I kind of understand because I worry about it purely in my own case. I have severe ADHD and, overall, I really wish I could just function without it being a struggle every single day. But in my case and many others with my type of ADHD, its comorbidity with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria makes me extremely empathetic. A lot of my friends over the years have told me that, when they need someone to truly understand them and see them and give perspective that resonates, they come to me first.
If someday, a doctor would be able to snip off some chromosomes and suddenly I’m cured, it would be positively life-changing. But I would hesitate. The emotional resonance that comes easily to me is something I hold dear to my heart. Would I Iose that part of myself? Would I care? I don’t know. I love that part of me, and while I wouldn’t necessarily be a worse person, losing that part of me means a lot of people that love me lose something they love about me too.
They become worse for having to interact with society the same way as everyone else. Most people are assholes. The specific population of people I know are awesome and I consider them better humans than most because society is fucked.
That is a compelling argument. I can’t deny society sucks. But in this case, should we not be promoting down syndrome? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to have down syndrome? Do we have reason to believe that a society run exclusively by people with down syndrome would be better than other societies, or are the people you know with down syndrome better than the typical person because they receive a lot of care? These are earnest questions by the way, and not meant to be rhetorical.
But how would them not having the disease make them worse people?
I kind of understand because I worry about it purely in my own case. I have severe ADHD and, overall, I really wish I could just function without it being a struggle every single day. But in my case and many others with my type of ADHD, its comorbidity with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria makes me extremely empathetic. A lot of my friends over the years have told me that, when they need someone to truly understand them and see them and give perspective that resonates, they come to me first.
If someday, a doctor would be able to snip off some chromosomes and suddenly I’m cured, it would be positively life-changing. But I would hesitate. The emotional resonance that comes easily to me is something I hold dear to my heart. Would I Iose that part of myself? Would I care? I don’t know. I love that part of me, and while I wouldn’t necessarily be a worse person, losing that part of me means a lot of people that love me lose something they love about me too.
It wouldn’t, necessarily.
Then what the heck is your point? If they would not become worse for being cured of down syndrome, then what’s the dilemma?
They become worse for having to interact with society the same way as everyone else. Most people are assholes. The specific population of people I know are awesome and I consider them better humans than most because society is fucked.
That is a compelling argument. I can’t deny society sucks. But in this case, should we not be promoting down syndrome? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to have down syndrome? Do we have reason to believe that a society run exclusively by people with down syndrome would be better than other societies, or are the people you know with down syndrome better than the typical person because they receive a lot of care? These are earnest questions by the way, and not meant to be rhetorical.
Sounds kinda biblical like eating from the tree of knowledge.