From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Tue Apr 30 2002 - 07:13:22 MDT
Hal Finney wrote:
>
> Damien Broderick proposes a thought experiment:
> > It has been found that raising children in cruel and painful circumstances
> > sometimes increases their IQ and artistic abilities significantly over that
> > of their siblings, sometimes to genius levels. Certain kinds of physical
> > impairment or long stretches of childhood illnesses, the sort that cause an
> > irremediable social gulf between ill child and healthier peers, augment
> > this effect. Would you choose to raise your child like this? Would you
> > allow medical researchers to trial a variety of different diseases and
> > minor mutilations on your young child in the expectation of an enhanced
> > chance of genius? Even if you find this personally abhorrent, do you as a
> > libertarian feel that it would be wrong to prevent other people's children
> > having the benefit of such treatment?
>
> I want to hold off an answering my own poll until more people weigh in
> but I'll go ahead and give my opinion on this one. I think the issues
> are somewhat different than in the case I gave because of the obvious
> harm to the child in this scenario.
>
> No, I would not raise my children like this, and in fact I would consider
> it child abuse even if it does produce some geniuses. So I would try to
> stop other people from treating their children in this harsh way as well,
> inflicting illnesses and isolation and cruelty on them.
As one whose genius IQ is likely the result of such experiences (near
constant ear infections until age 6, severe abuse by school peers from
4th grade onwards, use of corporal punishment by parents) while I
certainly disliked intensely the experiences I went through, I can also
certainly say that I would much rather have the IQ I have than to be
average/normal.
If high IQ is the reward for enduring such things, I think I got the
better end of the deal. What is pain anyways? You could look at it as
mental boot camp. Is physical training from childhood onward to become a
world class athlete tantamount to abuse? If not, why should similar
treatment to get top level IQ be any different?
Should we be charging Tiger Shaw's parents with abuse? How about
Michelle Kwan's dad? The fact is that you can't reach any great degree
of accomplishment without having to go through the pain of training your
body to achieve it.
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