Putin and the Flow

Explaining political transcendence

Jul 28, 2026

My last post met with some criticism from people arguing from the standpoint of clinical definitions of classical autism, the kind of thing you saw in Rain Man and the Good Doctor where communication is not an alternative style but a neurological deficit, partial or almost complete.

There is also much discussion in the psychological community about what exactly “2e’ means. Ditto: ADHD, which has at least 3 types. And then there is polymathy nad autodidacticism.

Putting all that aside, which would require a couple of books to explain, here are some of the “symptoms”of what the media present as “autism”.

Which one of these two is likely autistic? No, not Dustin

Difficult in integrating verbal language with physical cues.

This appears in poor or absent eye contact, a lack of facial expressions, monotone or robotic speech patterns and an inability to understand or use gestures like pointing or waving/ Then, there are mannerisms such as hand-flapping, rocking, spinning, lining up objects in a rigid order, or flipping objects repeating words back immediately, or using highly idiosyncratic phrases.

An inability to adjust behavior to match various social contexts

This results in difficulty in making friends or sharing imaginative play, extreme distress at small changes in environment or schedule. It is often accompanied by rigid thinking patterns and specific rituals for everyday tasks (e.g., eating the exact same food every day, or taking the exact same route to school).

Highly Restricted, Fixations

Obsession with certain subjects, what a 2e might call a “passion” or “expertise,”

No, not porn’ — that’s “normal”.

Clinical fixations might include memorizing train schedules, vacuum cleaner serial numbers—or medical anatomical charts, as with the Good Doctor.

Severe sensory processing differences

Such as screaming at the sound of a blender or melting down under fluorescent or an apparent indifference to pain, heat, or cold. Also allodynia.

But Putin seems “normal” right?

Putin by contrast can manage 5 hour pressers, speaking spontaneously, fluently, and at great length. His interviews are persuasive and impressive. No Western “leader” can compete .

His abilities are rare.

To understand how rare one should look at the psychology of flow / creativity popularized by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his books, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, and Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. Csikszentmihalyi’s work informs how we understand 2e individuals today—that is, as “autotelic personalities”— who perform complex, challenging actions purely for the internal rewards, rather than external praise or money.

Kazimierz Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration complements this perspective: while Csikszentmihalyi explains the mechanics of creative flow, Dąbrowski provides the emotional and developmental framework, namely intellectual and emotional excitabilities responding to an internal drive to seek truth, authentic expression, and overcome challenge, disassembling cognitive systems and reassembling them in new forms.

So 2e Autistic thought is highly monotropic, meaning large amounts of attention and processing power converge in a single focus. Thus, when a 2e autist must speak about something for which he or she has a deep interest or expertise, he or she enters an intense flow state, resulting in a deep dive.

You see that very clearly in Putin’s interviews.

His brain bypasses what would be normal social anxieties or self-monitoring, allowing him to access an huge database of internal information to seek original answers.

Most 2e individuals do not process language or social interactions as social norms dictate but emotionally and intuitively on the one hand, and intellectually on the other, using high intelligence to reconcile the challenges of contradiction. But to communicate to normal people, they build an enormous mental database of phrases, academic concepts, structured arguments, and logical frameworks that allow them to ‘script” their thoughts while at the same time “masking” their vantage point as both “inside” and “outside” social convention.

This is not just the illusion of spontaneity. Flow states are always creative, original, and spontaneously expressed since they are driven by contexts which may vary. You will notice also that Putin has a fine sense of irony.

Putin is very good at navigating grids of facts and causal relationship, presenting organized conceptual visions, using words with precision, defining and re-defining, sensitive to nuance.

Stupid people like Masha Gessen (”boring”) in the New Yorker are lost at the first sentence.

Language as a Matrix:

For a 2e individual, language and logic are systems. When they speak, they are not navigating emotional or social nuances; they are navigating a structured matrix of facts and causal relationships. Yet Putin is not pedantic. Nor does he speak in a dominating manner – just persuasively.

Looking at the Oliver Stone documentaries, you see a very human person, a little shy, and honest—personable. But he doesn’t do small talk.

Friendship is very important to 2eAutists.

In the West there is constant reference to Putin’s “inner circle” of long-standing friends.

For Western “ politicians,, “friends” are instruments of power, leverage, and coalition-building: their inner circle is a fluid network of donors, strategists, and allies assembled to win an election, pass legislation, etc. . Relationships are therefore transactional; people move in and out of the circle based on current utility. A pity because in the end, such politicians end up very alone.

For a 2e autist, friendship has zero political or transactional utility.

A close friend is a sanctuary— where they can drop that heavy social mask— a place of rest rather than a battlefield. It cannot be weaponized for political gain Neurotypical politicians are good at reading social hierarchies. Some manage hundreds of superficial “friendships,” remembering faces, names, and personal details to trigger a feeling of warmth in others—but their alliances shift daily.

Me, I forget my own name.

The 2e autist interacts with people differently. They would rather have two deep lifelong connections than a whole stadium full of political “friends’, all cheering on cue. An American political inner circle is built on pretended loyalty and strategic flattery. Everyone smiles, plays along with the group identity, and hides their true motives. Betrayal is standard –just business -- alliances are broken and reformed smoothly when the political wind shifts.

For a 2e like Putin a friendship has a a moral, if not spiritual connection –with no room for lies. A person like him demands—and offers— truth. I was struck by and the candidness of his discussions with friends in his biography. For him disagreement is natural —that’s an expression of true feeling —but betrayal is unforgiveable . It comes from deceit.

For politicians in the West, their “ inner circle” is an echo chamber of shared ambition, narrative spin, and social validation maintained through constant social grooming—dinners, parties, gossip, and check-ins.

A 2e like Putin, however, forms bonds on the basis of intellectual and emotional intimacy, trust, and shared presence – being there. Like my cats. They don’t need to talk—just be there. Same with dogs.Maybe like your husband or wife. For conversation or discussion go to a bar; for Love just “be with” .

There is another thing. It’s 2:30 AM. A lot of autists are night people, which was useful in Paleo times because someone needed to keep watch against predators. However, it can be a problem if you start your day at noon as I do. And Putin also does.

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