• (disco)
    kupfernigk:
    Mild OCD may help make someone a brilliant accountant or banker; mild schizophrenia may help someone become a great writer (James Joyce, for instance) and a degree of manic depressive behaviour may contribute to success as an actor or performer.

    Case in point: functional sociopathy seems to make someone a brilliant businessperson.

  • (disco) in reply to Yamikuronue
    Yamikuronue:
    Case in point: functional sociopathy seems to make someone a brilliant businessperson.

    Hey! I resemble that remark!

  • (disco)

    The conference call reminds me of something that happened last weekend:

    A friend of mine who owns a remodeling business was in the market to upgrade a work van and found one at a friend of mine's car dealership. Her family owns a good percentage of all the dealerships in the area and he asked me if I could help him get a good deal. I politely declined as I stay out of such things usually, he ends up buying it anyway.

    The next morning after he took it home, the battery was dead. He calls the salesperson and they say that their guarantee does not cover batteries. Boo. So I call my friend and she asks for the other guy's name and number and says she will take care of it on Monday.

    (From here on I am retelling the story as it was relayed to me)

    She calls him, he goes to her office and she apologizes, says that is not how they do business, etc. She calls the salesperson and has him call service and get a new battery, etc. As they are talking in her office, the cell phone rings of the friend who bought the van. He notices it is the salesperson and answers on speakerphone. The salesperson, completely unaware that my friend is sitting in her office proceeds to say, "I don't know who you know, but I have never known anyone to get anything free out of the Queen Bitch". After the call ends, she apologizes again and says that perhaps they have some employee issues that they need to straighten out soon.

    People can be idiots on the phone...

  • (disco) in reply to Jaloopa
    Jaloopa:
    DSM V has removed Aspergers completely

    And good riddance.

    I have never understood why the hell that was even there in the first place, especially with such ill-defined criteria. Normally, if someone was a bit weird and asocial, it was that, they were weird and asocial. Now every psychologist and psychiatrist rushes in to label those people with some illness or disability.

    Asperger is probably the most "special" of those, because of how effin' proud people seem to be with their diagnosis (protip: the fact many smart people would maybe fit the spectrum if stretched just right doesn't make you smart).

    It's a perfect special-snowflake disorder - the criteria are muddy enough to fit almost everyone (you need "failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level", "lack of social or emotional reciprocity", "encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus" and no related disorders - fuck, a million of people I know would have that), are an amazing excuse to be antisocial ("ooh, it's okay he's weird and doesn't talk - he's got that Asperger thing, y'know"), and don't interfere with your life any more than people suddenly being okay with your weirdness.

    I don't get it, seriously. Why can nobody accept anymore that they're not special, they're not unique, that the fact they have no social skills doesn't make them holier-than-thou, and chances are, they're not that much smarter than the gray masses?

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    I have never understood why the hell that was even there in the first place, especially with such ill-defined criteria. Normally, if someone was a bit weird and asocial, it was that, they were weird and asocial. Now every psychologist and psychiatrist rushes in to label those people with some illness or disability.
    It's a sign of our times; everyone has to have a label…
    Maciejasjmj:
    Asperger is probably the most "special" of those, because of how effin' proud people seem to be with their diagnosis.
    Not all of them. I've never really thought being an Aspie is special; certainly I ain't shoutin' it from the rooftops. It's just a part of who I am :smile:
    Maciejasjmj:
    I don't get it, seriously. Why can nobody accept anymore that they're not special, they're not unique, that the fact they have no social skills doesn't make them holier-than-thou, and chances are, they're not that much smarter than the gray masses?
    Some people are just desperate to have an excuse for being a shithead, I guess… <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK
    RaceProUK:
    Some people are just desperate to have an excuse for being a shithead, I guess…

    QFT

  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK
    RaceProUK:
    Some people are just desperate to have an excuse for being a shithead, I guess…

    QFFT

  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK
    RaceProUK:
    It's a sign of our times; everyone has to have a label…

    And if they can't find anyone to pin it on them, they'll pin it on themselves. I'm just amazed at how being basically mentally ill became something desirable, like a cool kids' club.

