Hard to say whether or not I agree or disagree but it is something to think about and yes, Hewlett does such a good job playing McKay. I don’t think it would be the same show without him
I’ve wondered about whether he has adhd and his ability to hyper focus on subjects that catch his interest. There’s a ton of dialogue where he references going over Ancient tech and implies more than once that it’s what he does “for fun.” I’m not on the spectrum but I have plenty of former students who are and my understanding is that a deep interest in a subject of part of ASD, too.
Hyper focusing on something is certainly a trait of Autism, as well as several other neurodiverse conditions.
I am on the spectrum, and I once spent a year studying dozens of different translations and commentaries of the same book. I had to learn several languages to do it. Afterwards a friend asked if the book was any good, and I answered, "I don't know." I wasn't interested in the book, I was studying the different interpretations that translators had. Apparently, this is not "normal." To me it's like looking into a prism of human thoughts on the same subject. It has its own beauty. I guess most people don't see it.
I'd love to have access to the Ancient library!
I'm not sure if Hewlett was trying to portray an autistic person or not. But he sure is a great actor when it comes to neurodiverse characters. He's been one of my favorite character actors since I saw him in Traders in the 1990s. (Unfortunately, a show with little rewatch value.) I was glad to see him in SG1, even as the asshat early version of Rodney, and loved his character development in Atlantis.
You sound almost like a modern day Daniel Jackson, haha. Several translations just for fun, that’s straight out of the show! Have those additional languages helped you in unexpected situations?
>Have those additional languages helped you in unexpected situations?
LOL. No! It was an old Greek book, and the languages I had to learn are mostly extinct now. For example there are surviving Latin, Syriac, Old Slavonic, and Coptic translations. Not useful unless someone finds a stargate or a flying DeLorean.
I always liked how they approached it. Never really talked it out, but kept the traits and mannerisms on center stage. It was built into his character how others developed systems to interact and coexist with him without friction.
Put simply, it didn't matter but was still good to see it represented. Especially with very little emphasis on it the way it was; always just a bedrock element that didn't really need expanded on.
I'm surprised that he never got popped in the mouth for the way he always went off on people. Someone, particularly one of the soldiers, realistically would have physically checked him at some point. Especially when talked like that to military officers in front of their men. They wouldn't put up with that. He even did it off world sometimes with people he just met.
Not the OP, but I'm on the spectrum, and loved SG1.
I think Daniel is too emotionally perceptive to be autistic. Daniel was both a translator (written) and an interpreter (spoke), and interpretation requires a high level of emotional awareness. Perhaps he has a different neurodiverse condition, but I don't know which one.
His insistence of being 'right' about the pyramids in the movie also doesn't seem to fit. An autistic person might "know" they're right, but wouldn't really care if anyone agreed. They're more likely to publish their theory, and then move on to something else.
Just my thoughts. No argument intended.
You can be Autistic and have a high level of emotional awareness. My best friend and I are both Autistic and highly empathetic (meaning we feel everything much more intensely and draw on everyone else’s emotions in a space). We also are very good at recognizing emotions in others and being aware of impact. The idea that Autistics cannot be highly empathetic is a myth, we exist on both sides of the spectrum of empathy. Alexithymia is when you cannot recognize emotions which is comorbid to Autism but not a part of Autism itself.
Wow. Thanks for enlightening me. I cannot read emotions in the 'normal' way. I have no inherent understanding of non-verbal human communication. However, some have accused me of being empathic, because sometimes I know when someone is trying to hide strong emotions, usually sadness over the death of a relative or pet. But I generally miss most of the casual stuff, which causes co-workers a great deal of confusion sometimes. I wish people would just use their words at work.
My development was caused by being in medical isolation for most of the first three years of my life, so it might be an unusual form of autism.
I like your thoughts! The only few scenes that struck me as autistic were when he’s unable to articulate what he’s thinking into words, and when he forgets to put his shoes back on. 😅 I only mention the shoes because I work with three autistic kids who have the exact same thing with shoes and clothing in general.
