While I kinda appreciate the comparison to Sheldon Cooper, that just isn't the case.

I've worked with a few Aspies, and also hung out with those who work with the autistic and autism-spectrum folks. And indeed, I skew towards the analytical ( just as Grundoon skews towards the emotional. ) But I'm afraid the truth will disappoint you.

I don't know. I think there are degrees of it, and I'm sure that MAPs, or at least the ones at this forum, have a higher degree of Aspergerism (if I may coin a phrase) than the general population.

And yes, Sheldon is awesome. If not for him, that show would be unwatchable. :)

Though you may be onto a little something. Identical twins tend to be a little more retarded in developing social skills ( since they don't need to create a peer-age playmate by going up to a non-family member. ) Also, I've spent maybe a little too much time among Sci-Fi/Comics/Anime geeks. And geeks tend towards that even when they would never pass any diagnostic criteria required for Aspergers.

I agree with that.

Come to think of it, I've sometimes suspected the same of you. But in the absence of visual cues the lack of affective comprehension in others can't be detected.

You wouldn't be the first one. Hell, even my mom thinks I'm a bit Aspie. Well, maybe I am. I'll embrace it. What's another (sorta) disability on top of the ones I already have?

Heck, the entire Internet had to create emoticons 'cause EVERYONE online has been turned into an Aspie :)

:p

The same can be said for the unfortunate victims who suffer from homosexuality. Isn't it a shame that they can't be cured of their affliction? ;p

Yes, it can be said of gays as well. It doesn't make them morally inferior to anyone else, but homosexuality has its own issues that come with the territory. I just read an article over at Kotaku that perfectly highlights my point. There's a gaming convention in San Fran that's meant primarily for the gay community (although anyone is welcome to attend). Anyway, one of the gay attendees put it very well:

"I feel like when you're not straight your gender and sexuality always matter on some level. You can't escape it."

This person is pointing out that in a culture that is always going to be heavily biased towards straights (since they make up the great majority), you're always confronted with your sexuality in the sense that very little of the culture at large is really geared towards you. Gays have to create their own culture, and it's the same for us, with the added issue that we are (unlike gays and hetero-normatives) a sexual orientation not attracted to each other. Our orientation is towards a group that does not inherently share our orientation, a very important distinction.

I'd say the same of the one-size-fits-all idealists who promote the idea of a social contract.

Ah, but as I have said many times, I don't promote the idea of the Social Contract. I merely recognize it as the way society is by default. You can't get away from it. That hardly makes me an idealist. That's like saying "one-size-fits-all idealists who promote the idea of gravity." Gravity is neither good nor bad inherently; it's just a fact of nature. So too with the Social Contract--it's a theoretical model of how things are, not some idealized notion of how things should be, and we are forced to work within its bounds.

The concept of individual rights better incorporates the fact that individuals are too complex to be managed by the majority restricting their choices. If you think folks sometimes fail to live up to their OWN ideals, they really don't live up to the ideals of holier-than-thou Utilitarians who believe that a "greater good" worth sacrificing Rights for can be found in a messy world.

There are two problems with this point. One, individual rights and the greater good are not mutually exclusive concepts. And two, 'individual rights' are no more inherently defined than is 'the greater good'--all of that is up to interpretation. I am not inherently opposed to either concept, but I also recognize that both have their limitations. I have put a lot of time and effort into determining where I think individual rights begin and end and where the greater good begins and ends, and in both cases I make allowances for exceptions to the rule.