    RaceProUK:
    Not all of them. I've never really thought being an Aspie is special; certainly I ain't shoutin' it from the rooftops. It's just a part of who I am

    Lots of them, though. I personally blame that one episode of House for that.

    And as I said, the definition is muddy enough you could pull almost every even mildly introverted person on Earth under it. Hell, even I'd count just on the basis of being a misanthrope and tapping my fingers once in a while.

    RaceProUK:
    Some people are just desperate to have an excuse for being a shithead, I guess…

    Well I'm sorry, but that's how it is. Grey masses are called grey masses because there's a lot of people in them. Unique people are called unique because there isn't many of them.

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    Well I'm sorry,

    Are you? Are you really?

    Because somehow i'm not buying it.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    Are you? Are you really?

    Of course not.

    Maciejasjmj:
    being a misanthrope

    obliges.

    But seriously, if it's the first time someone told you you're not a beautiful and unique snowflake, then I don't know what to say. Watch more Fight Club?

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    Unique people are called unique because there isn't many of them.

    Everyone's unique in their own special way. Most just aren't all that interestingly unique (and different people evaluate “interestingly” differently)…

  • (disco) in reply to dkf

    What he said. Everyone is unique, different people think differently about other people, everyone has good things and bad things about them, etc etc etc.

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    Of course not.

    I thought so

    Maciejasjmj:
    But seriously, if it's the first time someone told you you're not a beautiful and unique snowflake,

    well that's the thing. just as no two snowflakes are the same neither are any two humans, and that's interesting and cool, but it doesn't actually make the snowflake/human particularly special or important. because they're all beautiful and unique.

    So I'll take umbrage at the assertion that I'm not beautiful and unique, but I'll happily accept that my being beautiful and unique does not make me special or important. if I want to be either of those things I have to work for it.

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    Grey masses are called grey masses because there's a lot of people in them.

    I think the english idiom you're looking for is unwashed masses.

    accalia:
    So I'll take umbrage at the assertion that I'm not beautiful and unique, but I'll happily accept that my being beautiful and unique does not make me special or important. i

    You guys are using different meanings here.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    So I'll take umbrage at the assertion that I'm not beautiful and unique

    What, everybody's beautiful now? I can get behind "unique" (though in the parts that actually matter people really, really aren't), but beautiful?

  • (disco) in reply to boomzilla
    boomzilla:
    You guys are using different meanings here.

    well then. we absolutely have to sit down and define a set of agreed upon terms so we all know unambiguously what each other is talking about.

    and no, we can't just use lojban!

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    What, everybody's beautiful now? I can get behind "unique" (though in the parts that actually matter people really, really aren't), but beautiful?

    there are more kinds of beauty than physical beauty.

    if you insist on beauty only being applied to physical aesthetics I'll say that you are a strange and sad man, but agree, that under that definition, which is but one of the definitions of beauty, that beauty need not apply either.

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    I'm just amazed at how being basically mentally ill became something desirable, like a cool kids' club.
    I don't see Asperger's as an illness, or even a condition; personally, I see it as a collection of quirks and peculiarities that someone once decided needed to be medicalised. But that does raise the question: did it need medicalisation? And the answer to that may as well be :tangerine:; I'm no psychologist.
    Maciejasjmj:
    Lots of them, though. I personally blame that one episode of House for that.
    Not seen that episode. But then I've seen so very few episodes of House.
    Maciejasjmj:
    And as I said, the definition is muddy enough you could pull almost every even mildly introverted person on Earth under it.
    Such is the issue with so many mental diagnoses…
    Maciejasjmj:
    Grey masses are called grey masses because there's a lot of people in them. Unique people are called unique because there isn't many of them.
    Now there I beg to differ. Everyone's unique; the world would be boring if they weren't ;) But then again, unique ≠ special, since everyone's unique :smile: <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to boomzilla
    boomzilla:
    I think the english idiom you're looking for is unwashed masses.