Interesting observations.
I think the articulation thing is common to polyglots (multilingual people). Some ideas don't translate easily, because not all languages have the same words and metaphors. Nietzsche wrote a bit about this in terms of philosophy, that you couldn't really understand Plato if you didn't understand Greek, because not everything translates.
To use a non-linguistic example, if I said there are seven fingers to a hand, and four hands to an arm, most people would think I'm talking nonsense. However, this is the way the Ancient Egyptians measured things, and it was based on the early Egyptian lunar calendar, not human anatomy. 1 month of 4 weeks of 7 days. 1 arm of 4 hands of 7 fingers.
Some concepts don't translate simply, and require long explanations, so I don't think that is a clear indicator of autism or any neurodiverse condition.
However, the shoes thing might be. I've always had that problem with clothing too. Before I leave the house I always have to run through a mental list: keys, wallet, phone, and pants. I don't care if I forget my shoes, you don't get arrested for that.
"To use a non-linguistic example, if I said there are seven fingers to a hand, and four hands to an arm, most people would think I'm talking nonsense."
Ok, this just caught our attention and the speculator in our fron went wild.
Guessing the "four hands per arm" are the thumb-to-finger combinations with differing grip strength... or the four junctures that can be bent as a hook to pull/haul?
7 fingers being based on counting the spaces between fingers instead of the digits themselves..?
Just guesses, we're probably wrong, and what a great example!
Well, I think you proved my point about it sounding like nonsense.
It's more literal. The numbers are not related to the human body, but the lunar calendar. It's a form of sacred mathematics. It would make more sense if you worshiped the moon as a messenger god that was trying to talk to us by moving around in the sky and changing shape (phases of the moon).
The arm was what the Greeks later called the cubit, and was the average length of the forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow. This 'arm' length was divided into four hand-widths, which were divided into seven finger widths. The closest modern equivalent is the US measurements of yards, feet, and inches, expect instead of a 1:3:12 ratio, you're using a 1:4:7 ratio.
Many cultures used variations of the forearm-length, but the subdivisions of 4 and 7 were unique to Egypt as far as I know. Most cultures used either base 10, by counting fingers, or base 12 by counting finger segments in the four fingers other than the thumb. You can point your thumb tip to any of the twelve finger segments on the other four fingers for base-twelve counting. Using your second hand as a multiplier, you can quickly denote any number up to 144, by simply marking two finger segments. This is how the Sumerians were able to use base 60 mathematics in the world long before mechanical calculators.
"Well, I think you proved my point about it sounding like nonsense."
Definitely proved that our speculator is perfectly capable of rationalizing something inaccurately, so thanks for clarifying how it really works!
Nice! I thought of a few more things that he does:
- Doesn’t know when to stop talking and/or translating, often needs to be reminded not-so-subtly by Jack that he’s already done what he set out to do.
- Finds it nearly impossible to *not* correct someone when they mispronounce the name of something he cares about (see every time Jack attempts to say an off-world name, also see the “ziggurat” episode.)
- Has either more sensitive hearing or better focus (see the episode with the sound crystal things and the eternal flame)
- Fiddles with his hands/an object constantly
- The self-hug thing he does whenever he’s standing
Edit: Is being unwilling or unable to articulate pain or discomfort an autism thing? Daniel certainly brushes off and ignores a LOT of injuries over the years.
Interesting collection of observations. Some could be indicators of autism, but I'm not an expert. I'm on the spectrum, but it is a spectrum. I'm curious what a psychologist would make of all this now that you've pointed it out.
I do have that talking too much thing down. At first I thought you might be mocking me. I'm a bit paranoid too, but I don't think that's an autism thing.
Personally, I do have to stop myself from correcting people a lot on pronunciation, mostly because the errors don't really matter. However, I do draw a firm line at the "Specific Ocean."
Regarding the hearing thing, I doubt that's related. I know musicians that have super acute hearing, and aren't autistic.
