Page 1 of 4 [ 63 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

Mitch8817
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Apr 2006
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,881
Location: Victoria, Australia

07 Oct 2006, 2:51 am

I find it interesting how much we stereotype NT's on this site. People here make them sound like a race of barbaric breeders corrupting everything due to their ignorance or intolerence.
Think about why we hate them though; because they have a life that we can't have. They understand bodily cues and inferred meaning in conversations. They don't freak out in a large group of people. They know how to make small talk and empathise with others.
We, on the other hand, can't. Therefore, we make our situation more bearable by believing that we are in fact the better ones. We build ourselves up so it hurts less - not having friends, not having sex, feeling lonely, not being able to function 'properly' or fully.

These are just thoughts, tell me what you all think.



deep-techno
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Jan 2006
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,080
Location: Exeter, UK

07 Oct 2006, 3:24 am

I edo think that we are a bit shallow about NTs and we don't have any positive things to say about them. Just because they can be inconsiderate to people like us it doesn't mean that they are always like that. There are some positive things about NTs, but we don't seem to show them.

BUT - if people say things like "Autism is a disease that must be cured" and they talk about out nonsense then why can't we say "NTs are inconsiderate and do unnecessary things" and blame them for their nonsense?


_________________
If the phrase "you are what you eat" is correct, technically we must all be cannibals.


Starr
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Sep 2006
Age: 67
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,052

07 Oct 2006, 4:31 am

I don't hate NTs, but I think that generally they tend to mistrust people who are a bit different, socially awkward, who don't follow the usual patterns of behaviour. I think it's called scapegoating - as Jung described it, the 'normal' group in society will project their shadows, the dark sides of themselves which they fail to awknowledge as their own, onto 'outsiders' people they consider different to themselves, and give them a hard time.
I like being 'outside' personally, and I like some NTs one-to-one, but I do feel that some of them want everyone to be like them, and would 'treat/cure' people who are different.
Vive la difference I say :)



KBABZ
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Sep 2006
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,012
Location: Middle Earth. Er, I mean Wellywood. Wait, Wellington.

07 Oct 2006, 4:40 am

deep-techno wrote:
BUT - if people say things like "Autism is a disease that must be cured" and they talk about out nonsense then why can't we say "NTs are inconsiderate and do unnecessary things" and blame them for their nonsense?


I think that sould be re-phrased to "These particular NT's are inconsiderate and do unnecessary things", just for the sake of being both accurate and fair to NT's. I've got many NT pals who'd be more than willing to fight for the changing of the "Autism is a disease and must cured" thing.


_________________
I was sad when I found that she left
But then I found
That I could speak to her,
In a way
And sadness turned to comfort
We all go there


MrMark
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Jul 2006
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 8,918
Location: Tallahassee, FL

07 Oct 2006, 5:30 am

The reason we hate NTs, or any other group for that matter, is because of an "us vs. them" mentality. We prefer to view the reason for our animosity as external, "NTs are stupid," rather than internal, "I feel angry." This way we can blame the external group, "them," for our feelings instead of taking responsibility for our feelings. Also, we have to find something wrong with a group or individual in order to reject them, lest we conclude that there's something wrong with us.

The solution is to transcend distinctions like us/them, good/bad, right/wrong. Start by asking why this one you call "I" reacts to the external world the way it does. What happened to make that one that way? How could it be different?

What a good question!


_________________
"The cordial quality of pear or plum
Rises as gladly in the single tree
As in the whole orchards resonant with bees."
- Emerson


Hazard
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 71
Location: UK

07 Oct 2006, 5:58 am

I don't hate all NTs. Stereotyping them makes us as bad as the group of NTs who believe everyone should be normal, and those who aren't should be 'cured'. I think because many Aspies have had bad experiences with certain NTs during their life, they tend to group all NTs together as intolerant, evil and manipulative. Some of them are like that, but there are also a good deal of Neurotypicals who are tolerant, understanding and against the 'cure all differences' idea.


_________________
Noli ursum pungere


hale_bopp
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Nov 2004
Gender: Female
Posts: 17,054
Location: None

07 Oct 2006, 6:28 am

I don't hate NTs.

But I do hate some of their attitudes.



SilentBedlam
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 3 Oct 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 133
Location: The UK, Supposedly...

07 Oct 2006, 6:42 am

I always wanted to hate NT's, but I don't/can't. Instead I try to make studies of them for my own amusement. As far as superiority/lack therof goes it's merely subjective. The mindset any of us possess by default produces in us a specific opinion as to the definition of superiority by evaluating the qualities we rely on most in ourselves.

In terms of capability though, whist we're all operating within the same band, I have always considered emotionless objectivity to be a superior viewpoint, because observation is not based on the feelings of the moment, producing personal truths that endure for longer. Truth, I believe, however, is merely the name for an individual perception simillar in the many, and by that logic probably doesn't exist, because by that standard, objective truth is paradoxically a falsehood.

Ok... Now I'm trying to work out if any of that made sense...


