pavlovscat on 10/11/2006 at 00:58
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it should be ruled out for all cases. Are you trying to say you'd rather have died than contracted MS?
I would like to revise my previous answer to this question. Unfortunately, I have a problem with depression due to physiological changes in my brain. I take interferon shots which also cause depression. Due to recent changes in my meds, I spent a restful few days under observation in the hospital due to a severe bout of depression. I have read my previous posts & see the effects of depression in my words. I sound very bitter & angry. I want to say that I am usually well-adjusted and happy. I do not wish that I'd never been born. MS has given me a new view of life. I pay more attention to the small things & I am glad for every day I wake up. I am often frustrated by my limitations, but it is not time to quit. I still have things to do.
Truthfully, I do believe that parents should be able to decide about euthanizing their child if there is severe non-correctable deformity which produces a non-viable being. Living with MS is often difficult, but I certainly don't want to give up. I can't say where the line should be drawn, as quality of life is a very individual matter. I also believe that someone dying from a painful disease such as cancer should be allowed to end thier life with dignity. Any discussion of the right to death always carries the fear that it will be taken too far. Personally, I do not want to end up hooked to a machine that breathes & cleanses my blood for me. At that point, let me go. Until then, I will take my chances.
Scots Taffer on 10/11/2006 at 01:03
I must say I like that answer better, and I hope you feel better.
pavlovscat on 10/11/2006 at 01:07
Thank you, yes I do. Depression is a horrible thing because you don't see it happening, then all of a sudden...BAM! It sneaks up & wacks you with a blackjack! :tsktsk:
Gorgonseye on 10/11/2006 at 01:27
So....the fighting is finally over? Phew.....I knew something was wrong was pavlov went and got ":mad:"
Jennie&Tim on 10/11/2006 at 15:42
Glad you're feeling better pavlovscat.
pavlovscat on 10/11/2006 at 17:28
Thank you.
Para?noid on 10/11/2006 at 18:08
Quote Posted by Strontium Dog
:rolleyes:
haha stronts you just got tottally owned
Javert4186 on 11/11/2006 at 03:42
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
The discussion of wealthy families producing lazy offspring ....
The "Stalin Principle"?
ACtually it is called "shirtsleeves to worksleeves in three generations" and is a sociological theory that has a decent amount of legitimacy among social scientists (of which I am one). By this I mean that poor people work themselves up into rich people eventually, who then go through the process that RBJ and others have detailed.
It is certainly not regression to the mean (poor is not the mean) and certainly nothing Mr. Eugenics Galton would have advocated
Uncia on 11/11/2006 at 13:09
Quote Posted by TheGreatGodPan
What I am saying is that there is a relatively new phenomenom that has popped up (birth control/family planning when it is very feasible to support more children) that selection has not had time to adapt to, but it surely will in the long run.
What the hell?
Adapt to? I mean, I realize you just meant "this is gonna end up biting us in the ass", but you chose a really nonsensical way to put it. People living longer due to medicine? That
is natural selection, we just evolved our brain to have a better chance, rather than our brawn.
TheGreatGodPan on 11/11/2006 at 22:37
Quote Posted by Uncia
What the hell?
Adapt to? I mean, I realize you just meant "this is gonna end up biting us in the ass", but you chose a really nonsensical way to put it. People living longer due to medicine? That
is natural selection, we just evolved our brain to have a better chance, rather than our brawn.
I did not intend to say "this is gonna end up biting us in the ass", I was trying to make a norm-free statement. You are correct that even with medicine it is still "natural selection" because there is no real division between natural and unnatural (I suppose agricultural breeding practices and lab experiments might be considered the latter, but the only difference between them and the former is that we have observers intentionally changing the conditions in response to results), it is just natural selection in an environment that humans have had a significant effect on.
