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That was a difficult article (pictures actually) to read. It shows (to me at least) how intimately our humanity is linked to a face that passes our own internal

That was a difficult article (pictures actually) to read. It shows (to me at least) how intimately our humanity is linked to a face that passes our own internal pattern matching heuristics. I'm not proud to admit my initial thought was not how difficult life must be for her but rather how deformed her face was. But then I was proud that my (our) inherent human intelligence and morality was able to put that thought aside and wonder what I could do to help her.

Waterluvian 8y ago
My sense is that leap from emotional response to logical response is the lynchpin to so much potential we can unlock in millions, if not billions more of us. Lots of us can't make that leap, and it costs us.
buxtehude 8y ago
For many who have facial deformities, depending on how severe, every day can be a challenge as they are continually reminded by the condition they live with - and potentially the inherent limitations (actual or self-imposed) of that condition. This can be a very negative space to be in - day in and day out. I urge all of you with children, to please foster empathy in your little people for other people less fortunate. Children can at times say the most brutal and hurtful things - and these hurtful words or even laughter - especially for children with deformities - can be very painful. While shocking to see the pictures in this article, I hope many (most? all?) of us feel great empathy for her or others with facial or other deformities. Thank you for being so open about your reactions to the article.
- fjsolwmv 8y ago
  "less fortunate" is a strange way to describe the victim of a condition that isn't bad luck, it's a moral crime perpetrated against her by all the pet around her.
  - SpikeDad 8y ago
    Geez you don't seem to be able to scrape up any sympathy for someone that felt suicide was their only way out. I believe the converse - if there was a way for people to end their lives painlessly and surely (with the proper safeguards, blah blah blah) it might have served her better. But in our reality I'm pleased society has stepped up for her.
danso 8y ago
> It shows (to me at least) how intimately our humanity is linked to a face that passes our own internal pattern matching heuristics. Well said. Even as our culture purportedly idealizes the value of a person's inner being rather than appearances, one of the uncomfortable things this story drove home to me is -- I can't say it better than you have: "how intimately our humanity is linked to a face". The image used in the meta-tag for preview/social-media is especially striking to me: several surgeons crowd around the face to be transplanted as it lies, disconnected, as if it were just a Halloween mask: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/rights-exempt/2018/09/the-face/006-new-face-surgeons-donor-face.ngsversion.1534182807090.adapt.945.1.jpg https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/righ... It brought to mind a memorable passage in David Simon's book, "Homicide", in which he describes the most disturbing stage of an autopsy: > In the final phase of the internal exam, the pathologist uses the electric saw to cut the circumference of the skull, the top of which is then popped upward with a lever-like tool. Pulling from behind the ears, the skin of the victim’s scalp is then folded forward across the face so that any head wound can be tracked and the brain itself can be removed, weighed and examined for disease. For observers, the detectives included, this last stage of the autopsy is perhaps the hardest. The sound of the saw, the cranial pop from the lever, the image of the facial skin being covered by scalp—nothing makes the dead seem quite so anonymous as when the visage of every individual is folded in upon itself in a rubbery contortion, as if we’ve all been wandering this earth wearing dimestore Halloween masks, so easily and indifferently removed.
- SpikeDad 8y ago
  > Well said. Even as our culture purportedly idealizes the value of a person's inner being rather than appearances, one of the uncomfortable things this story drove home to me is -- I can't say it better than you have: "how intimately our humanity is linked to a face". Thanks. I was thinking if this is one reason why facial recognition is so anathema to most people (as is to me). Not just because it's a violation of our privacy but it uses the very feature (our face) which as I said in so deeply part of being a human as a weapon against us.

Waterluvian 8y ago

My sense is that leap from emotional response to logical response is the lynchpin to so much potential we can unlock in millions, if not billions more of us. Lots of us can't make that leap, and it costs us.

buxtehude 8y ago

For many who have facial deformities, depending on how severe, every day can be a challenge as they are continually reminded by the condition they live with - and potentially the inherent limitations (actual or self-imposed) of that condition. This can be a very negative space to be in - day in and day out. I urge all of you with children, to please foster empathy in your little people for other people less fortunate. Children can at times say the most brutal and hurtful things - and these hurtful words or even laughter - especially for children with deformities - can be very painful. While shocking to see the pictures in this article, I hope many (most? all?) of us feel great empathy for her or others with facial or other deformities. Thank you for being so open about your reactions to the article.

fjsolwmv 8y ago
"less fortunate" is a strange way to describe the victim of a condition that isn't bad luck, it's a moral crime perpetrated against her by all the pet around her.
- SpikeDad 8y ago
  Geez you don't seem to be able to scrape up any sympathy for someone that felt suicide was their only way out. I believe the converse - if there was a way for people to end their lives painlessly and surely (with the proper safeguards, blah blah blah) it might have served her better. But in our reality I'm pleased society has stepped up for her.

danso 8y ago

> It shows (to me at least) how intimately our humanity is linked to a face that passes our own internal pattern matching heuristics. Well said. Even as our culture purportedly idealizes the value of a person's inner being rather than appearances, one of the uncomfortable things this story drove home to me is -- I can't say it better than you have: "how intimately our humanity is linked to a face". The image used in the meta-tag for preview/social-media is especially striking to me: several surgeons crowd around the face to be transplanted as it lies, disconnected, as if it were just a Halloween mask: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/rights-exempt/2018/09/the-face/006-new-face-surgeons-donor-face.ngsversion.1534182807090.adapt.945.1.jpg https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/righ... It brought to mind a memorable passage in David Simon's book, "Homicide", in which he describes the most disturbing stage of an autopsy: > In the final phase of the internal exam, the pathologist uses the electric saw to cut the circumference of the skull, the top of which is then popped upward with a lever-like tool. Pulling from behind the ears, the skin of the victim’s scalp is then folded forward across the face so that any head wound can be tracked and the brain itself can be removed, weighed and examined for disease. For observers, the detectives included, this last stage of the autopsy is perhaps the hardest. The sound of the saw, the cranial pop from the lever, the image of the facial skin being covered by scalp—nothing makes the dead seem quite so anonymous as when the visage of every individual is folded in upon itself in a rubbery contortion, as if we’ve all been wandering this earth wearing dimestore Halloween masks, so easily and indifferently removed.

SpikeDad 8y ago
> Well said. Even as our culture purportedly idealizes the value of a person's inner being rather than appearances, one of the uncomfortable things this story drove home to me is -- I can't say it better than you have: "how intimately our humanity is linked to a face". Thanks. I was thinking if this is one reason why facial recognition is so anathema to most people (as is to me). Not just because it's a violation of our privacy but it uses the very feature (our face) which as I said in so deeply part of being a human as a weapon against us.