Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 " BTW, that would be intersection, not union " - Mike Quite right, Mike. Intersection not union. Time to dust the cobwebs out of me noggin. I just love mathematics, though. One of the reasons I do is that it is pretty black and white. Complex numbers and other concepts may not always seem so, but overall math is neat and tidy. " I don't think it helps the discussion we were having though. What would be the implication for the arguments we were using? " -Chris People and their behaviors are not so neat and tidy. Is psychology even a true science? We can predict socially, but never individually what behaviors may result from certain stimuli. Thus, to even begin to define in mathematical terms the complex and often irrational behaviors of humans is probably a futile effort. Aren't heterosexual unions (marriages) present in all societies we know of, past and present? I do believe it's one of those standards of human behavior much like religion. Homosexuality and/or bisexuality may be tolerated or shunned in society, but I don't see how they/it can positively affect a culture's survival. However, the sheer complexity and different problems present in modern society (like overpopulation) have altered greatly the basic tenets of survival, perhaps making arguments for such behaviors much more socially acceptable. Bi/Homosexuality is a physical condition as well. But just like the rates of autistic spectrum disorders have jump rapidly in recent years, so it also SEEMS to be the case with bi/homosexuality. Of course, I could be wrong in this assumption, as I don't think we could ever determine past statistics for comparison. Some argue in the case of autism, that it is better diagnostics and not and increase that we are experiencing. I find gaping flaws with such arguments in light of its regional prevalence in the US, among other things. Deanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 @@@@@@@@ Deanna: > I just love mathematics, though. One of the reasons I do is that it is > pretty black and white. Complex numbers and other concepts may not always > seem so, but overall math is neat and tidy. @@@@@@@@@@ Then the internet is neat and tidy too. It's all a string of " 0 " s and " 1 " s. Mike SE Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 >Some argue in the case of autism, that it is better >diagnostics and not and increase that we are experiencing. I find gaping >flaws with such arguments in light of its regional prevalence in the US, >among other things. > >Deanna Wired Magazine had a great article on this awhile back (you can search for it on their site ... search on " Autism " or " Aspergers " . There seems to be no doubt that those two ARE increasing. They are also probably diet-related (with a genetic component). In Silicon valley, 1 in 50 kids is born Autistic. In my small circle of people I know, there are 4 Autistic or Aspie kids. There is an interesting parallel between Asperger's and homosexualtiy ... Aspies, when they find out what is " wrong " with them, don't generally want to change, even though they are often undeniably hard to fit into " society " . Furthermore, their " disability " is a boon to society ... Temple Grandin called NASA " the world's largest sheltered workshop " . The engineers and programmers fueling the tech boom consist of a high percentage of Aspies. Newton, Einstein, and Bill Gates are probably good examples of successful Aspies. So if they DO find the cause of Asperger's, and a cure for it, there will still be the question of " SHOULD it be cured? " In fact, some researchers are looking for ways of making a person " temporarily Autistic " so they can be better problem solvers. They can do this with strong magnets, knocking out part of the frontal lobe -- it works: if you knock out part of one lobe, people get smarter at solving problems, dumber at doing social stuff. So, even in a case where something is clearly " not usual " (as per brain waves etc.) that doesn't necessarily mean it is " undesirable " . Gets complicated! In the case of gays, some (gays, mainly, or I wouldn't quote it) say that a lot of the creative energy in some parts of society come from their culture. I have no idea if that is true, but it could well be, in which case you can't say that homosexuality does not contribute anything to society. Our differences are as valuable as anything else ... one thing we don't need is a monoculture society. -- Heidi Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 @@@@@@ In the case of gays, some (gays, mainly, > or I wouldn't quote it) say that a lot of the creative energy in > some parts of society come from their culture. I have no idea > if that is true, but it could well be, in which case you can't > say that homosexuality does not contribute anything to > society. Our differences are as valuable as anything else ... > one thing we don't need is a monoculture society. > > -- Heidi Jean @@@@@@@@@@ I have noticed this over and over again--that gays are disportionately creative, productive, and overachieving... I can think of many really striking cases. I don't know if this is a real correlation, but it seems likely to me... Mike SE Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 " Then the internet is neat and tidy too. It's all a string of " 0 " s and " 1 " s. " -Mike Yes, PCs are pals. Very cut and dry; the switch is either on " 1 " or off " 0 " . Oh, but I much prefer the comfy abstraction of high level programming languages, where buses, logic gates and registries are of little concern, yet logic, style and structure reign supreme. Deanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 ***** In Silicon valley, 1 in 50 kids is born Autistic. In my small circle of people I know, there are 4 Autistic or Aspie kids. ***** Heidi, my autistic son was born at AFB, not too far away from the Silicon Valley. Actually, he is diagnosed PDD, nos, the catch all for those exhibiting some but not enough of the autistic characteristics. ***** There is an interesting parallel between Asperger's and homosexualtiy ... So if they DO find the cause of Asperger's, and a cure for it, there will still be the question of " SHOULD it be cured? " ... So, even in a case where something is clearly " not usual " (as per brain waves etc.) that doesn't necessarily mean it is " undesirable " . ***** I like the way you think, Heidi. Very good points you make here about monoculture not being in a society's best interest, much in the same way mono crop agriculture is not optimal. Variety is indeed the spice of life. Thank you. Deanna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 @@@@@@@@@@ > " Then the internet is neat and tidy too. It's all a string of " 0 " s and > " 1 " s. " -Mike > > Yes, PCs are pals. Very cut and dry; the switch is either on " 1 " or off > " 0 " . Oh, but I much prefer the comfy abstraction of high level programming > languages, where buses, logic gates and registries are of little concern, > yet logic, style and structure reign supreme. > > Deanna @@@@@@@@@@ Deanna, I was being REALLLLLLY sarcastic My PC is about as cut and dry as a squealing pig sometimes... Mike SE Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 >Heidi, my autistic son was born at AFB, not too far away from the >Silicon Valley. Actually, he is diagnosed PDD, nos, the catch all for those >exhibiting some but not enough of the autistic characteristics. Ah, well, that would hit home then! It runs in our family ... the reason I went on the GF diet originally was because of MY problems. My Dad was a pretty classic case, but we didn't know what was going on. I understand him a lot better now ... and me ... -- Heidi Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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