![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Probe Musing
Nov. 7th, 2011 09:57 pmI've been pondering the childhood of Austin James. I'm coming up annoyed. The problem is the creators of Probe weren't thinking that deeply into the background of the characters. What I know about the creation of Austin James is that he is a loose alter ego of Isaac Asimov. Asimov was a highly intelligent, somewhat cynical, naturally elegant writer with a background in biochemistry and strongly defined interests (and disinterests). He appreciated fields of research and development that had a concrete, practical application (like robotics). He had no use for theoretical subjects like Philosophy. He was a claustrophile and an aerophobe. His family life seemed to be fairly ordinary, warm, not particularly strict. He tolerated but did not like editors.
It is hard to get a good feel for Austin James' educational background. How much formal education did he receive? Did anyone ever award him with an honorary doctorate for his work in astronomy, or his work in writing code, or his work in mechanical engineering? Can any institution of higher learning claim him as an alumnus? I would have considered making him a biochemistry major, like Asimov, except for the one episode where he admits he's weak in chemistry. So what is his field of study?
The other issue I have is the nature of his family life. Everything I garnered from the show tells me his parents at least made an attempt to raise him in a conventional way and give him ordinary experiences. The photographs in the opening sequence indicate they also supported his development in his areas of genius. He doesn't seem to have siblings, but that is entirely speculation. His sleep issues, tangential activities, and constant multitasking make me think he probably falls somewhere on the ADHD spectrum, but his social skills, while awkward, are too sensitive and responsive to place him on the autistic spectrum (Manabu Yukawa, on the other hand, makes me wonder).
I doubt anyone writing for Probe ever spent all that much time considering who this character was in great detail, especially as far as where he had come from. I have some ideas about what kind of early life he had, but I get a little stumped when we get past graduation.
It is hard to get a good feel for Austin James' educational background. How much formal education did he receive? Did anyone ever award him with an honorary doctorate for his work in astronomy, or his work in writing code, or his work in mechanical engineering? Can any institution of higher learning claim him as an alumnus? I would have considered making him a biochemistry major, like Asimov, except for the one episode where he admits he's weak in chemistry. So what is his field of study?
The other issue I have is the nature of his family life. Everything I garnered from the show tells me his parents at least made an attempt to raise him in a conventional way and give him ordinary experiences. The photographs in the opening sequence indicate they also supported his development in his areas of genius. He doesn't seem to have siblings, but that is entirely speculation. His sleep issues, tangential activities, and constant multitasking make me think he probably falls somewhere on the ADHD spectrum, but his social skills, while awkward, are too sensitive and responsive to place him on the autistic spectrum (Manabu Yukawa, on the other hand, makes me wonder).
I doubt anyone writing for Probe ever spent all that much time considering who this character was in great detail, especially as far as where he had come from. I have some ideas about what kind of early life he had, but I get a little stumped when we get past graduation.
