Article on Slashdot...
May. 24th, 2006 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
per_soloOk..I have no idea what to think of this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5008744.stm
Basics of the article...a sleep drug is thought to be able to "reverse" the effects of a Persistent Vegetative State...although the research is unsure so far, and some say that the drug only works on those who didn't REALLY have a PVS...
Most recently, this condition was brought to a head due to the Terry Schiavo case, in Florida. Those who know me know that I've had my own experience with such a state...long time ago. One of the scars that I've actually been better about in the last several years.
So, the mysteries of the human mind, or the brain rather, always fascinates me...what damage we can take, what we can and can't recover from...and just what drugs can do to us.
Much like the earlier article, there comes a question of interference, are we interfering with a great "will" (God, Fate, Time, Whatever..to steal from Quantum Leap), or are these the conditions and maladies that we should be able to cure as we progress as a species? Wasn't there a time where a C-Section was thought to be evil?
As always with Slashdot, a few user comments.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
"As we get more and technologically advanced, these what-if questions will always come up, and it's important to be serious about it.
If we develop the technology do bring a truly dead person back to life: to re-animate a day old corpse, will cremation be murder?
Or take the Schiavo case: it may one day be possible to insert new brain cells into someone like that and have them get up and be a person again. But they may not be the same person: the old brain matter that held their memories and personality may be gone. And yet, since we can do that, should we never pull the plug on a brain dead person?
What makes you, you? And what rights do YOU have in determining whether medical science can essentially keep your body alive, forever, no matter what happens to that "you?""
_________________________________________________________________________________________
It'd be cool to know exactly what "simple questions" were asked and what their responses were. My definition of a "simple question" might differ from theirs. Even if they had asked /complex/ questions, that doesn't necessarily mean the answer was correct or even intelligible.
Researcher: Hi there, can you see me? Patient: FFOOOOOOOOOMDE!
Sure, they interacted with the researcher and they answered a simple question. Their response could even arguably be considered a word, perhaps poorly pronounced, but... I fear the article leads this discovery to sound more amazing than it actually might be.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5008744.stm
Basics of the article...a sleep drug is thought to be able to "reverse" the effects of a Persistent Vegetative State...although the research is unsure so far, and some say that the drug only works on those who didn't REALLY have a PVS...
Most recently, this condition was brought to a head due to the Terry Schiavo case, in Florida. Those who know me know that I've had my own experience with such a state...long time ago. One of the scars that I've actually been better about in the last several years.
So, the mysteries of the human mind, or the brain rather, always fascinates me...what damage we can take, what we can and can't recover from...and just what drugs can do to us.
Much like the earlier article, there comes a question of interference, are we interfering with a great "will" (God, Fate, Time, Whatever..to steal from Quantum Leap), or are these the conditions and maladies that we should be able to cure as we progress as a species? Wasn't there a time where a C-Section was thought to be evil?
As always with Slashdot, a few user comments.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
"As we get more and technologically advanced, these what-if questions will always come up, and it's important to be serious about it.
If we develop the technology do bring a truly dead person back to life: to re-animate a day old corpse, will cremation be murder?
Or take the Schiavo case: it may one day be possible to insert new brain cells into someone like that and have them get up and be a person again. But they may not be the same person: the old brain matter that held their memories and personality may be gone. And yet, since we can do that, should we never pull the plug on a brain dead person?
What makes you, you? And what rights do YOU have in determining whether medical science can essentially keep your body alive, forever, no matter what happens to that "you?""
_________________________________________________________________________________________
It'd be cool to know exactly what "simple questions" were asked and what their responses were. My definition of a "simple question" might differ from theirs. Even if they had asked /complex/ questions, that doesn't necessarily mean the answer was correct or even intelligible.
Researcher: Hi there, can you see me? Patient: FFOOOOOOOOOMDE!
Sure, they interacted with the researcher and they answered a simple question. Their response could even arguably be considered a word, perhaps poorly pronounced, but... I fear the article leads this discovery to sound more amazing than it actually might be.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 08:35 pm (UTC)