I can’t believe Greta Thunberg won the person of the year

[Outer Sparta]

I'm surprised people still take TIME seriously.

American pop culture views itself as a lot more important than it really is. The Man/Woman of the Year is only important in some American social circles.

Our obsession of pop culture detracts from the bigger picture. It's just a magazine award, not the Nobel Prize.

[Ard al Islam]

American pop culture views itself as a lot more important than it really is. The Man/Woman of the Year is only important in some American social circles.

Our obsession of pop culture detracts from the bigger picture. It's just a magazine award, not the Nobel Prize.

I believe [REDACTED] should win the Nobel Peace Prize, because [he/she] is the best person in the world because of what they've done.

[Bear Stearns]

American pop culture views itself as a lot more important than it really is. The Man/Woman of the Year is only important in some American social circles.

Our obsession of pop culture detracts from the bigger picture. It's just a magazine award, not the Nobel Prize.

The Nobel Prize's importance and prestige has been in decline as well. In 2050 the most prestigious award will probably be whatever China or India's equivalent of the Nobel Prize is.

[Farnhamia]

Our obsession of pop culture detracts from the bigger picture. It's just a magazine award, not the Nobel Prize.

The Nobel Prize's importance and prestige has been in decline as well. In 2050 the most prestigious award will probably be whatever China or India's equivalent of the Nobel Prize is.

That's nice, but not the topic.

[Ard al Islam]

The Nobel Prize's importance and prestige has been in decline as well. In 2050 the most prestigious award will probably be whatever China or India's equivalent of the Nobel Prize is.

That's nice, but not the topic.

I was beginning to lose faith in what the Mods thought was off-topic and what wasn't, but you've made me a believer again.

But that's off-topic, so I'm just gonna spoiler this whole thing and hope no one reads it.

[Aurevbush]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

[Heloin]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

What?

[Totenborg]

Could you point me to where you’ve enlightened us on a criticism different to those?

My criticism is the fact that she ain't much of a revolutionary - she is the comrade of the corporates, frankly. Why doesn't she say that we should change our energy production - or hasn't called us to topple nations that are run by anti-scientific governments that deny climate change for some shekels? Really, don't think that she would fix the problem because that, she isn't even a revolutionary. For those who say that she is privileged, most revolutionaries start there. See, I'm privileged to have the internet, and Lenin was a part of the upper-middle class of the Russian Empire. For all revolutionaries, a little bit of sympathy for the under-privileged folk is what drives them to be it. I'm not defending Lenin either, he's a terrible leader of the Soviet Union.

So, you think her speech was invalid because the action she demanded didn't advocate the solutions that you would prefer? Total upheaval or nothing? Damn. Just, damn.

[Stylan]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

huwat

Anyway Thurnberg is annoying as a person (which is what the left consistently struggles with - good ideas, bad spokespeople) but her ideas are solid. Idk about person of the year tho

[Adamantaean Magocrate]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Amusing. They can call me up if they want the divine guidance of autism.

[Sapporo Hyperspace Riftgate Laboratory]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

As an autist myself, I don't know. The only thing that's different for me is the fact that my "12 year old phase" came when I was 8, even though my puberty began when I was 11, and I don't think that it has a correlation with autism

[True Refuge]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

It’d really help if you gave a link so we could see whether or not it’s an unedited opinion piece.

Autism can make a person better at some things and worse at others. This mystery article probably dramatises that for clicks.

[Wallenburg]

I thought we weren't allowed to blogpost on NS?

[Costa Fierro]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

Mere opinion although it means that there's a certain quality to this that makes her suited for this kind of activism.

[Aurevbush]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

It’d really help if you gave a link so we could see whether or not it’s an unedited opinion piece.

Autism can make a person better at some things and worse at others. This mystery article probably dramatises that for clicks.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.thegua ... superpower

Alternative source from TEDtalks:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A&t=1m46s

[Outer Sparta]

I thought we weren't allowed to blogpost on NS?

Idk but this certain thread (and a sister thread on who really should have been POTY) has stirred NSG.

[Wallenburg]

It’d really help if you gave a link so we could see whether or not it’s an unedited opinion piece.

Autism can make a person better at some things and worse at others. This mystery article probably dramatises that for clicks.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.thegua ... superpower

Alternative source from TEDtalks:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A&t=1m46s

Wait, so she doesn't even have autism, just Asperger's. If you can't even get that right, I have a feeling the rest of this article won't reflect the info you tried to say it does.