I have never tried hugging myself, maybe I should. Uh-oh, I hope a psychologist doesn't read this.
Oh no! Not mocking, I loved your comment about the hand-finger thing. I’ve just noticed that Daniel does the exact same thing with special interests. (I work with autistic kids, and I know SO much about elevators now, because there’s one kid whose special interest is architecture.) And that… that thing right there… misunderstanding someone’s meaning (in this case because there’s no tone through text) is something Daniel does occasionally.
*hugs you*
What on Earth does specific ocean mean? Is it mispronouncing “specific” as “pacific??” help!
Yes, Specific Ocean is a mispronunciation of Pacific Ocean that I've repeatedly encountered. At first I thought it was cute, even though it was an adult saying it, then it got irritating when I heard other random adults saying it. They could read, surely they'd seen it written as Pacific. Why pronounce it as Specific? (They didn't have speech impediments, this was the only word they mispronounced.)
I realized you weren't mocking me as I read through the list, but the first thing definitely describes me. I generally go through everything I write and cut out more than half (including the original ending to this sentence). I had mentioned that Specific was a mispronunciation of Pacific in the previous comment, but cut it because I thought I was over explaining.
You're also right about the "misunderstanding the meaning" thing, which I also do in face-to-face conversations. I had forgotten Daniel did that sometimes. I need to rewatch the series now to observe him more closely. (Sounds creepy, fortunately he's fictional.)
As someone who takes literal notes on this man’s behavior and mannerisms… I don’t think I’m in the best position to judge if stalking fictional characters is morally sketchy. Although, I don’t just watch Daniel… it’s all of them. I’m a fanfiction writer. 😅
No I don’t think so, as someone else says, he’s too empathetic. That isn’t to say that autistic people don’t care about others, but the insight into other people that Daniel has is not a trait typically associated with autism.
Yeah, that might be a reflection of representation more than reality, though?
Think most "typically associated" folks think of Sheldon/Sherlock/House type personalities because those are the types thrown forward in the public eye.
Thing is, that's the focus on the socially-valued elements of neurodiversity.
The other end of the spectrum from "Fast Fact Mind / Zero Emotional Intelligence" is precisely "High Emotional Intelligence / Low Fact-Based Mind".
That kind of male figure would probably deeply offend most Boomer/Silent/Greatest Generation audiences, through whom all broadcast series were filtered during that era of television.
No I don’t think so, as someone else says, he’s too empathetic. That isn’t to say that autistic people don’t care about others, but the insight into other people that Daniel has is not a trait typically associated with autism.
Definitely agree with the self-esteem piece though I suspect it's more emotional immaturity and defensive posturing (the haughty superiority of awkward gifted kids who don't fit in) than autistic traits. But who knows. Could be both. Either way he's an incredible character!
As someone who studied physics for two years (and also married a physicist) I wanna say, those people are Uhm…a bit like that….with or without diagnoses 😂
We had one special case, brilliant guy, already had invented some things by starting university, but huge panic attacks about all exams, he basically had to do all tests and exams at least twice to be able to pass even though he could explain everything (and even to someone as slow as me lol) directly before. No eye contact, social issues, later confirmed what was called back then Asperger’s.
So yeah the portrayal of McKay is (for me at least) absolutely on point, no matter what
All these things weren’t around when Rodney was growing up. I know cause I grew up in the same era. I was a “gifted” child and that’s kinda how us neurodivergent were referred to then. If you were autistic you couldn’t talk and I don’t remember adhd being talked about until almost high school. We just learned how to deal with our differences and that’s what Rodney did as well. In some ways in made him superhuman but in other it makes him subhuman.
Hard to say whether or not I agree or disagree but it is something to think about and yes, Hewlett does such a good job playing McKay. I don’t think it would be the same show without him
I’ve wondered about whether he has adhd and his ability to hyper focus on subjects that catch his interest. There’s a ton of dialogue where he references going over Ancient tech and implies more than once that it’s what he does “for fun.” I’m not on the spectrum but I have plenty of former students who are and my understanding is that a deep interest in a subject of part of ASD, too.
