3 ms·
> 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
by 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.