Okay WOW, How is it that I didn't get into bed until 7am this morning and missed all of this?????????? What did someone put a bug in my computer and "say finally she's gone!" I'm trying to be funny but as I just dragged my behind out of bed, it's probably not working...
Where to start? And don't count on me making 100% sense because I hurt and I'm tired...
Panyasan wrote:So the reason Trip isn't good in languages is because he is born deaf and has ear-implants which makes him able to hear? I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but isn't the reason Trip has the implants so he can hear and learn languages? I am not saying good hearing is of influence when you learn language, but the main reason people have trouble learning language is that they don't have the talent for it. In Trips case it makes perfect sense: most people who are brilliant at science - engineering - maths (alfa people) are not good in other skills (that beta people are good at). Good example: master mind-professors who can't even boil an egg, because they don't have any pratical skills.
No Panyasan not quite, I'm not saying he can't learn languages because he was born deaf. People who are deaf without cochlear impants, can learn different languages. For example Helen Keller... And since his hearing is perfect with the implants I was thinking that it was more a psychological "block" than anything else. Personally, I know many people with "no talent: for learning languages, my sister for one, who have learned them. In fact she learned ASL and was an interpiter for our congregation for years. Her husband has tried to convince her to learn Chinese but that's not going to happen. And yes I know ASL not a "spoken" language, however, I can attest to the fact that you pretty much study it the way you would any language. I simply cannot believe how someone as brilliant as Trip, (in lots of areas, not just engines) is so convinced this is something he cannot do.
Panyasan wrote:If Trip has learned Vulcan so quickly, I would say it was because of T'Pol excellent training combined with the bond helping him (if Trips humor was rubbing off on TPol, her Vulcan knowlegde could also rub off). I hope I don't offend, but the explanation of him suddenly speaks reasonable Vulcan because he was born deaf and wears implants, it's sounds a bit forced to me.
It was never my intention to make his implants do the work, and always the plan for it to be T'Pol and the Bond that helped him do it.
Panyasan wrote:As for genetic diseases... Well, I have a husband who has one and managed to create a life, not without pain, but with an enjoyment for life. It does color my perception on the subject. I think the best discussion I ever heard in Star Trek about dissabilities/genetic discussion, is a conversation in TNG between Geordie and an woman from an alien race, who's society doesn't accept any flaws. She asked Geordie why he was aloud to be born, because he was blind. He answered that blindness is part of how he is and that he used technology to function, even when he is blind. He is proud of who he is. He is Georgie, who happens to be blind, not a blind man. I thought it expressed it very well.
I completely understand where you're coming from. My disability is not genetic but believe me I'm proud of who I am too. That's not the issue, although it's the issue I'm terrified of. But you must remember Geordie
did have the VISOR to give him "sight" and later occular implants that allowed him to see like a "normal" (I hate that word) person. Obviously, he didn't have an issue of "curing" his blindness taking away who he is.
aadarshinah wrote:To go back to the legality for a moment... Bashir was born "slow," not with any particular defect, if I recall my DS9 correctly. He was Augmented fully for personal gain - even if it was his parents ordering the augmenting. But Picard was born with Shalaft's Syndrome, which, presumabily, requires gentic manipulation or intensive surgury in youth to fix, and was never looked down upon/scorned/arrested for it, as, again, it was a "quality of life" thing.
Not to put too fine a point on this but by that arguement nothing about genetic manipulation should be illegal. Quality of life is a personal issue and the only person who can determine their quality of life is the individual themselves. Not even parents or doctors can do that, believe me I know.
Aikiweezie wrote:As an idealist I hope that in the future we become MORE accepting of "imperfections," "Variations" and disabilities of all kinds. Distracted's version of what might be freaks me out quite a bit. I think humanity learned a BIG lesson from the Eugenics War that the whole "new and improved humans" thing was a BAD idea.
Based on what I know about the current direction of the study of genetics, it should be possible in the next 100 - 150 years to either treat genetic problems in the parent, the embryo or the person by correcting the mistake on the affected strand of DNA or RNA . Also given where things like stem cell research is going, I would think that all kinds of neurological injuries will be correctable, making disabilities far more rare.
I pretty much agree with this, but then you still have the issue of when something goes wrong: do you fix it, or are you taking away from who the person is? As I said before, to me the only opinions that matter is the individual involved and their families.
justTripn wrote:I do not think that deafness plus cocheal implants helps explain anything with regard to the ability to learn languages. Obviously he hears well enough to have learned English perfectly. The ability to learn languages is something that goes on inside the brain. Trip does not appear to have any current disabilities. In the future anything can happen and Trip plus disability is an interesting question to explore.
I have a feeling the only way I'm going to be able to explain how I would work it out is to actually do it, and I haven't decided I will yet, so... Yeah I'm about to have a full blown panic attack. Again it's not that I'm ignorent of how all this works, I grew up around it. So maybe if I don't put it in my actual fic stories I'll write a snippet in a thread. IDK all I know is now I'm scared.
justTripn wrote:Also I gave my Trip Alzheimer's in his old age. Trip was defined in part by his genius. What if that were taken away? Would he still be Trip? I had people continue to care for him and respect him. They reminded him that he was a Captain and had done great things in his life. Hopefully that is the attitude that will prevail in the future: These things can happen to anybody, so it's best to respect those it happens to. Because it could very well one day happen to YOU!
How much kleenex did you need? I have to admit I'm a little confused, Alzheimer's by defintion takes away who a person is. That's the nature of the disease. But you're right people in that situation (or any other situation where they become disabled) are deserving of the upmost respect and care.
Silverbullet wrote:Ignorance was rampart when I was young.
Tell me about it. No offense
SB my father's parents drive me crazy. If a say I have brain damage they start screaming at me, if I say I'm gonna use my crutches they demand I call them "sticks," if I say I'm disabled they yell at me to stop and say I'm not. It's like if they admit it, they have to admit they were raised to believe people like me should be institutionalized.