there must be a solution they have not thought of. An aspie however An aspie would view it differently, something thats one in a million is still the most likely conclusion if all your other options are one in a billion. His methodology, logic, and reasoning seem to be those of an aspie, not a NT.

The show "House" was inspired by Sherlock Holmes. He is basically "House"

Sherlock Holmes also had execptional social skills. He also abused cocaine.

Holmes did however stick to stringent routines(or was that Phileas Fogg?)

And, coming full-circle, Arthur Conan Doyle based "Sherlock" on one of his professors. A medical doctor with EXCELLENT logic skills, and, apparently the same quirks he bound to Holmes: Extreme perceptiveness, quick thinking, other characters being unable to understand him, only doing cases he finds "fun", and, apparently, escapism from harsh reality.

So lemme put it like this: The guy ACD based "Holmes" on prolly had Aspergers, and/or ACD realized the "lone mad genius" was a type with specifc traits. Holmes traits. Aspie traits.

These traits are now propegated through populair culture, thanks to tributes: Think Gregory House, Bobby Goren, I'd even mention some DoctorWho traits, but that's for another day.

yes, normaly I wouldn't mention a character because they are characters and are often given traits for the sake of them having them, but Holmes was based based on an actual human, thus if the original did then they would mirror it.

The whole, only doing things that interest him is a very aspie tendency. I dont know about you but if I'm disinterested in something even piling bills are poor incentive. This actually reminds me of another topic I should share but I dont want to get off topic.

I also dont think his social skills were very NT in nature. He was either a passive listener or dominated a conversation. Lets face it aspies are the only people to go into expositional monologues in real life. There was a good chance that was for the readers sake but if it was for the reader and not a quirk of Holmes then an internal one would have made more sense. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm no expert on the books) but he went into exposition of his deductions whether they were needed or not. He wouldn't simply ask who forgot to put the toilet seat down, he'd go into exacting detail to explain how he already figured it out.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Sherlock Holmes displays many autistic traits, most obvious being that he seemed completely detached from the world emotionally (though we know by his words and actions that this isn't the case). In "A Study in Scarlet", he mentions how most men gather any information they can and thus their minds are like a cluttered attic, whereas he only gathers information relevant to his work (which is why he didn't know that the Earth revolved around the sun), which displays a very autistic way of thinking. These two things are incredibly rare, and you will be hard-pressed to find a person like Sherlock Holmes who is not autistic.

Oh, and let's not forget the fact that, until Watson, no one would board with him.

How bizarre, aeroz! I used that exact quote today on the General Discussion board, and only now do I come to read this thread!

But of course ! !

I remember the detail where Holmes could identify what type of cigar a man smoked by looking at the ash. I think Watson commented on this and he responded that he had purchased every brand of cigar available just to stucy the differences in the ashes.

Obsessive focus ....

It's been a while since I've read the stories, but if I remember correctly most of the time he explained his deductions when someone would ask how he came to his conclusions. "How on earth did you figure that out?" "Elementary." It was rarely offered without being asked unless he was "educating" someone on the importance of observation and deduction.

Holmes never said 'elementary' in the books. He is never described as wearing a deerstalker cap or smoking a pipe. Those are all constructions from the various plays and movies.....

I think he said it in one or two of the stories, but he wasn't known for it. The phrase, "Elementary, my dear Watson," however, was never said in the book, although you see, "My dear Watson" all of the time.

I sit corrected....

He was a master of disguise, and isn't that an ASpie trait?? Dressing up to pretend to be someone else ??

Meh, this is quite frustrating.

He did not have autism or aspergers, because he did not have problems communicating. None. Just like Albert Einstein.

Also, he didn't look up dead celebrities and tried to relate to them out of insecurity. Which seems to be a 100% asperger trait.

No, he didn't have autism or Asperger's because he is a fictional character.

He was WHAAAAATTT ???????

Hm. I always thought he seemed a bit Aspergian to me...

-TB