    Kinda. I like our one better.

    accalia:
    there are more kinds of beauty than physical beauty.

    Okay, but my point still stands. Not everyone's beautiful, physically, spiritually or otherwise.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    well then.

    Yeah, I think you're disregarding the connotations typically associated with "special snowflake," which includes how the snowflake expects special treatment due to his status. It's not talking about appreciating how people are different.

    I'm not sure if you were doing that on purpose or just got worked up about other stuff and latched onto that one.

  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK
    RaceProUK:
    But that does raise the question: did it need medicalisation? And the answer to that may as well be ; I'm no psychologist.

    But that doesn't mean that we should simply hand over all authority to the guys making up the rules of the game they play. I mean, this isn't something like pneumonia or actual severe (i.e., nonfunctioning) autism. Have an opinion!

  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK
    RaceProUK:
    I don't see Asperger's as an illness, or even a condition; personally, I see it as a collection of quirks and peculiarities that someone once decided needed to be medicalised.

    Yeah, that's pretty much what it is. But hey, as one autism specialist said on Wikipedia:

    Baron-Cohen cited two reasons why it might still be useful to consider AS to be a disability: to ensure provision for legally required special support, and to recognize emotional difficulties from reduced empathy.

    So "well it's not really a disability, but HEY FREE MONEY!".

    boomzilla:
    It's not talking about appreciating how people are different.

    Yeah, that's a separate argument. Which, for the record, I also don't agree much with.

    Yes, technically every single person has a randomized DNA sequence and memories shaping their neural connections etc etc etc, but from the observer's point of view, most of us are really all the same save for minor details nobody cares about.

  • (disco) in reply to boomzilla
    boomzilla:
    Have an opinion!
    Fair enough, if a girl has to…

    The way I see it, Asperger's is a collection of quirks and peculiarities. Some of these confer a benefit (analytical thinking), some a drawback (social awkwardness). Thing is, these traits aren't unique to Asperger's; many people who wouldn't fall under the DSM definition (or equivalent) may have some or all of these traits themselves. So, personally, no, it didn't need to be medicalised.

    But then, like I said, I'm not exactly an expert or trained professional in this matter.

    <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    I personally blame that one episode of House for that.

    i blame TBBT. at least around here, it seems that tho be intelligent you need to have some mental disorder, ffs i have seen a job offer which said: "We are looking for someone with an OCD"

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj
    Maciejasjmj:
    Not everyone's beautiful, physically, spiritually or otherwise.

    not in all of those aspects, no. It would be a hell of a boring world if everyone was beautiful in all of those aspects.

    but life, itself is beautiful. We're alive on a tiny speck of dust in the vastness of space, and at least as far as we can tell right now we're the only place that such life exists.

    so everyone is at least beautiful in that aspect. physical, spiritual, mental, etc beauty is a nice bonus when it applies but the beauty that is life is still there.

  • (disco) in reply to Jarry
    Jarry:
    i have seen a job offer which said: "We are looking for someone with an OCD"

    $20 says someone thought OCD means "attention to detail, penchant for orderliness and being somewhat annoyed when things don't fit right", and not "a disorder which might as well fuck up your life so bad you won't even be able to leave your house".

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj

    of course, it was some marketing genius thinking "oh, nerd is the new cool, let's have some geeks here"

    OTOH a lot of psychologists are eager to label, because once you label something you can categorize in a box and pretend that everyone into that box is the same. also, it's easier to medicate.

  • (disco) in reply to Maciejasjmj

    So if I exchanged someone's ordinary girlfriend with her ordinary cousin, that person would not notice?

  • (disco) in reply to Jarry
    Jarry:
    categorize in a box and pretend that everyone into that box is the same.

    no wonder my insurance company was upset that i rejected absolutely every therapist on their preferred providers list after one visit.

    i'm sorry, but if you as a therapist try to prescribe medication to a NEW client after ONE HALF HOUR SESSION then you are a BAD THERAPIST and you should probably feel bad about that, but i'm not sure about that, i'm not a licensed therapist after all.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia

    Surely medication should always be a last resort?

