About That Last Essay ...

Some Clarifying Thoughts About Wokeness, Fiction Writers, and JK Rowling

I’ve lost a handful of subscribers so far because of that last essay, which while not particularly surprising, led me to realize that I had a lot more to say about this topic and should have clarified a few things.

Firstly — writing fiction with multiple characters who are all very different from each other takes a lot of cognitive empathy. As well, metaphor lateralizes to the right hemisphere. So most writers — in particular those who create complex, diverse characters (as opposed to caricatures of themselves) and/or who wield metaphor with great skill — are not on the autism spectrum, nor would they have the “autistic” empathy profile.

Secondly — I’m left hemisphere dominant. I fell off (no railing, near the top) of a staircase onto a cement floor when I was one year old and landed on my right parietal lobe. I’m pretty weird, and, in addition, as I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time alone, and I was obsessed with reading as a child. For a weird, lonely child, good fiction can be lifesaving. I’m incredibly grateful to the authors who filled my heart, mind, and free time with their wonderful worlds and characters.

Thirdly — Brains are plastic. You can train and strengthen your right hemisphere and your cognitive empathy. I also do not think that RH dysfunction (or autism) is exclusively caused by early childhood neglect — I think it’s very multifactorial, and that there are multiple environmental, cultural, and genetic causes which interact with each other. I’ve said this before, but “autism” is an umbrella diagnosis, many people are getting diagnosed with autism when another diagnosis might be more appropriate, and the DSM is flawed. No one cause applies to all cases of autism, and no one case only has one cause.

Fourthly — I worked in the literary community for years, and I did not find that the majority of writers were difficult to work with. Most were lovely. But there was a significant and very vocal minority of writers (or aspiring writers) who, frankly, made life hell for me and a lot of other people. As well, I am not suggesting that anyone with “lopsided empathy” is a bad person or intentionally hurts others. Most people are probably a little lopsided toward one or two empathy types. In the case of “autistic” empathy, I think people who meet this description are often very well-intentioned, but they are easily manipulated by predatory actors (e.g. clinical narcissists) into becoming “flying monkeys”, or people who act on behalf of a toxic person out of misguided empathy for the toxic person.

Finally — I’m not arguing that good fiction doesn’t improve empathy, including cognitive empathy. I think it does because it’s a form of storytelling; but other forms of storytelling, when done well, can do this too. I don’t have an issue with the suggestion that reading fiction can be an empathy-booster — I have an issue with the implication that people who read fiction on average will be more empathetic than those who rarely do or don’t. I do not think you need to read books in order to develop a healthy sense of empathy, and it’s simply elitist to suggest that this is the case. I also do not think that books are an inherently superior form of storytelling. I also take issue with the suggestion that reading — regardless of what book(s) you are reading — is inherently healthy. It depends on the content of the book. Similarly, I take issue with arguments that suggest that, for example, all “screen time” is unhealthy. Again, it depends on what kind of screen time and the content. There are many great movies and TV shows out there that can improve empathy too, and many wonderful podcasts.

I think the “autistic” empathy profile is more associated with activist-influencer-writer types, not creative authors per se. As mentioned, autobiographical writing is the hallmark of autistic traits. (And this is how I wrote fiction and poetry — my short story collection features characters that are all versions of me; I can craft a sentence, but my right hemisphere is too weak to ever be an exceptional fiction writer. I’m much better at puzzle-solving, logic, and analytical essays; which is one of the reasons I abandoned fiction and poetry and started this Substack).

However, authors who write fiction from the right hemisphere (so to speak) can (often?) have ardent fandoms who fit the “autistic” empathy profile.

To illustrate this, I’d like to discuss two popular children’s authors who both write from the right hemisphere, the imagination, and the heart: J.K. Rowling and K. A. Applegate.

Unfortunately, I will have very little writing time over the next few days and so this next part will have to wait and I’ll send it out sometime next week. Thank you for your patience.