It’s ok Blumpkinhead. I’m nsfw too.

This perspective handwaves the fact that “Neanderthal” is a commonly used pejorative term precisely for someone who is/acts “unevolved” or “primitive.” The article does a good job of not saying autists socialize like Neanderthals, and the commenter you’re replying to is wrong for suggesting the article did (I frankly wonder whether they actually read the article).

That said, the concern of linking autism to ‘Neanderthalic’ traits is, for the reason I just explained, a legitimate one, and the concern should not be simply dismissed as being unintentional. I mean, do what I suspect they did and just read the headline- It puts autism and the commonly pejorative term Neanderthal causally together in the same sentence. That’s what a majority of people are taking from this just judging from the ratio.

In other words, this association would be stigmatic for an already stigmatized group. Perhaps there’s some less stigmatizing language we could find to express this. OTOH, there’s the risk of the euphemism treadmill effect. OTOOH, there’s such a thing as reclaiming language from stigmatism, as I like to do very intentionally with the commonly pejorative term “autist.”

IDK, language is complicated.

mrw “fuck” is censored but “blumpkin” is plaintext

Not only is this ad hominem (calling a person “too stupid to look up the moderators” is not relevant to whether the research they did is valuable, the two are independent and you’re addressing (incorrectly perceived) personal characteristics rather than flaws in an argument) but also, friend, you’re telling on yourself. Spam is a legitimate concern in this and every online community. Nicole is a known spambot. You spammed your own community as a moderator. Apparently as a joke that most people seem to have gotten. Your response is basically [I’m the mod here, I can do whatever the fuck I want]. And no, you can’t. Contrary to what you might think, this isn’t your community. You are just currently (actually, looking at the mod list for this community that seems to be formerly) one of the people responsible for facilitating the dialogue this community is, in principle at least, trying to foster.

A joke is one thing, but coming out of the gate hot like this calling people “stupid insipid cows” because they reported nicole spam is… unempathetic and tends to suggest a power trip. In other words, “Be nice :)” applies to you, too.

if so facto, …

Ipso Facto

google walked into removing its dei programs with open eyes and arms outstretched