Ed Dowding

The best way to survive the 21st century is together. The way we do things today does not need to be, nor can it be, the way we do things tomorrow.

Nov 24, 2008 0

I'm stunned, or 'Why I'm outta here #874'

It’s tough to know how to react to the two headlines which appeared adjacent on the BBC News website today.

Downs’ Syndrome screening seems to be a technology which has backfired. The well meaning people who developed it thought that people would see the quality of life experienced by those with Downs’ Syndrome vs those without and make the sensible decision.

Turns out that the sensible decision is trumped by the difficultly of taking a hard decision, and people have been shying away from doing the decent thing. When asked why,

  • 20% said they had known somebody with Down’s
  • 30% cited religious or anti-abortion beliefs
  • 30% felt life had improved for people with Down’s
  • 20% didn’t believe the result

So that’s 50% of people who are ignoring the medical advances. Let’s have a few facts about Downs Syndrome:

  • One in 1,000 babies born in the UK has Down’s syndrome
  • People with the syndrome will have some degree of learning difficulty
  • Life expectancy is on average between 50 and 60 years old
  • Down’s syndrome is not classed as a disease, but does lead to a higher chance of developing a host of illnesses
  • Nearly half of those with the syndrome will have heart defects, while hearing and sight problems are also more likely
  • There is also a greater risk of dementia, leukaemia and testicular cancer

Whilst people are very adamant to say that they don’t see that they should choose between one life and another, they probably aren’t thinking straight. Given the choice of being born into a body with or without Downs’ Syndrome, you’d have to be a bit weird to choose Down’s Syndrome. You live a shorter, more painful life, more dependent on others for your wellbeing. How can that be good for the individual, the family, or society?

But people have to be free to make decisions. I just wonder if they’re being presented in the right way.
Those 20% who didn’t believe the result, for example, need sitting down and talking to. You can’t just ignore certain evidence in a matter of life and death.
The 30% who cited religious beliefs need sitting down with a TMS machine, and then asked the question. Religion certainly has its place, but sometimes it does call it badly.
The 30% who felt life had improved could be asked if they’d like an injection which would simulate the effects of Downs’ Syndrome for the next 5 years to see how they REALLY think about that statement.
The 20% who know someone with Downs’ Syndrome should probably have a good conversation with that person to ask “given the choice of having this, or not having this, which would you go for?”

Nov 23, 2008 0

Happy people dont watch TV

“We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more — visiting others, going to church, all those things — were more happy,” Dr. Robinson said. “TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/health/research/20happy.html?em

Nov 23, 2008 0

The slippery slope of evil

7 social processes that great the slippery slope of evil:

1. Mindlessly taking the first small step.
2. Dehumanisation of others.
3. De-individualisation of self (anonymity / being part of a crowd).
4. Diffusion of personal responsibility.
5. Blind obedience to authority.
6. Uncritical conformity to group norms.
7. Passive tolerance of evil through inaction, or indifference.

From Ted: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

Nov 22, 2008 0

Left, right, and centering

We have two hemispheres to our brain, and they seem to be quite independent people. Your right brain is a parallel processing device which deals in imagery, the here and now, and the connectedness with
all things. The left hemisphere is serial and concerned with the creation of and preservation of identity, placing us within a temporal context.

This does not stop at perceptual interpretation, but includes phenomena such as the “evil hand” (where one of your hands misbehaves, expresses its own intentions, and sometimes even tries to harm its,
er… owner. You need only look at schizophrenia to see that we have two people living within us.

This is an odd and relatively new realisation to me, but I wonder if that’s much of what meditation concerns itself with – trying to reconcile these two halves.

An interesting lecture on this from the marvellous TED: http://is.gd/QSS

Nov 22, 2008 0

Make/Shift Shelving System

Via MoreInspiration comes this rather brilliant shelving system:

The shelving system is ideal for awkward sized spaces where you want to add shelves without doing custom work. The Make/Shift Shelving system is made of a flexible foam-like material, that you wedge together and squeeze into place.

Nice.