[MURG] fixing defects (was off-topic posts)

[Anna]

--- Ed Minchau <spider_boris at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Also, what is a "defect"?  Things like
> schizophrenia,
> manic/depression, and any number of other disorders
> must have some evolutionary advantage or they would
> have been selected out of the gene pool long ago.>

It is only an assumption that evolution  selects for a better adjustment to the new conditions or social order.  Darwinism is no longer an answer to such questions like schizophrenia. But if we accept that brain filters incoming information, than schizophrenia in this respect would be caused by nothing more than a faulty software, at the same time  letting us know that reality is much  larger than what we normally perceive. In one word, normal brain  limits information, while a defective allows for too much noise.
Anna
 



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: digfarenough 
  To: murg at minduploading.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 10:45 AM
  Subject: Re: [MURG] fixing defects (was off-topic posts)



  --- Ed Minchau <spider_boris at yahoo.com> wrote:
  > Also, what is a "defect"?  Things like
  > schizophrenia,
  > manic/depression, and any number of other disorders
  > must have some evolutionary advantage or they would
  > have been selected out of the gene pool long ago.
  > 

  I think that argument only works for disorders that
  occur in other animals as well as in humans. I
  actually don't know if animals can be schizophrenic or
  depressed (there may be animal models of these
  conditions, but are they actually conditions that are
  present in nature?)
  Medical science has been perpetuating genetic diseases
  for a long time by allowing the diseased to live long
  enough to reproduce. Animals with social systems that
  do things like share food among the members of the
  society can also help propagate such diseases because
  their shortcomings are made up for by the others.
  Thus in some cases, defects may not be advantageous,
  but simply may not have had a chance to be removed
  from the gene pool.

  > Suppose for a moment that John Nash was uploaded,
  > and
  > his schizophrenia removed... would he still be the
  > same person?  Would he still grasp mathematics in
  > the
  > same way?
  >

  Likely not, but he might still choose to have it
  removed anyhow. Before I was put on antidepressants, I
  long debated whether or not I should take a drug to
  change who I am. I've also considered the possibility
  of having my depression permanently cured after being
  uploaded.
  Perhaps the question we should ask isn't "Would he
  still be the same person?" but "Which person would he
  prefer to be?"
  Of course, I can't answer for him as I'm not even sure
  of my own answer. :)
   -Eric

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