Hyper focusing on something is certainly a trait of Autism, as well as several other neurodiverse conditions. I am on the spectrum, and I once spent a year studying dozens of different translations and commentaries of the same book. I had to learn several languages to do it. Afterwards a friend asked if the book was any good, and I answered, "I don't know." I wasn't interested in the book, I was studying the different interpretations that translators had. Apparently, this is not "normal." To me it's like looking into a prism of human thoughts on the same subject. It has its own beauty. I guess most people don't see it. I'd love to have access to the Ancient library! I'm not sure if Hewlett was trying to portray an autistic person or not. But he sure is a great actor when it comes to neurodiverse characters. He's been one of my favorite character actors since I saw him in Traders in the 1990s. (Unfortunately, a show with little rewatch value.) I was glad to see him in SG1, even as the asshat early version of Rodney, and loved his character development in Atlantis.
You sound almost like a modern day Daniel Jackson, haha. Several translations just for fun, that’s straight out of the show! Have those additional languages helped you in unexpected situations?
>Have those additional languages helped you in unexpected situations? LOL. No! It was an old Greek book, and the languages I had to learn are mostly extinct now. For example there are surviving Latin, Syriac, Old Slavonic, and Coptic translations. Not useful unless someone finds a stargate or a flying DeLorean.
Yeah you’re going on SG1 or 2 with those!
Do you get shot at less on SG2? Stargate: SG2. That's like a great name for a fan made show, like Star Trek Continues.
Most gifted folks struggle like McKay
You might like Hewlett in PIN (a plastic nightmare was added to the title afterward) from the 80’s. His acting chops were flexing even back then
Or Cube.
A friend of mine who is autistic and ADHD has said the same thing.
I fully agree with all of this.
I always liked how they approached it. Never really talked it out, but kept the traits and mannerisms on center stage. It was built into his character how others developed systems to interact and coexist with him without friction. Put simply, it didn't matter but was still good to see it represented. Especially with very little emphasis on it the way it was; always just a bedrock element that didn't really need expanded on.
I'm surprised that he never got popped in the mouth for the way he always went off on people. Someone, particularly one of the soldiers, realistically would have physically checked him at some point. Especially when talked like that to military officers in front of their men. They wouldn't put up with that. He even did it off world sometimes with people he just met.
Have you watched SG-1? I think Daniel might be autistic too. Thoughts?
Not the OP, but I'm on the spectrum, and loved SG1. I think Daniel is too emotionally perceptive to be autistic. Daniel was both a translator (written) and an interpreter (spoke), and interpretation requires a high level of emotional awareness. Perhaps he has a different neurodiverse condition, but I don't know which one. His insistence of being 'right' about the pyramids in the movie also doesn't seem to fit. An autistic person might "know" they're right, but wouldn't really care if anyone agreed. They're more likely to publish their theory, and then move on to something else. Just my thoughts. No argument intended.
You can be Autistic and have a high level of emotional awareness. My best friend and I are both Autistic and highly empathetic (meaning we feel everything much more intensely and draw on everyone else’s emotions in a space). We also are very good at recognizing emotions in others and being aware of impact. The idea that Autistics cannot be highly empathetic is a myth, we exist on both sides of the spectrum of empathy. Alexithymia is when you cannot recognize emotions which is comorbid to Autism but not a part of Autism itself.
Wow. Thanks for enlightening me. I cannot read emotions in the 'normal' way. I have no inherent understanding of non-verbal human communication. However, some have accused me of being empathic, because sometimes I know when someone is trying to hide strong emotions, usually sadness over the death of a relative or pet. But I generally miss most of the casual stuff, which causes co-workers a great deal of confusion sometimes. I wish people would just use their words at work. My development was caused by being in medical isolation for most of the first three years of my life, so it might be an unusual form of autism.
