Re: NEW TOPIC: Discovering ander Durig and his writings on autism

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Interesting reading, thank you.

I like the way he essentially says, " we're all a little autistic " . I think that

is so true. Referring to computer thinking vs social thinking are new terms to

me in terms of hearing them used but old concepts in terms of thought about

" nerds " vs others etc. He presents a neat case for simplifying and reducing

behaviors. I also agree with his general disdain for labels and the DSM. And I

like that he supports the basic premise that all persons are entitled to

respect, comfort, safety, etc.

For example, and perhaps it is just because this is an excerpt and I haven't

read his book, he doesn't define autistic universe or social universe, but

leaves it to the reader to pick up the meaning in context. The way I take it

from his short context there, he seems to align autistic universe with computer

thinking and social universe with social thinking. To me it is more like " self "

thinking(the root " aut " meaning) vs. " social " thinking. And I don't mean that

in the pejorative sense of " selfISH " but rather in the unjudgmental sense of

that which is designed to achieve the comfort, safety, pleasure or perceived

need fulfillment of self, without concern for the effect upon others or social

consequences (or even necessarily, awareness of it). Maybe that is how he means

it?

But to me, when I think of computer I think of processes which happen devoid of

conscious thought and feeling, whereas I think there is conscious thought and

feeling associated with the autistic " self " thinking, just not on the " social "

plane that others might understand/relate to. I guess I like it better when he

says " social universe " vs. " autistic universe " . And although freud was not into

neuroscience I guess I see autism as somewhere on the id-ego spectrum whereas

the social universe or conscience is toward the superego end of the spectrum.

Someone taught me long ago, when I attempted to throw off my ingrained Catholic

self-denigration and perpetual fear of being " selfish " , that " selfish " is not a

bad word; it means you are willing to do what is necessary to live and preserve

yourself. To me, autistic persons are doing just that, with the tools that they

have. To the extent they/we can learn new tools it helps us all get along

better. And that would include helping " social " folks learn the tools to

understand the autistic universe as well. Building bridges.

When he talks about schizophrenia, bipolar, etc. as variants of autistic

thinking, I guess that he IS thinking of autism the way I think of it, but I

guess I worry where that will get taken. But it is what it is.

Anyway just wanted to say thanks; I will look for his work and for Pia's books

as well.

NEW TOPIC: Discovering Durig and his

writings on autism

 

Try c 

http://alexdurig.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/food-neophobia-%E2%80%93-textbook-psyc\

hology-in-action-or-the-emperor%E2%80%99s-neoclothes/

 

But then go further. Most of the way down his blog you'll come across a link to

his other blogs, and there you have it. Incidentally, he spends a fair amount of

time on the phenomenon of labeling, something that's timely what with the

pending close of the comment period briefly re-opened, on the DSM 5 brouhaha on

Autism.

 

I " met " through an obscure paper he wrote in 1993 which was published (very

early) on the Internet. In it, he introduces himself to the academic reader as

an autistic graduate student in the field of sociology in which he eventually

got his Ph.D. at Indiana University, went on to a brief but colorful career as a

university professor and adjunct this and that, and has since then branched off

into management consulting, preparing business plans, and doing all kinds of

sundry work. Kingsley published his second book, How to Understand

Autism - The Easy Way , which, for intellectuals, is a step down from his very

difficult to get ahold of first book, published by the State University of New

York Press, Autism and the Crisis of Meaning . Since then has embarked on

the co-authorship of a third book with a colleague which I haven't read or heard

of before now. I'm pretty sure the hectic life of a professor wasn't a good

match for him. He's much too wide-brush kind of a thinker for the relatively

minor league of universities and colleges he found his early teaching positions

in, and he burned out pretty fast.

 

kind of dropped off the map after a brief flurry of publicity about his

second, most readible book, but the guy's a deep thinker. I didn't slosh

through any more than a couple of his blogs, but he does go on and on, and is

really rich mind food. He's close with Olga Bogdashina, a leading author in the

field of sensory sensitivities and autistic behavior and thinking, and is " right

up there " with the UK intellectuals, even though he's chosen to remain here in

the US to ply a rather pedestrian trade as a lecturer, commentator, author, and

generally good fellow.

 

I don't know whether has ever met Temple Grandin. By temperament, they're

quite different, but in their own way, as intellectuals and as very heady

thinkers whose observations have been tempered by years of reflection " on the

condition, " their respective written output is quite cogent.

 

Give him a whirl.

 

What got me going in re-contacting him after a long hiatus was the writing of a

fellow named who is a communications theory scholar who just

completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Communications at University of

Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who's written a brilliant dissertation on the

dissolution of broadcasting as a public medium into the morass of corporate

capitalism and the psychology of market greed and control. Something about

's thesis, available for all at

http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26240/_.pdf?seq\

uence=1  brings back some fond memories of my years as an undergraduate with a

shared minor in philosophy and the sociology of knowledge. 

 

Incidentally, I " introduced " to Kingsley, my publisher, who

promptly extended a publishing contract to for his second book. Good luck,

that. After that, however, I kind of lost track, yet a simple Google search got

me " re-united " with him, if only through his blog.

 

Do give his writings and observations some time. He's a pretty remarkable

thinker. Big picture stuff. One of the things that connects Durig with an

intellectual like is 's fascination with the phenomenon of

a sociological observational and analytical tool first systematically developed

by Irving Goffman called " dramaturgical analysis. " This is " big picture " stuff

that allows one to strip away the posturings and outer vestments of power and

influence relationships, and go into the calculus of power and authority and

social roles directly. If folks decide to download the dissertation,

you'll find a fascinating description and discussion of this very significant

analytical device introduced in his first chapter starting at page 18.

 

Food for thought, this.

 

N. Meyer