That makes no sense. He had no problem calculating how many seconds/minutes/days until he'd see Charlie again when he was boarding the train at the end, so why wouldn't be be able to figure out dollars and cents too? And speaking of the train--why wasn't he afraid of riding the train? Trains crash too.
shareThe plane thing is obviously a story-device to get the brothers to take a road trip. But even so, I would guess (and please note that this is all it is, a guess) that you'd stand a better chance surviving a train crash than a plane crash.
shareDon't be silly...why would you be more likely to survive a train crash vs a plane wreck? Cmon now. Geezz
shareI don't think it was a matter of Raymond not being able to count money, just that he didn't have a clue as to the monetary value of things.
As to the plane fear, that was a function of his autism, not intelligence.
It is bad to drink Jobus rum. Very bad.share
He knew the statistics, the odds, of getting killed in cars, trains, or airplanes. He wanted the odds as much in his favor as possible. He cited specific plane crashes, that was a concern of his.
He could count money, he just didn't have a concept of how much money was reasonable for various things. The idiot-savant thing.
..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.
And speaking of the train--why wasn't he afraid of riding the train? Trains crash too.
He can but it doesn't mean anything to him. He doesn't have the concept of what things cost.
Doctor: "How much does a candy bar cost?"
Raymond:"About $100."
Doctor: "How much does a car cost?"
Raymond:"About $100."
He doesn't understand concepts such as cost or value. He understands numbers, especially multiplying and manipulating large numbers, counting cards and toothpicks or whatever random thing. He wouldn't be able to work at NASA because even though he understands large numbers, he wouldn't be able to apply them to concepts.
This is because he can "see" the large numbers in his head. And that is all that he understands. Applying those numbers to concepts such as cost, value, distance, etc wouldn't work. It's why he doesn't understand that they can't go to the Target in Cincinnati because they were all the way in Arizona or something.
I've seen one person that's like Rain Man, not to his extent. He wouldn't be able to count things at a glance, but he can definitely manipulate numbers like a human calculator.
[deleted]
Yeah I think Raymond simply didn't 'get' economics, it didn't fit into his life really did it?
www.autisticspectrum.co.uk
He could count money in a mathematical sense, but the real world application of money and the worth of everyday items is something that he couldn't grasp.
"You are a smelly pirate hooker!"
"Why don't you go back to your home on Whore Island?"
He actually couldn't count it in a mathematical sense either. Consider the scene where the doctor says ...
"you have 1 dollar, and you spend 50 cents, how much do you have left."
"About 70...."
"70 cents?"
"Yeh".
(I work in disabilities) - it's possible for very intelligent people to not have a concept of money. In Raymond's case though, where he devours information like nothing you've ever seen, it seems more like a plot device to illustrate how specific (and not real world helpful) his skill-set is.
correct... if he said "you have 100 cents and spend 50, how much do you have left?" but of course we don't speak this way, we talk in dollars and cents, concepts raymond just did not understand....
It's mercy, compassion and forgiveness I lack. Not rationality...
In his world those things don't matter.
share