Help me with my learnings!

[ishyface]

Questions for... well, everyone, I guess:

1) How big is the gap between Asperger's Syndrome and high-functioning autism? (From what I understand the two overlap a lot. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

2) What is the Baptist Church's official stance re:stigmata? (Any info about the Baptist Church would be useful, actually- I know very little about it.)

3) What does it feel like to have a nosebleed? (I've never had one.)

4) How do you know when "coffee" is not just coffee but coffee? (Because I just made plans to go for coffee with a friend, but I think said friend may be under the impression that these plans are for coffee instead of coffee. And, um, that could be problematic!)

5) How much does Thomas Hobbes suck? (Like, a lot, right?)

This list brought to you by the Gerald Doesn't Wanna Finish Hir Philosophy Paper Wildlife Fund.

ETA: From the essay I am currently writing on Hobbes' theory of the state of nature:

"Hobbes would have us believe that people tend not to murder their children because of the power of law and the state, but this is nonsense: anyone who has ever been in the same room with a fussy baby for more than ten minutes is sure to wonder why its parents do not simply drop it into the nearest lake and tell the authorities that dingoes ate it."

I don't even care if I am grossly misrepresenting Hobbes here,* I am not cutting that sentence.

* I am, but only because I don't like him.

Comments

[eustaciavye23.livejournal.com]

I was aware of the change over to the term autism spectrum, because it is more accurate; however, I thought they were still keeping Asperger's as a related syndrome rather than amalgamating the two. I wish I still had my DSM, but I had to abandon my psychiatric texts a few moves ago.

[eustaciavye23.livejournal.com]

Right, Aspergers is genetic; whereas, we have yet to pin down the causes of autism (or at least all of them). Some people blame childhood immunization, diet, hormones/neuro chemistry, or even possibly RH factor issues during pregnancy/birth.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

3. Ewww, crusty. D:

5. My all-time least favourite philosopher is still Aristotle, mostly because his work is practically unreadable. That's not entirely his fault- it's all basically cobbled together from lecture notes- but if I'm going to read something I want it to have some kind of natural flow. (Also his views on ladies are bad and wrong, but that kind of goes for every philosopher in the history of the WORLD, sigh.)

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

Interesting! As an ex-Catholic that kind of independent organization is pretty alien to me, but intriguing.

I've always been a little mystified by the snake-handling thing, though as I understand it picking up snakes without being bitten to prove your holiness is a fairly common religious motif. It just seems a little weird to make such a big thing about it. But again, it's a Catholic thing- we don't even approve of loud singing in our churches, let alone foot-washin', snake-handlin', and shoutin'. (We don't approve of dropping g's, either, unless we are Irish.)

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

1. V. useful! Thank McBossy for me (and update your journal to tell us all about her, I am CURIOUS).

2. Ooh, good point re: denial of the flesh. Protestants do tend to dislike the body and its associated viscera.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

3. It is still the taste thing that grosses me out the most, dude. Truckloads of dnw!

4. I shall keep my eye out for those. *sigh* I am way too naive for my own good. In the future I think I should get someone to approve all my decisions for me, lest I end up naked and chained up in someone's basement by accident.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

Will do!

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

1. Hmm. That's a bit weird.

2. Blatant speciesism, I say. Not even the Black Ribboners?

3. When your neck muscles seize up? Really? That is... kind of cool, actually. It's like the body is trying to relieve the pressure.

4. Hopefully the other fluids are not actually in the coffee itself. (There is probably a fanfic out there somewhere written about that, God help me.)

5. If I ever write a Really Big Philosophy Paper, it will either be about the philosophical relevence of Calvin and Hobbes or one entitled "The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: Racism and Philosophy."

I think "dingoes" is right? Spellchecker didn't catch it, anyway.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

See, that's what I thought!

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

1. That seems to be the general consensus from what I've read here. I think it's time for me to go to the lie-berry.

2. ... it's for science? :D?

3. I CANNOT GET OVER THE CRUD THING. Seriously, that is VILE.

4. Whenever I say I'm going out for coffee what I really mean is I'm going out for hot chocolate with a mountain of whipped cream. And sprinkles.

5. I kind of like Rousseau, not because I know anything about his theories but because I learned a song about him in French when I was in eleventh grade.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

1. Could you elaborate a little more? From what I've heard/read/picked up along the way, people with Asperger's generally don't encounter the kind of verbal difficulties as people with autism (although I think verbal tics are one of the signs of AS?), and are generally less likely to be perceived as "mentally disabled" than autistics. Some of my sources may be less than stellar, though.

3. ew. ew. crusts. ew.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

1. That's really cute about your nephew. :) I think I've only met one autistic person in my life. He was, iirc, very high-functioning, but he was perceived by a lot of kids around him as weird and anti-social, which is basically the worst thing you can be in junior high, so he was kind of shunned. Some people have mentioned that they think I might have Asperger's, but I don't think I exhibit enough of the traits associated with it to be anywhere on the spectrum.

3. Like when you breathe underwater and it comes out your nose? Bizarre, man.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

DEFRIENDING THE HELL OUTTA YOU :(

(except, you know, not)

I think Hobbes is kind of arguing against the idea of people as a collective sucking big hairy donkey balls, though. What I got out Leviathan was that he thought people as individuals were donkey teabaggees, which was why they needed to be controlled by the state, which makes them a social collective and therefore gives rise to morality by way of law and punishment. I'm pretty much the worst philosophy student of all time, though, so I could def. be wrong.

