Greta Thunberg sees it how it is
In part, Greta Thunberg's Asperger's syndrome has helped her see through the social cues surrounding climate change and grapple with the bare facts, and the facts are nothing short of terrifying.
Aspergers Syndrome
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Context
People with Asperger’s find it difficult to pick up on social cues. This has given Greta the unique ability to see through the bluster surrounding climate science and see the facts for what they are—absolutely terrifying.
The Argument
When most children and teenagers identify a threat, they look to the adults around them to determine how concerned they should be about that threat. If they hear a loud noise, and the adults don’t seem alarmed, the children deduce they too have no reason to feel alarmed.
Many with Asperger’s syndrome struggle to pick up on the social cues around them. This means that Greta, unlike many other teenagers, is less likely to take social cues from adults to assuage her fears. When she reads the science surrounding climate change, she engages directly with the facts. And these facts terrify her.
Part of what makes Greta such a powerful force is her ability to remain uninfluenced by the relative calm with which others approach the climate crisis. She will not be assuaged, even when adults around her are relatively relaxed, because she sees the facts for what they are.
As David Roberts at Vox News put it, Greta is like a “transparent lens” through which the world’s youth views climate change. This makes her, and the youth movement, a force to be reckoned with. [1]
Counter arguments
She doesn’t see it how it is, she sees it how scientists and those around her tell her to see it. She accepts information at face value. She is too young and naïve to question the motives of those feeding her information.
As a result, Greta Thunberg has become a valuable tool of the left. She is a puppet, rolled out by climate change activists and scientists to push their ideology and mistruths on the next generation.
They believe that by using an articulate, passionate, highly-intelligent child, the global youth will sit up, take note, and believe the same facts and mistruths that Greta herself so willingly devoured. And they are right. They have.
Proponents
Premises
[P1] Most children learn what to be afraid of by picking up on social cues from adults.
[P2] Asperger's syndrome impairs a child's ability to pick up on social cues.
[P3] Therefore, Greta is not calmed by the calm in others.
[P4] Therefore, she engages with and sees the facts for what they are.
[P5] This makes her a compelling force for change.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P4] She doesn't see the facts for what they are, she sees what she is told to see.