![]() ![]() Passionate objectivity in Sherlock Holmes This is something that resonates strongly with us (Natalie and Martin, as well as a lot of other autistic people we know), as we try to be as objective as we can, and have a deep interest in facts and truths. Passionate objectivity, as one paper on Sherlock Holmes puts it. Sherlock seems to be driven by passion, in any case. The issue then is that autistic people are often perceived as cold or robotic, while quite the opposite is true. What this means is that a person outwardly does not express much in terms of emotions, even though internally they may feel emotions very deeply. On all accounts it seems Doyle’s Sherlock shows distinct autistic traits. The cold-bloodedness I think is a sort of sinister way of saying Holmes seems to have reduced affect display, which is also seen in autism. He has no friends other than the extremely tolerant Watson a brother, even stranger and more isolated than he, is his only family. He is strangely “cold-blooded,” and perhaps as a consequence, he is also alone in the world. His interests and knowledge are deep but narrow. ![]() He appears oblivious to the rhythms and courtesies of normal social intercourse-he doesn’t converse so much as lecture. But in context, is that actually what cold-blooded means in reference to Sherlock Holmes? When I hear the word cold-blooded in reference to a person, the first thing I think of is psychopathy/sociopathy and callousness, and I think most people would share these connotations. Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals For more information on autism and empathy, have a look at: Autism & empathy Hans Asperger made the same mistake in 1944, and described his subjects as having:Ī lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships, one-sided conversations, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements. It’s incorrect that we are callous, but we can certainly come off that way sometimes, for instance when we respond with an apparent lack of empathy because a situation and/or the state of mind of another person is not understood. Interestingly, these are attributes often used to describe autistic people. ![]() Watson refers to Holmes as distant, callous, unknowable, and inexplicable. The challenge of deciding what diagnosis he might have is further confused by the numerous portrayals in shows and movies that have depicted him.įor the sake of this answer, let us look at the original Holmes that the author Arthur Conan Doyle created for the detective novel A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887. It is interesting that there is so much confusion about what kind of personality he is at all. That said, the fact that fans debate whether or not Holmes is autistic or not-or whether he is psychopathic or not-speaks to how the public perceives autism and sociopathy/psychopathy. We can do no psychometric testing, nor a psychological interview to confirm or rule out our hypotheses. It is obviously impossible to diagnose a fictional character. So what diagnosis might good ol’ Holmes have? Let’s discuss the evidence. Hidden Clues | The New York Times But there are others who say that he is a sociopath, in particular Sherlock portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. ![]() The New York Times has diagnosed him as being on the autism spectrum. ![]()
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