_________________
CARPE PECTORIS!!

There is nothing about these perplexing and morally insensitive humans that cannot be solved with the aid of a heavy machine gun.


Mitch8817
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Apr 2006
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,881
Location: Victoria, Australia

07 Oct 2006, 8:14 am

Are you saying that there are no universal truths, and that we create our own?



pluto
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2006
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,576
Location: Paisley,Scotland UK

07 Oct 2006, 8:16 am

I think we tend to try and simplify things,as it can otherwise be overwhelming to realise that every person in the world is different in their own way and
that's what makes relating to people so complicated for us.
I can understand school kids who are bullied having an Us v Them
mentality as bullying happened to me as well,but I can honestly say
that since becoming an adult I've always tried to see people as individuals
even if I'm now aware of why I'm different.We can't even be certain that
people we meet are NTs anyway,they may be Aspies who have learned to adopt a different persona in public !



SilentBedlam
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 3 Oct 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 133
Location: The UK, Supposedly...

07 Oct 2006, 11:16 am

Mitch8817 wrote:
Are you saying that there are no universal truths, and that we create our own?


Damn my chronic hyperverbosity!

Yes, pretty much. I think that a truth is accepted because enough people believe in some simillar objective or idea. I don't believe there are extemporate truths however - even in the most fundamental disciplines like quantum physics. Truth is a concept that is fleeting, based on many reflections of individuals who come and go; it is altered by current perception, and therefore even an objective, emotionless "truth" is qualified only by the individual's belief in their objectivity.


_________________
CARPE PECTORIS!!

There is nothing about these perplexing and morally insensitive humans that cannot be solved with the aid of a heavy machine gun.


Callista
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2006
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,775
Location: Ohio, USA

07 Oct 2006, 11:19 am

I don't hate NTs. That's too general; and anyway, how can I hate people I've never even met? I've hated specific NTs in the past, though I don't anymore--that takes too much energy.

It's more that I hate the whole situation. Our communication difficulties don't account for even half of the problems we have with communicating with NTs; we also have to deal with prejudice (theirs and, sadly, our own), fear, and the expectations that we must think exactly like every other (NT) person out there; and if we don't, we're frightening enigmas who must somehow be mentally deficient. When we are accepted, we're often accepted only for our skills, or accepted by people who want to "fix" us.

The problem here is that, while we have met a lot of NTs, most NTs have met only one or two people with AS/HFA, and likely none at all with LFA. What's more, they don't know the first thing about AS/autism. They have these stereotypes of someone "stuck in their own little world", rocking and staring into space and doing amazing feats of memorization and mental math. They don't even connect AS/HFA with the shy, greasy-haired girl who's obsessed with cats, or the loud, obnoxious kid who doesn't know when to shut up about nuclear power plants, or the guy who can do anything with a computer but still doesn't know you're not "supposed" to carry around scientific calculators in your shirt pocket. They just classify those people as "nerdy" or "weird" or "ret*d"; and once those people are in those categories they, at best, ignore them.

What's needed here is to educate the NTs. We already know lots about them; and the only thing we really have to work past is that tendency towards reverse prejudice that keeps us from trying to communicate. The problem is that they don't know much at all about us. Once they know what to expect, and can replace those stereotypes with "Oh, s/he's just an Aspie"... then the fear of the unknown, the revulsion they feel when they meet with the unpredictable, can be greatly reduced.

Look at Down Syndrome. Almost everyone knows about that. Sure, there's still prejudice; but the mental picture most people have of someone with Down Syndrome is pretty decent--somebody who's slow and doesn't get it sometimes, but still someone who is basically human and a lot like any other human--feelings and dreams just like anyone. People are just barely beginning to accept people with Down Syndrome into society, because they're starting to realize there's nothing very frightening about them. That comes about because now, they understand the differences; and those differences have settled into a predictable definition that their NT minds can work with. There's a long way to go there; but it's beginning.

If that can be done with autism... if NTs can be given a true, non-derogatory mental definition of someone on the spectrum... Well, once they know what to expect, they may be able to categorize us in the right "box" (there's no escaping the categorization; that's just the way the NT brain works). And once they know what to expect, a lot of the anger, fear, and outright hostility may start to fade.

It's all about education...


_________________
Reports from a Resident Alien:
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com

Autism Memorial:
http://autism-memorial.livejournal.com


RTSgamerFTW
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Sep 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,410

07 Oct 2006, 11:52 am

I only hate the NT's that have a problem with our existence.



werbert
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 May 2006
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,069

07 Oct 2006, 2:31 pm

I don't hate NTs. I hate all who are not me.



CockneyRebel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 116,979
Location: In my little Olympic World of peace and love

07 Oct 2006, 3:38 pm

I like 90% of the NTs that I deal with from day to day. It's the 10% who have a problem with my differences that drive me bananas.



lae
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 May 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 786

07 Oct 2006, 3:55 pm

I think I get a bad attitude towards them as a group (which I shouldn't) because I've had bad experiences with some of them. It isn't rational for me to do that, but there it is.