I am wondering if a better name for DEFCON might be AUTISMCON or some such thing. When I was teaching I noticed a steady expansion of special categories such as autism. More and more people were being included under the banner. The reason is, Federal Tax Dollars. People that you would consider generally normal but flirting with strangeness are being labeled as autistic and given “special services” in order to prepare them for life. You see the same thing with Spanish speakers, handicapped, the poor and any other group that can attract federal money.
Every year at DEFCON we notice that the halls are full of people flirting with strangeness. Geeks tend to fit into the description of the autistic. They tend to be either anti-social or non-social. They often do not know how to relate to other people. That is one reason they are so in love with their computers. Their computers understand them and are non-judgmental. As DEFCON expands and the ranks are diluted with growing numbers of the mainstream sheep, the stereotype geeks become less obvious. I would also postulate that they are starting to stay away because of the crowds.
This is not to say that autism is not real. Some of the real victims are totally cut off from contact with reality. The big issue is that no one really knows how to help them. Part of the arrogance of educators is that they think they can fix everything and everyone. This applies even if they don’t want to be fixed.
Be nice to the autistic. You might be one and not even know it.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.