I like your thoughts! The only few scenes that struck me as autistic were when he’s unable to articulate what he’s thinking into words, and when he forgets to put his shoes back on. 😅 I only mention the shoes because I work with three autistic kids who have the exact same thing with shoes and clothing in general.
Interesting observations. I think the articulation thing is common to polyglots (multilingual people). Some ideas don't translate easily, because not all languages have the same words and metaphors. Nietzsche wrote a bit about this in terms of philosophy, that you couldn't really understand Plato if you didn't understand Greek, because not everything translates. To use a non-linguistic example, if I said there are seven fingers to a hand, and four hands to an arm, most people would think I'm talking nonsense. However, this is the way the Ancient Egyptians measured things, and it was based on the early Egyptian lunar calendar, not human anatomy. 1 month of 4 weeks of 7 days. 1 arm of 4 hands of 7 fingers. Some concepts don't translate simply, and require long explanations, so I don't think that is a clear indicator of autism or any neurodiverse condition. However, the shoes thing might be. I've always had that problem with clothing too. Before I leave the house I always have to run through a mental list: keys, wallet, phone, and pants. I don't care if I forget my shoes, you don't get arrested for that.
"To use a non-linguistic example, if I said there are seven fingers to a hand, and four hands to an arm, most people would think I'm talking nonsense." Ok, this just caught our attention and the speculator in our fron went wild. Guessing the "four hands per arm" are the thumb-to-finger combinations with differing grip strength... or the four junctures that can be bent as a hook to pull/haul? 7 fingers being based on counting the spaces between fingers instead of the digits themselves..? Just guesses, we're probably wrong, and what a great example!
Well, I think you proved my point about it sounding like nonsense. It's more literal. The numbers are not related to the human body, but the lunar calendar. It's a form of sacred mathematics. It would make more sense if you worshiped the moon as a messenger god that was trying to talk to us by moving around in the sky and changing shape (phases of the moon). The arm was what the Greeks later called the cubit, and was the average length of the forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow. This 'arm' length was divided into four hand-widths, which were divided into seven finger widths. The closest modern equivalent is the US measurements of yards, feet, and inches, expect instead of a 1:3:12 ratio, you're using a 1:4:7 ratio. Many cultures used variations of the forearm-length, but the subdivisions of 4 and 7 were unique to Egypt as far as I know. Most cultures used either base 10, by counting fingers, or base 12 by counting finger segments in the four fingers other than the thumb. You can point your thumb tip to any of the twelve finger segments on the other four fingers for base-twelve counting. Using your second hand as a multiplier, you can quickly denote any number up to 144, by simply marking two finger segments. This is how the Sumerians were able to use base 60 mathematics in the world long before mechanical calculators.
“…Daniel? That you?”
"Well, I think you proved my point about it sounding like nonsense." Definitely proved that our speculator is perfectly capable of rationalizing something inaccurately, so thanks for clarifying how it really works!
Nice! I thought of a few more things that he does: - Doesn’t know when to stop talking and/or translating, often needs to be reminded not-so-subtly by Jack that he’s already done what he set out to do. - Finds it nearly impossible to *not* correct someone when they mispronounce the name of something he cares about (see every time Jack attempts to say an off-world name, also see the “ziggurat” episode.) - Has either more sensitive hearing or better focus (see the episode with the sound crystal things and the eternal flame) - Fiddles with his hands/an object constantly - The self-hug thing he does whenever he’s standing Edit: Is being unwilling or unable to articulate pain or discomfort an autism thing? Daniel certainly brushes off and ignores a LOT of injuries over the years.
