4 ms·
Unfortunately as far as I am aware the studies of various mental disorders and neurological issues all seem to indicate that, comparing two identical people wit
by jaggederest 9y ago
Unfortunately as far as I am aware the studies of various mental disorders and neurological issues all seem to indicate that, comparing two identical people with or without the disorder, the disorder is purely a handicap.
If you could eliminate the disorder while leaving the remainder of the brain untouched, they'd be better off, full stop.
Of course you can't, we all have to work more or less with the neurology and physiology we've got, and given that, it's good to build in flexibility and understanding and the accommodations that we see in modern society.
I think there's huge value in being compassionate for every kind of person - imagine if Mr. Church were kept from his work by the disorder?
- jacquesm 9y agoI think a whole generation of slightly autistic computer programmers would disagree with you. Another way to look at this is that some perceived handicaps persist in the genepool because they have some non-obvious advantage. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hidden-advantages/406180/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hi...
- vkreso 9y agoNice article. You are right in implying that we do not fully grasp the dynamics of this whole play, however that genepool argument is not a good one. Just beacuse something exists does not mean it's good or useful or advantageous in some way. Of course, that may happen but that conclusion simply does not follow the premise.
- theparanoid 9y agoRecent studies indicate genetic load is the leading cause of cognitive disorders. For schizophrenia it's about 50% genetic defects (including de nova mutations) and 50% environment.
- GuiA 9y ago> If you could eliminate the disorder while leaving the remainder of the brain untouched, they'd be better off, full stop. Yes, but things just don’t work that way. You could make a similar statement about how 2 identical people, except with one needing to sleep and eat and the other who does not, but that’s just absurd. Human systems are holistic systems before anyting else.
- jaggederest 9y agoI'm talking specifically about identical twin studies with and without the disorder, actually. So yes, that's as close as you can practically get to that kind of comparison, and the evidence shows that the twin without is almost always better off, barring some other more severe disorder of their own.
- mercer 9y agoIs this in the context of a specific disorder? I can imagine with some disorders it might be possible to separate (and treat) the disorder from the rest of the mind without changing the mind too much (still strikes me as unlikely though). But when it comes to autism, for example, it really does seem that it's inextricably linked to the functioning of the brain as a whole on a very low level. In this case it's more of a 'holistic system'. It would be the difference between 1) giving a kid with one arm a bionic second arm, or 2) trying graft bionic arms on a kid born with wings (possibly by amputating the wings first).
- jaggederest 9y agoI'm talking about, specifically, looking at the natural capabilities and overall success of people who are identical twins and one twin has, but the other does not, a given disorder. Autism, OCD, anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, ADHD, dyslexia, are the ones I am aware of. I'm sure there are many more.
- mercer 9y agoInteresting. Do you have any specific links? I'm very curious what the definition of 'success' is in this case.