So now Larry Summers is "socially autistic"?

[KamaAina]

So saith Slate's Jake Weisberg, in the midst of advocating for Summers as Treasury Secretary!

http://www.slate.com/id/2204597

Summers can also be arrogant and politically incorrect. He sometimes does a poor job hiding his contempt for lesser intellects and loves to play the intellectual provocateur. Socially, he can be a bit autistic. But these are the defects of a superior mind, and they are a small price to pay for getting the person most likely to maximize our chances of avoiding a full-scale global depression.

Interestingly, the A-word has also been applied to two of the other "prickly nerds" mentioned: Bill Gates, and yes, Al Gore. Weisberg might also be interested to know that a person with autism -- me -- was a year ahead of him at Yale, though we never met.

[Odin2005]

1. Heh, sounds like me.

But me being an Aspie is not an excuse for me acting like an asshole.

[elleng]

2. Right you are!

I hope that's not why I've never liked Summers!

[LuckyLib]

3. Poor use of terms. There is no such thing as "socially autistic" --

and autistic should not be used in that way. Socially awkward? Lacking in social graces? Unless we know that Summers has been diagnosed as having Aspberger's Syndrome, no one should be making such outraegous statements. It could well be that Summers is on the autism spectrum, with Aspberger's -- lots of academic are (males, usually) and are often just considered assholes.