    <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK

    why do you think i rejected the therapists on my insurance's preferred provider list?

    every.

    single.

    one.

    of.

    them!

    tried?

    to‽

    medicate¡

    first;

  • (disco) in reply to accalia

    I

    get

    your

    point

    and

    was

    agreeing

    with

    you

    :stuck_out_tongue:

    <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK
  • (disco) in reply to accalia

    I take it touché isn't all that easy to Swype?

    <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to RaceProUK

    actually it's pretty easy to swype. i just stay on e for a bit until the accents menu pops up.

    But i'm not on mobile at the moment. :-P

  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    Translate to french to see why i posted that.
    « toucher » ?
  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    i'm sorry, but if you as a therapist try to prescribe medication to a NEW client after ONE HALF HOUR SESSION then you are a BAD THERAPIST and you should probably feel bad about that, but i'm not sure about that, i'm not a licensed therapist after all.

    This sums up my entire experience with the medical industry. I've been living with some kind of mild but persistent sinus infection for the PAST YEAR because every doctor I visit examines me for 45 seconds and then prescribes an antibiotic which invariably doesn't work. When I say "This didn't work the last four times with the last four doctors, why should it work this time?" they shrug and say "Well let's just try again and see what happens." I gave up and am just putting up with it now.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia

    Did it not ought to be 'touched'?

    Of course, at least to an English ear the infinitive is homophonic to the ... past participle? I don't know proper grammar terms, but the past one is the one that's wanted.

  • (disco) in reply to mott555
    mott555:
    Well let's just try again and see what happens.

    yeah. that sounds familliar. That's why the last time i went to a doctor for that bullshit i didn't accept it. i told him:

    "Look, this is the EXACT same prescription you gave me last month, for the exact same symptoms. I even have the original script to proove it. Now i don't know what kind of kickback you are getting from that drug company but it doesn't work for whatever it is so why don't you actually do your job and figure out what is wrong so we can fix it and not just prescribe the snake oil du jour so i'll leave your office today but come back next week to make you even more money."

    for some reason after that visit i wasn't on that doctor's patioent list anymore, but at least he finally switched from the antibiotic to an anti inflamitory that worked enough to make my immune system stop freaking the hell out and let my sinuses actually heal.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia

    I think most doctors are no better than your level-one helpdesk drone from India. They follow a script and get paid to push pills, nothing more.

  • (disco) in reply to mott555
    mott555:
    They follow a script and get paid to push pills, nothing more.

    this is true. and it really annoys them when they meet someone who won't swallow it.

  • (disco) in reply to accalia

    :eyes:

  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    and it really annoys them when they meet someone who won't swallow it.
    :giggity: <!-- Emoji'd by MobileEmoji 0.2.0-->
  • (disco) in reply to accalia
    accalia:
    every.

    single.

    one.

    of.

    them

    tried

    to

    medicate

    first

    AAaaaaaa! You devil! You had to go and leave some of those full stops out! :scream:

  • (disco) in reply to dkf

    i got bored of typing them and was too lazy to delete the ones i had alreasy typed.

    i'll go fix that now.

    EDIT: and done. is that better?

  • (disco)

    so late but wth...

    The Deliverer of D

    :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

  • (disco)

    Necro by a deleted post!

    [image]

    Well played, sir. Well played.

  • (disco)

    I suspect the same thing bit him as bit me. I never saw any explanations for this blue circle stuff, and I had gathered that blue circles referred to topics with unread recent posts, and gray indicated unread non-recent posts.

    Well I followed one of those blue circles the other day into a topic that was two weeks old. And since I neglected to read the actual time on the post I replied, well, I became a necromancer.

  • (disco) in reply to mott555
    mott555:
    I think most doctors are no better than your level-one helpdesk drone from India. They follow a script and get paid to push pills, nothing more.

    This, this so much. It's really sad, a lot of doctors are practically bribed by drug companies with things like free lunch.

  • Jimmyanten (unregistered)
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