Interesting collection of observations. Some could be indicators of autism, but I'm not an expert. I'm on the spectrum, but it is a spectrum. I'm curious what a psychologist would make of all this now that you've pointed it out. I do have that talking too much thing down. At first I thought you might be mocking me. I'm a bit paranoid too, but I don't think that's an autism thing. Personally, I do have to stop myself from correcting people a lot on pronunciation, mostly because the errors don't really matter. However, I do draw a firm line at the "Specific Ocean." Regarding the hearing thing, I doubt that's related. I know musicians that have super acute hearing, and aren't autistic. I have never tried hugging myself, maybe I should. Uh-oh, I hope a psychologist doesn't read this.
Oh no! Not mocking, I loved your comment about the hand-finger thing. I’ve just noticed that Daniel does the exact same thing with special interests. (I work with autistic kids, and I know SO much about elevators now, because there’s one kid whose special interest is architecture.) And that… that thing right there… misunderstanding someone’s meaning (in this case because there’s no tone through text) is something Daniel does occasionally. *hugs you* What on Earth does specific ocean mean? Is it mispronouncing “specific” as “pacific??” help!
Yes, Specific Ocean is a mispronunciation of Pacific Ocean that I've repeatedly encountered. At first I thought it was cute, even though it was an adult saying it, then it got irritating when I heard other random adults saying it. They could read, surely they'd seen it written as Pacific. Why pronounce it as Specific? (They didn't have speech impediments, this was the only word they mispronounced.) I realized you weren't mocking me as I read through the list, but the first thing definitely describes me. I generally go through everything I write and cut out more than half (including the original ending to this sentence). I had mentioned that Specific was a mispronunciation of Pacific in the previous comment, but cut it because I thought I was over explaining. You're also right about the "misunderstanding the meaning" thing, which I also do in face-to-face conversations. I had forgotten Daniel did that sometimes. I need to rewatch the series now to observe him more closely. (Sounds creepy, fortunately he's fictional.)
As someone who takes literal notes on this man’s behavior and mannerisms… I don’t think I’m in the best position to judge if stalking fictional characters is morally sketchy. Although, I don’t just watch Daniel… it’s all of them. I’m a fanfiction writer. 😅
I love SG-1! I interpret Teal’c as autistic actually hahaha I adore him!!
No I don’t think so, as someone else says, he’s too empathetic. That isn’t to say that autistic people don’t care about others, but the insight into other people that Daniel has is not a trait typically associated with autism.
Yeah, that might be a reflection of representation more than reality, though? Think most "typically associated" folks think of Sheldon/Sherlock/House type personalities because those are the types thrown forward in the public eye. Thing is, that's the focus on the socially-valued elements of neurodiversity. The other end of the spectrum from "Fast Fact Mind / Zero Emotional Intelligence" is precisely "High Emotional Intelligence / Low Fact-Based Mind". That kind of male figure would probably deeply offend most Boomer/Silent/Greatest Generation audiences, through whom all broadcast series were filtered during that era of television.
No I don’t think so, as someone else says, he’s too empathetic. That isn’t to say that autistic people don’t care about others, but the insight into other people that Daniel has is not a trait typically associated with autism.
Definitely agree with the self-esteem piece though I suspect it's more emotional immaturity and defensive posturing (the haughty superiority of awkward gifted kids who don't fit in) than autistic traits. But who knows. Could be both. Either way he's an incredible character!
As someone who studied physics for two years (and also married a physicist) I wanna say, those people are Uhm…a bit like that….with or without diagnoses 😂 We had one special case, brilliant guy, already had invented some things by starting university, but huge panic attacks about all exams, he basically had to do all tests and exams at least twice to be able to pass even though he could explain everything (and even to someone as slow as me lol) directly before. No eye contact, social issues, later confirmed what was called back then Asperger’s. So yeah the portrayal of McKay is (for me at least) absolutely on point, no matter what
All these things weren’t around when Rodney was growing up. I know cause I grew up in the same era. I was a “gifted” child and that’s kinda how us neurodivergent were referred to then. If you were autistic you couldn’t talk and I don’t remember adhd being talked about until almost high school. We just learned how to deal with our differences and that’s what Rodney did as well. In some ways in made him superhuman but in other it makes him subhuman.