Also, I very rarely pay attention to what we're actually learning in class because my prof has such an interesting accent. He's a Ukranian-Canadian who's spent a lot of time in London and Prague, and the result is so fantastic it makes what he's actually saying way less important to me than the way he's saying it.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

One of the characteristics defining Asperger's, as I recall from Mummy's frantic reading after my diagnosis, is the desire for social contact (which isn't matched by social skills). Autism, high-functioning or no, is much more introverted; Aspies want to make friends and join in but lack the skillz0r, and yes, there is much more chance of decent language skills and as you say, verbal tics (pompous, overblown language is another feature). I know a couple of open-mike comedians in London who have Asperger's, but none with high-functioning autism... if you want I can see if I still have The Books knocking around for more info, but the major ones are social desire and verbal ability.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that presentation sounds nifty. Do you still have it? After four years of philosophy I am beginning to hate it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns; I stopped retaining anything somewhere in second year. The subject was the Hobbesian state of nature (that "nasty, poor, brutish, and short" meme). I think I kind of botched it, but that is because at this stage in my academic career I am more interested in filling my papers with comic references and dead baby jokes than actually writing a thesis. I'd like to think this makes me a more interesting student. It probably just makes me a slob.

Is there a large correlation between IQ and autism, or is it more a factor of autistic people finding it difficult to communicate?

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

Nah, you don't have to hit The Books. The clarification re: social skills and the desire for social contact is really helpful. (I'm asking about autism because a character wandered into my brain the other day and I've been trying to diagnose him; from what everyone's told me I think he qualifies as an Aspie rather than autistic.) Takk!

[eustaciavye23.livejournal.com]

Love the essay ideas (I was obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes as a kid). I also think that your second paper would be a brilliant and insightful topic. Gender and race really have been a major factor in the history of philosophy. The title is smart, and sure to win you some points :)

[eustaciavye23.livejournal.com]

Actually, people with autism can be highly intelligent, or average, or deprived in the IQ department. From what I learned way back when I was still a psych major, girls with autism tend to be more severely disabled and have a lower IQ; however, the majority of children diagnosed with it are male. At the time some researchers believed that the higher variability in males was due to the larger number of those affected, and due to some of the mechanics behind the causal factors. Another major difference is the development of language. Children with autism often experience difficulty developing language skills and may never be able to communicate effectively; however, this is often not the case with those affected by Asperger's syndrome. On IQ tests children with Aspergers usually score within the average or above average range and show improvement with age; whereas children with autism often show cognitive impairments that do not improve. Apparently, children with Asperger's syndrome, much like my mother's friend's daughter, want to be social but are highly awkward and often overly formal. They are also known to become obsessed with things and have to find out everything they can about them. I read a really great article in a psychology magazine about a brilliant Ph.D. student with Asperger's syndrome. She could spend hours putting together a puzzle and was more interested in research than people. They often carry their interests over into communication (which I have also observed), finding it difficult to talk about anything else.

In regards to my presentation, yes, I kept a copy. I try to keep everything I worked on. In this case I was especially careful to do so because the professor suggested that I consider revisiting and expanding upon the topic in graduate school.

[flukycoda.livejournal.com]

ukranian-canadian-london-prague! that is so much cooler than hobbes could ever hope to be. i will take your word on hobbey's hostile little imaginings about society. it's been aaaaaaaages since i read leviathan and well, i was never a philosophy student. i was history. (random aside: my sister was a philosophy major and they had a seminar for first-year recently declared philosophy majors on how to break that news to your parents *mirth*)

OH AND

[flukycoda.livejournal.com]

dude, so i've decided that i want to read some tamora pierce but she's all prolific and shit so i don't know where to start. i vaguely remember you being A Big Fan. so tell me. where should i start?

[shitgun.livejournal.com]

3. it is. and you can't pick at it, because it'll bleed again. that is the worst part.

5. i pretty much hate all of them? or at least most of them. also, napoleon was a douche.

[bleedingcherub.livejournal.com]

I don't know about this, I think the distinction and relegation of the former to "it's genetic" is a way-- systematically; this is going to sound paranoid-- of keeping autism "bad" without pissing off any autistics percieved as smart enough to argue for autism acceptance.

[bleedingcherub.livejournal.com]

1. First of all be careful because this is becoming a pretty political issue. The PC stance is that there is just *differently* functioning autism, and Asperger's is the label given to those autistics very compatible with neurotypical society though they are in fact autistic. This is my stance also, with the added complication that I don't think autism is just one biological process/thing, I think it's more of a behavioural category.

3. I've only had one from coke, but I didn't notice it until I felt the drop of blood on my other skin. So, evaporation/wetness? But then coke is a topical anesthetic, so yeah I don't know.

4. Act casual but not unattractive and see how ze acts. The whole thing about coffee is that it can be anything, and your friend knows this, so if you don't like hir like that it's not going to be offensive.

5. I dunno, Hobbes seems to have got it right in some ways. My first excuse to myself to clear out "bad thoughts" is always "well think of the consequences." Even without a state and formal law, local custom would get you offed/hurt if you did something wack.

[rawkenr0ll.livejournal.com]

nosebleeds don't hurt- if the blood goes inside instead of out, it feels like when you have a runny, stuffed nose. if not, it feels like normal nose.

also WOW YEAH HOBBES BLOWS. and explaining why was HARD because people are STUPID.

idk the answers to the others.

re: 5

[rawkenr0ll.livejournal.com]

ah, but you've grown up in a society that preaches selfishness and dependence on authority. what if you hadn't? just because you do it doesn't mean it's human nature, which is the issue with hobbes: just because his society did it didn't make it true of everyone everywhere forever.