<p>"An aspiring physicist was sentenced Monday to more than eight years in prison and ordered to pay $3.5 million for his role in a spree of arson and vandalism that targeted gas-guzzling Hummers and other sports utility vehicles.</p>
<p>Rejecting pleas for clemency from William Cottrell, a 24-year-old doctoral candidate in physics at the California Institute of Technology, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner added more time to the sentence after finding that Cottrell was trying to sway consumers with his anti-SUV message."</p>
<p>Billy was my Physics 12b (the infamous quantum!) TA. I never spoke with him, though. Though I don't have particularly strong views on this case, he probably didn't get a fair trial because the judge didn't let jurors hear about the (undisputed) fact that he has Asperger's syndrome, a disease related to autism that renders him much less able than most to discern others' motives (and makes him more liable to be duped into doing particularly dumb things).</p>
<p>I'm certainly not defending his behavior... but it's sad what happened.</p>
<p>It's a loss to the world for the mind of a Caltech physicist to be locked away for eight years. I irrationally hope the prison has a nice library.</p>
<p>I think what he did was stupid and wrong, but it sounds like he did it because he really believed it was the right thing to do. It's difficult to hold that against someone.</p>
<p>"U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner added more time to the sentence after finding that Cottrell was trying to sway consumers with his anti-SUV message." - what, if he'd been vandalizing random vehicles for kicks instead of trying to do something to help the environment (however misguided), he would have received a lower sentence? Sounds inane.</p>
<p>Well, I could easily relate to this person. I had intense sympathies with the environment (but grew so frustrated that I stop caring now) and also have Asperger's Syndrome. </p>
<p>People with Asperger's like me can be taught social protocol - but do not learn it naturally. But one huge problem is that many with Asperger's tend to be loners and thus never have the opportunity to learn proper social protocol. Such an example was the Unabomber who resembles an Aspie in many ways but was never taught social protocol before he committed his crimes.</p>
<p>A huge problem with people with Asperger's is that when we get so frustrated with something that we cannot take it anymore, we break down in a meltdown. It wouldn't be surprising at all if this person committed his crimes in a meltdown.</p>
<p>This doesn't bode well for my Caltech grad school chances either, as I also have Asperger's Syndrome, though it's not that severe (still though it's often so frustrating that I sometimes exagerrate the severity of my case).</p>
<p>After some student suicides, MIT decided to to implement emotional resilience into its admissions factors.</p>
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I think what he did was stupid and wrong, but it sounds like he did it because he really believed it was the right thing to do.
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<p>The problem with people believing that something was the right thing to do is that there come examples of persecution when people believe that persecuting is the right thing to do.</p>
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"U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner added more time to the sentence after finding that Cottrell was trying to sway consumers with his anti-SUV message."
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<p>Ok, now that I do have issue with. While most Aspies probably know enough about social protocol to not vandalize SUVs, swaying consumers with anti-SUV messages does not seem harmful - hey - that's free speech. Sure it may offend some people but I honestly think he should have the right to use anti-SUV messages.</p>
<p>Speaking of Asperger's, Caltech's students do tend to be more autistic than average, I would imagine, right? So maybe there are many with Asperger's at Caltech though some don't disclose it</p>
<p>No, autism and Asperger's generally stay with life. However, autists can improve their weaknesses by learning the unspoken rules for communication.</p>
<p>Also, some form of autism can actually be beneficial to Caltech. At Caltech, you have to be pretty focused, not too social, and pretty obsessed with math/physics in order to succeed, which is what Aspies have an advantage in (as long as you're obsessed in the right area, not what I have an obsession with right now!). I highly suspect that Paul Erdos and Marie Curie had many symptoms of Asperger's, and it has been suspected by others that both Einsten and Newton had it, though I doubt Einstein's case.</p>
<p>I somehow doubt that being antisocial would help me succeed at Caltech. An obsession with math/physics is definitely not necessary in order to succeed, as you don't even have to like math/phys to be a good biologist.</p>
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I somehow doubt that being antisocial would help me succeed at Caltech. An obsession with math/physics is definitely not necessary in order to succeed, as you don't even have to like math/phys to be a good biologist.
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<p>Asperger's/autism != antisocial. Your social skills are weaker but at least you aren't going to be whittling your time away partying or hanging out with friends too much. And if you want to get into Caltech in the first place, you'll have to take a substantial amount of math/physics.</p>