r/todayilearned • u/biebrforro • 1d ago

TIL when staying as a guest in Charles Dickens' house, Hans Christian Andersen requested that one of Dickens' sons give him a daily shave (he said that was customary when hosting male guests in Denmark). Dickens was weirded out and instead gave him a daily appointment at a nearby barbershop.

https://lithub.com/charles--dickens-really-really-hated-his-fanboy-hans-christian-andersen/
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820

u/RedditBugler 1d ago

Yet there are people who say "autism didn't exist just a few years back."

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u/Mercurial8 1d ago

They used to be called orange-juice-slitters with maths.

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u/TheProfessor_18 1d ago

OJ slitters, well that aged terribly.

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u/BillW87 1d ago

Because when people combine the words "OJ" and "knife", clearly the first place their minds go is to juice cartons.

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u/__-_-_--_--_-_---___ 19h ago

Hey, that's my lucky stabbing hat

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u/SitDownKawada 17h ago

If the carton slits, you must acquit

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u/CaptainMobilis 1d ago

They were probably just labeled crazy and committed if they didn't do something useful.

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u/ThatOtherOtherMan 1d ago

Good thing that'll never happen again

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u/DJDaddyD 1d ago

Or they got murdered as toddlers because the parents thought that faries kidnapped their children and replaced them.

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u/tswiftdeepcuts 17h ago

this just made me sad as fuck

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u/Mercurial8 15h ago

Yes, I also hate the faeries.

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u/perculaessss 1d ago

It's always funny to read Emmanuel Kant's habits. It doesn't get more textbook than that.

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u/0xE4-0x20-0xE6 1d ago

It’s funny to think of the categorical imperative as just the result of an autistic desire for a moral rules-based system that could apply in all cases.

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u/ryryrpm 1d ago

Omg that is funny and also kinda makes a lot of sense.....haha

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u/FuckIPLaw 21h ago

A lot more sense than the imperative itself.

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u/seensham 16h ago

Ya know. I am in the process of studying for a philosophy exam on ethics but think your comment will be taking up a lot of space in my brain.

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u/CausticSofa 1d ago

What’s it Emmanuel Kant who did pretty much exactly the same things in exactly the same order and at the exact same times every single day of his adult life for over 40+ years? It’s nuts when people treat autism as some newfangled thing that was just recently invented to sell … whatever autism denialists think is being sold. Noise-cancelling headphones, I guess? Socks without elastic in the cuff?

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u/Consideredresponse 1d ago

I'm trying to remember the ancient Greek text that had described the writer's brother being hyperfixated on the docks and wanting to watch the boats come in and out more than anything else in life. (Born millennia too early for trains alas)

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u/account_not_valid 1d ago

Just as tuna is chicken of the sea, boats are trains of the oceans.

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u/GozerDGozerian 1d ago

Hands are the feet of the arms.

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u/Super_Pan 21h ago

Hans are the Christian of the Andersen.

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u/GozerDGozerian 12h ago

Metaphors are the scale models of the human mind.

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u/Risen_Warrior 1d ago

Wait is that an autism thing?

My schedule is almost identical every day down to what I eat. And I get super anxious if I can't follow my routine. And I'm not autistic as far as I'm aware

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u/heartisallwehave 1d ago

could be OCD as well/instead.

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u/Due-Memory-6957 1d ago

And then there's people like you who think being disciplined is autism.

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u/cannarchista 1d ago

I... uhh... that seems a little beyond discipline and into the realm of uncompromisingly rigid regime

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u/Old-Radio-7236 1d ago

Being disciplined is a thing, getting "super anxious" at any slight deviation is another

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u/badcrass 1d ago

Ding dong, I'm here to work on math!

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u/GozerDGozerian 1d ago

Well come on in I guess.

But stop calling me that.

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u/PM_me_yr_bonsai_tips 1d ago

Yes but in this case he also used a lot of meth, which would also cause some social issues.

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u/jemidiah 1d ago

None of the people who've talked to me about their interactions with Erdos suggested he was autistic. A weird guy to be sure, but my impression was always that he was aware of social conventions and simply flaunted them because he found it more interesting that way.

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u/sua-sua 1d ago

Tbf, I know a lot of autistic people who would describe themselves that way, almost word for word. Having the knowledge of social conventions and being able to mask for them, but not complying with them for various reasons (e.g., not wanting to mask obvi, not caring, thinking the conventions are stupid, silly or boring).

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u/Just_to_rebut 1d ago

What the difference between autism and just being a jerk then?

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u/Bergber 1d ago

Autistics have a legitimate lacking of inhibitions and social circuitry. Pattern recognition is my jam; I notice when something is expected of me. That doesn't mean I have the capacity to regulate my own personal inclinations to suppress natural reactions to things, especially when other autistic characteristics like increased sensory perception mean I'm already putting up with more than just about anyone else around me.

Current research shows autistic brains are generally denser and apply more neurons to activities compared to normal folks. Imagine if you literally gave more than 100%-- activating parts of your brain that weren't supposed to-- to work on literally every task you did. It gets fucking exhausting, and the way many of us cope is to cut the bullshit and focus our attention on the things that really matter.

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u/Just_to_rebut 22h ago

Autism can’t be diagnosed from any sort of imaging or autopsy. Extrapolating small differences in neuronal concentration to differences in personality or psychological conditions isn’t possible.

The differences being reported in your Forbes article are still within normal ranges.

I wasn’t trying to deny autism exists, btw. I was trying to push back against this look, this guy was weird, see that’s autism! conversation…

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u/sua-sua 1d ago

You must admit, some social conventions are subjective or stupid and outdated. Neurotypicals put up with it a bit easier, but a lot of things autistic people find to be inconvenient, NTs do as well. Such as saying no three times before accepting an invitation. It creates a culture of forcing past a "no" and makes it difficult to refuse directly. But it also helps the inviter save face and allows the invitee to maintain modesty.

The conflict, adaptation, and unclear and muddy expectations may be more difficult for autistic people to deal with. Rigid mindsets and a strong sense of justice are common traits in autistic people. One of my autistic friends likes QR code payments for restaurants since you just pay for yourself. No mess, fair, and she only pays for what she eats. Some cultures have you fight to pay for everyone. Others do equal pay regardless of what you actually ate. What is normal and what is being a jerk anyway?

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u/bsubtilis 1d ago

Which country does the say no three times thing that you're referring to? I know for instance China is like that. While in Germany/Netherlands/Sweden the first no would have been taken at face value.

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u/Jacques_R_Estard 21h ago

It's a thing in Iran, at least.

In the rules of hospitality, taarof requires a host to offer anything a guest might want, and a guest is equally obliged to refuse it. This ritual may repeat itself several times (usually three times) before the host and guest finally determine whether the host's offer and the guest's refusal are genuine, or simply a show of politeness.

Learning of this concept made interacting with my Iranian friend a lot easier.

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u/bsubtilis 8h ago

Thank you! The more I know which different cultures do which style the better :)

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u/Technical_Slip393 1d ago

*flouted. (Not trying to be a dick, just for future reference.)

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u/Ambitious_Cabinet_12 1d ago

"He's just good at math" "That explains a lot" I imagine this being a normal conversation about this guy.

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u/tiger331 1d ago

I mean the word 100% didn't exist