Comment by mgaunard | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mgaunard | Hacker News Reader

That someone found it valuable to write an article for software engineers describing common sense that people usually figure out in their teenage years is interesting, as it is perpetuating the association of software engineering with autism.

Regardless, the problem is that autists are not able to read others well and gauge whether they are indeed interested in what they're saying (especially since it's polite for the other party to feign interest), nor do they realize that others may not be as excited about a very specialized topic they took a liking to.

For example, most people will say they like coffee. For some it means they like to experiment with different grind sizes and flow rates to extract the most floral notes out of certain Arabica cultivars when brewing espresso, but for many it will mean they enjoy the lifestyle of going to Starbucks and ordering a Latte with sweeteners, and have no knowledge nor even any interest in what coffee is and how it is cultivated, harvested, roasted or brewed. Autists would immediately assume the former and fail to pick up on the fact they're facing the later scenario.

Ironic that you would make such a sweeping assumption about the audience based on the article.

Would you say the same of `Make Friends and Influence People`? That it's written for autistic people who didn't learn common sense during adolescence like all of the other well-adjusted people (you)?

Assumptions is how you tailor your discourse to your target audience.

And no, I do not consider myself well-adjusted.

> That someone found it valuable to write an article for software engineers describing common sense that people usually figure out in their teenage years is interesting, as it is perpetuating the association of software engineering with autism.

Unless I'm missing something the article doesn't mention software engineering at all. Sure it's shared here on HN, but I don't see anything in the article that assumes the audience is a specific kind of technical reader.

As you mention "common sense that people usually figure out in their teenage years" I suggest you re-read the first few paragraphs where they specifically talk about incoming High School students lacking basic social skills.

While I generally don't like lists describing how people "should behave" to be more appropriate, because being social is such a nuanced thing and people are widely different, I disagree with you that this perpetuates any autistic association. No matter how skilled you are in soft skills, a new perspective can help you improve those skills. Most of the points on this list are common sense but most folks have probably never put these ideas into words, which is the value this blog post is bringing. A lot of non-autistic people lack social skills.

In my experience, many people wanted to be friends with me after a talk. I don't know why, but my guess was, most other people they talked to weren't good with conversations.

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