IN PRAISE OF ASPERGER’S SYNDROME (April 28, 2019)

Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist sixteen years of age, has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a reasonably benign variant of autism. It is characterized by impairment in social interaction; intense preoccupation with a narrow subject; average to above-average intelligence; and physical clumsiness, among other symptoms. Greta’s main message to politicians and business people is that climate change is a global crisis of unprecedented gravity and that they should listen to climate scientists. In her own words, Asperger’s is a gift. And I cannot but agree. Apparently, it shields from bullshit of all descriptions, which includes untold detractions from the crisis at hand. Would that many more people around the globe suffered from it at this time. Perhaps, just perhaps, climate change could be tackled with some chance of success. If anything else, disaster management would be so much easier to organize as the only credible antidote to climate change in the years to come (“Ten Principles of Disaster Management,” January 19, 2015). Alas, gifts are not for all!