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Autism is an inbreeding related disorder...<BR>
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Don't shag your fifth cousin, that's what I say! :0)<BR>
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Jeremy "Unpooftah" Webb - Heathen Oath Vitki<BR><BR>> Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:55:07 -0400<BR>> From: femmechakra@yahoo.ca<BR>> To: extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org<BR>> Subject: Re: [ExI] are we not just one race, the human race?<BR>> <BR>> Anne, I remember commenting a while back about how<BR>> autistics have a different perspective but that does<BR>> not mean that it is the right perspective. If you<BR>> want to limit yourself by using autistic as an excuse,<BR>> go ahead. Everybody has flaws. I choose not to name<BR>> my own. The more you determine yourself based on your<BR>> flaws is the reason you will choose not to be<BR>> open-minded. One perspective within a small group<BR>> does not compare to a large range of overall<BR>> behaviour. I've read a lot that you have posted and<BR>> find your postings highly educational although I<BR>> respect that you have a need to help others in your<BR>> particular state, it is not the majority. Sometimes<BR>> going outside the norm with an open mind can lead you<BR>> to bigger and better perspectives.<BR>> <BR>> Just an opinion<BR>> Anna<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> Anna<BR>> <BR>> --- Anne Corwin <sparkle_robot@yahoo.com> wrote:<BR>> <BR>> > <BR>> > Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp@gmail.com> wrote:<BR>> > > I think Anne is talking about society's attitude<BR>> > towards people with<BR>> > > autism. For example, see this article:<BR>> > <BR>> > ><BR>> ><BR>> http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-03/ff_autism<BR>> > <BR>> > Bingo. <BR>> > <BR>> > And also, if anyone does read that article and the<BR>> > comments attached to it, you should also read the<BR>> > following (from Amanda's blog):<BR>> > <BR>> > http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?page_id=258<BR>> > http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?page_id=294<BR>> > http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?page_id=462<BR>> > http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=50<BR>> > http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=293<BR>> > http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=90<BR>> > <BR>> > I'm not up for a big mailing list debate right now<BR>> > about anything and I'm actually sort of sorry I<BR>> > posted the comment I did last night, seeing as if I<BR>> > write something like that, people have every right<BR>> > and reason to ask for specific examples. <BR>> > <BR>> > But for starters: I can at least point to the<BR>> > principle identified in common parlance as<BR>> > "procreative beneficence". This is a view shared by<BR>> > Peter Singer and several others, and it suggests<BR>> > that parents have an obligation to bring into being<BR>> > the child capable of leading the "best possible<BR>> > life". However, ideas of what configurations allow<BR>> > this "best possible life" are often unthinkingly<BR>> > shaped by social norms that in actuality may have<BR>> > little to do with a person's intrinsic capacity for<BR>> > leading a good and reasonable life.<BR>> > <BR>> > I sometimes feel like I can't so much as defend the<BR>> > right of a deaf person to refuse a cochlear implant<BR>> > (or to not select *against* a deaf embryo) without<BR>> > being told that I'm advocating letting people run<BR>> > around injecting themselves full of arsenic<BR>> > (something which I would guess even libertarians<BR>> > would try to discourage if it was their brother<BR>> > doing it, even if they wouldn't want a law against<BR>> > it), or purposely giving their kids cancer. It just<BR>> > boggles the mind how great some people's tendency<BR>> > toward "busybody" monitoring of other people's<BR>> > configuration choices is.<BR>> > <BR>> > E.g., if I can be allowed the indulgence of picking<BR>> > on James Hughes for a moment (which I'm sure he's<BR>> > used to from me on this subject), he wrote in<BR>> > "Citizen Cyborg" that (see pages 250-251):<BR>> > <BR>> > "For instance, autism is a brain disorder one of<BR>> > whose symptoms is an inability to understand or<BR>> > interpret other people's feelings. Although the<BR>> > autistic can have wonderful compensatory savant<BR>> > abilities, just as with blindness and other<BR>> > disabilities, society has an obligation to ensure<BR>> > that as few people as possible suffer from this<BR>> > disability, and that we try to find a cure."<BR>> > <BR>> > Now, to be totally fair, Hughes has adjusted his<BR>> > views on autism specifically somewhat (though I<BR>> > would really love it if he'd re-write that section<BR>> > of the book if he ever does a 10th Anniversary<BR>> > reprint or something, because it makes my skin crawl<BR>> > even to look at that particular section) over the<BR>> > past few years. <BR>> > <BR>> > Another example: from the Google News archive, an<BR>> > article on homosexuality in Time magazine (1965)<BR>> > entitled "Homosexuality Can Be Cured" included the<BR>> > following text:<BR>> > <BR>> > "One reason why homosexuals are so rarely cured is<BR>> > that they rarely try treatment. Too many of them<BR>> > actually believe that they are happy and satisfied<BR>> > the way they are."