EDIT: And indeed that's just the case. The "superpower" thing isn't something the media bestowed upon her to give her more "brownie points", it's something she said herself when assholes started attacking her for having Asperger's. She also, as Refuge qualifies, points out how it hinders her, simply identifying that in being different from most people she can find some self-worth.

[Aurevbush]

What I was initially saying was is that a media outlet claimed to her have an ASD related disorder, but her ability to speak the basic tenets of the climate change issue and leading an entire movement of activism without any hint of anxiety whatsoever just doesn't really add up to this power she claims to speak. It also doesn't add up to why they chose honor as Person of the Year.

[True Refuge]

It’d really help if you gave a link so we could see whether or not it’s an unedited opinion piece.

Autism can make a person better at some things and worse at others. This mystery article probably dramatises that for clicks.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.thegua ... superpower

Alternative source from TEDtalks:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A&t=1m46s

You’ve badly misread the article. Almost all references to Asperger’s as a “superpower” are in quotes from Thunberg herself, not the opinions of the article’s author. Thunberg is clearly not being literal, rather describing how she doesn’t see Asperger’s as a disability with a bit of dramatic exaggeration.

[Wallenburg]

What I was initially saying was is that a media outlet claimed to her have an ASD related disorder, but her ability to speak the basic tenets of the climate change issue and leading an entire movement of activism without any hint of anxiety whatsoever just doesn't really add up to this power she claims to speak. It also doesn't add up to why they chose honor as Person of the Year.

It just seems pretty muddled.

Holy shit, those goalposts just jumped the county line.

[True Refuge]

What I was initially saying was is that a media outlet claimed to her have an ASD related disorder, but her ability to speak the basic tenets of the climate change issue and leading an entire movement of activism without any hint of anxiety whatsoever just doesn't really add up to this power she claims to speak. It also doesn't add up to why they chose honor as Person of the Year.

It just seems pretty muddled.

You can’t possibly say an absolute statement like “she doesn’t feel any hint of anxiety whatsoever” from your position. We can’t possibly know without actual evidence. As it stands she’s just a strong speaker with a script and a weak speaker off-script due to her selective mutism.

Selective mutism strongly correlated with social anxiety anyway so I have no idea how you can Ben so certain about this.

[True Refuge]

What I was initially saying was is that a media outlet claimed to her have an ASD related disorder, but her ability to speak the basic tenets of the climate change issue and leading an entire movement of activism without any hint of anxiety whatsoever just doesn't really add up to this power she claims to speak. It also doesn't add up to why they chose honor as Person of the Year.

They chose her due to her rapid rise as an activist and her connection with global climate strikes. Whether that’s worth the award or not is subjective.

[Costa Fierro]

Wait, so she doesn't even have autism, just Asperger's. If you can't even get that right, I have a feeling the rest of this article won't reflect the info you tried to say it does.

It's on the spectrum and is considered to be a form of high functioning autism.

What I was initially saying was is that a media outlet claimed to her have an ASD related disorder, but her ability to speak the basic tenets of the climate change issue and leading an entire movement of activism without any hint of anxiety whatsoever just doesn't really add up to this power she claims to speak. It also doesn't add up to why they chose honor as Person of the Year.

Anyone can be anxious during public speaking, it's not like it's specifically a thing that just affects people with Asperger's.

[Purgatio]

....what the hell? How many environmental activists are there out there? I'm sure she's done some great activism, don't get me wrong...but let's be honest, the reason she won was not because of the activism, there are lots of environmental activists out there campaigning and what not, just like her. She won because she cried on TV and shouted at random people.

What a disgrace this award is, no clue what TIME was thinking.

How many have you heard of? How many have successfully changed the conversation at a governmental level?

Changed the conversation how, exactly? Because the only "conversation" she's sparked is either 1) Leftists cooing over how 'passionate' the crying child sounds and 2) non-Leftists complaining about the kid whining and obnoxiously yelling at people on a stage, which, as far as I'm concerned, isn't a conversation that advances environmental activism in any meaningful way.

[Purgatio]

It has been said in the Guardian that Greta's autism has given her a superpower of some sort.

Has that been medically proven or is that simply a talking point the media has thrown around to simply win her more brownie points?

Has it been medically proven that autism gives you superpowers? Yeah, pretty sure the answer to that's a hard no.