See my most recent post about Julian Assange here:
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2011/01/julian-assange-international-man-of.html
I saw an interesting portrait of the world's currently most famous Australian, the Wikileaks whistleblower Julian Assange, in the Weekend Australian. It appears that he is an unconventional bloke who hasn't had a lot of luck in relationships, the son of an unconventional mother who hasn't had a lot of luck in relationships. Assange had a childhood that was apparently partly itinerant and partly an idyllic lifestyle, unsullied by schools and institutional education on Magnetic Island off Townsville. I have visited this island, and I was utterly enchanted by it. Heaven. Moments to treasure forever. I recall this island was also a favourite haunt of the ill-fated Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates.
Assange is very obviously intellectually gifted, and was also homeschooled for a lot of his childhood. I thought the comments by the author Suelette Dreyfus about Assange and the hacker set that he used to hang out with in his younger years were particularly interesting with regard to gifted young Australians not fitting into the education system and society in general. Assange used to hang around libraries and study without much regard for graduating. That's a lifestyle that I am most familiar with.
In Australia we have a proud history of outsider whistleblowers, with notable Australians such as our autistic Deborah Locke, formerly known as Debbie Webb, who's scary career in the police force was a feature of the very popular Aussie TV series Underbelly.
"Julian Assange, wild child of free speech."
Stuart Rintoul, Sean Parnell, Sarah Elks, Milanda Rout, Jared Owens
December 11, 2010
The Australian
December 11-12 2010. p. 1, 8
Weekend Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/julian-assange-wild-child-of-free-speech/story-fn775xjq-1225969230839
Watching Deborah Locke watching the detectives
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2010/05/watching-deborah-locke-watching.html
Yeah, sounds pretty familiar. Already wondered about him.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering about Assange for a while too.
ReplyDeleteSeasons greetings, Clay!
Stop Me Before I Vote Again has him as a "a very intelligent Aspergerish computer nerd with a strong moral streak."
ReplyDeletehttp://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org/2010/12/they_say_im_hard_to_please.html
There's a couple of incredibly famous Australians who are so close to being added to my big list.
ReplyDeleteOnce again,the question comes up - do some/many intellectually gifted people appear to be on the autistic spectrum simply by virtue of the fact that their difference from most of the rest of the human race has isolated them socially since childhood, and they are also top systemizers?
Assange's committment to openness and truth is a virtue that he has in common with many of the people in my list. A love of the truth, the ugly, the mundane, the philosophical, the scandalous truth, is a theme that pops up over and over among the famous people in my list of autists and possible autists. I can also think of a leaky Aussie politician who deserves a place in my list. Many truth-lovers can be found in my list - there is James Joyce's inclusion of the vulgar side of life in his literature, and the shattering discoveries of all the scientists on the list, and the many mathematicians and the philosophers. There is an Australian whistleblower in my list. In my list can also be found a bisexual author who wrote the first positive lesbian novel, and also a sex researcher who shone a light where many did not want to look. My list also boasts the author of the famous story "The emperor's new clothes".
Compliments of the season, Mark!
Another trait found among many Asperger types is "Goody-Two-Shoeism", of the sort displayed by Adrian Lamo, who blew the whistle on Pfc Bradley Manning. When Lamo learned what Manning had done, he reported it to the armed forces, because he believed that the release of the cables was "unpatriotic" and illegal. What does he care if Manning serves the rest of his life in the brig; the keeping of top government secrets is more important, right?
ReplyDeleteThe good and bad of it is highly debatable.
This reminds me of a story told by an autistic friend, who claimed to have been unable to resist telling on other school students as a child. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising that more people haven't picked up on Assange's aspie traits. Like spending his life on a project that gives him little personal benefit (those who accuse him of seeking power or money are telling us more about themselves). And his apparently unemotional body language, even when facing the court.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's a matter of not being able to stomach the half-truths and euphemisms that characterise mainstream society. Either speaking the plain truth, or remaining silent, but not compromising.
I've changed this post a bit to acknowledge that Assanage's childhood was very disrupted by being moved around a lot. I'm sure many people might argue that his outsider status is the result of his unconventional and rootless childhood, rather than any neurological difference. If he ever writes an autobiography, I hope he explains.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great Christmas, Mr Cooke.
ReplyDeleteLili, I was in Australia some time ago, too bad I knew nothing about the Island.
ReplyDeleteMagnetic Island is off the coast from Townsville, a city which was a pretty drab place when I was there many years ago, but I liked it because the people there were very friendly and it was not "touristy". A lot of my favourite parts of Australia are places that Oprah will never know about. I especially love South Australia and Far North Queensland.
ReplyDeleteAnd a Merry Christams to you, Vega Velecka!
ReplyDeleteThat was "Merry Christmas"!
ReplyDeletePersonally I think it is a pretty cut and dried case with Assange, I see it written all over him. There seems to be fair bit of discussion about it on the net, see for example discussion here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wrongplanet.net/postxf146011-0-15.html
He is also quoted in this article as saying that he regards himself as being on the autistic spectrum: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101213/wr_nm/us_wikileaks_assange
Note also his obsession with eyes on his old blog: http://web.archive.org/web/20071020051936/http://iq.org/
I'd love to know the source of that quote in the Yahoo News story, but they don't explain.
ReplyDeleteA description of Assange as a child on his Wikipedia page struck me as not necessarily proof of being on the spectrum, but the same type of mentality:
"a very sharp kid" with "a keen sense of right and wrong". "He always stood up for the underdog,... he was always very angry about people ganging up on other people."
This echoes descriptions of autist financial genius Dr Michael Burry that I've been reading recently, about the sharp instinct for fairness. Empathizing with the underdog and the person who is being victimized by a crowd is sadly not a common sentiment among neurotypical people, who seem to assume that the crowd knows best. Assange also has a genuine interest in the truth/epistemology. These traits all seem like AS to me, but I also know that a refined sense of morality and philosophical thought are common traits among the intellectually gifted, so I'm still left puzzling over how to categorize Assange. Of course, plenty of people are both gifted and autistic. Assange is the only one who can provide an answer.
Have a great Christmas, Anonymous!