<BR>> > <BR>> > Another article on homosexuality from Time (1966)<BR>> > entitled "The Homosexual In America" stated much of<BR>> > the psychological/sociological consensus at the time<BR>> > as follows:<BR>> > <BR>> > "There is no denying the considerable talent of a<BR>> > great many homosexuals, and ideally, talent alone<BR>> > is what should count. But the great artists so<BR>> > often cited as evidence of the homosexual's<BR>> > creativity—the Leonardos and Michelangelos —are<BR>> > probably the exceptions of genius. For the most<BR>> > part, thinks Los Angeles Psychiatrist Edward<BR>> > Stainbrook, homosexuals are failed artists, and<BR>> > their special creative gift a myth. No less an<BR>> > authority than Somerset Maugham felt that the<BR>> > homosexual, "however subtly he sees life, cannot<BR>> > see it whole," and lacks "the deep seriousness over<BR>> > certain things that normal men take seriously ... He<BR>> > has small power of invention, but a wonderful gift<BR>> > for delightful embroidery. He has vitality,<BR>> > brilliance, but seldom strength.""<BR>> > <BR>> > (I am often astounded at the parallels between<BR>> > writings on homosexuality in the 1960s and writings<BR>> > on autism -- "functioning levels" notwithstanding --<BR>> > in the 1990s-2000s, frankly.)<BR>> > <BR>> > But changing views in response to new information<BR>> > notwithstanding, I still think that book passage<BR>> > stands out as a good (albeit out of date) example of<BR>> > WHY I think that the sci-fi scenario of "humans meet<BR>> > aliens, hilarity ensues" could potentially lead to<BR>> > attempts at coercive modification or at least<BR>> > "shaming" of people who would dare to bring a<BR>> > "suboptimal" creature into existence. <BR>> > <BR>> > And that is to say that even highly educated people<BR>> > are capable of being extremely ignorant without even<BR>> > knowing it. This is not an insult -- it is just a<BR>> > fact. It isn't even a value judgment exactly --<BR>> > it's more of an attempt to point out a "weak area"<BR>> > in how some people approach various subjects. When<BR>> > someone doesn't know how deep a subject goes, and<BR>> > they don't collide with that subject often in the<BR>> > course of their daily business, they are apt to<BR>> > assume (for the sake of sheer and understandable<BR>> > cognitive parsimony) that the subject simply doesn't<BR>> > *get* any deeper than "pop science" or superficial<BR>> > (and possibly outmoded) description.<BR>> > <BR>> > Nobody can be highly educated in all areas<BR>> > simultaneously, which means that when people are<BR>> > *generally* well-educated, they still maintain a<BR>> > large portion of their "picture of the world" on the<BR>> > basis of media fictions, distortions, rumors, urban<BR>> > legends, "pop" science, etc. This can't be helped<BR>> > totally, but it can be remedied in part by pooling<BR>> > more accurate knowledge in more visible places, and<BR>> > drawing attention the difficulties in distinguishing<BR>> > a subject's facts from its collected mythologies in<BR>> > a venue at least passingly as accessible to the<BR>> > casual learner as mass media is. <BR>> > <BR>> > So, in other words, there are a lot of smart,<BR>> > well-educated people in the world who presently<BR>> > believe that huge numbers of perfectly happy and<BR>> > capable (albeit not in "typical" ways necessarily)<BR>> > are in fact suffering for the mere fact of existing<BR>> > and being configured as they are. <BR>> > <BR>> > Hence, if Earth were visited by a cadre of<BR>> > humanoid-looking aliens whose Shiny Gadget Level was<BR>> > approximately equal to ours, but who were all<BR>> > non-hearing (and who didn't see any reason why they<BR>> > should be hearing, and who had perfectly workable<BR>> > non-audio communication systems, etc.), I could see<BR>> > many humans at the very least feeling as if they had<BR>> > a moral duty to feel sorry for the aliens, seeing as<BR>> > they would never be able to enjoy opera or the sound<BR>> > of a river or what-have-you. <BR>> > <BR>> > - Anne<BR>> > <BR>> > <BR>> > "Like and equal are not the same thing at all!"<BR>> > - Meg Murry, "A Wrinkle In Time"<BR>> > <BR>> > ---------------------------------<BR>> > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them<BR>> > fast with Yahoo! Search.><BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> > extropy-chat mailing list<BR>> > extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org<BR>> ><BR>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat<BR>> > <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> __________________________________________________________________<BR>> Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! <BR>> <BR>> http://www.flickr.com/gift/<BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> extropy-chat mailing list<BR>> extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org<BR>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat<BR><BR><br /><hr />
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