Author
|
Topic: Stop making sense : Asperger's syndrome and empathy (Read 1186 times) |
|
Blunderov
Archon
Gender: 
Posts: 3160
Reputation: 8.90
Rate Blunderov
"We think in generalities, we live in details"
  
|
 |
Stop making sense : Asperger's syndrome and empathy
« on: 2006-10-14 09:21:57 » |
 |
[Blunderov] In an idle moment, after having watched the DVD "Stop Making Sense"*, I googled "David Byrne" ** and accidently found out about Asperger's Syndrome as well.
It's a fine line...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergers_syndrome
[snip]Characteristics
AS is characterized by:
Limited interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities;
Repetitive behaviors or rituals;
Peculiarities in speech and language;
Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction;
Problems with nonverbal communication; and
Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements.
The most common and important characteristics of AS can be divided into several broad categories: social impairments, narrow but intense interests, and peculiarities of speech and language. Other features are commonly associated with this syndrome, but are not always regarded as necessary for diagnosis. This section mainly reflects the views of Attwood, Gillberg, and Wing on the most important characteristics of AS; the DSM-IV criteria represent a slightly different view. Unlike most forms of PDDs, AS is often camouflaged, and many people with the disorder blend in with those that do not have it. The effects of AS depend on how an affected individual responds to the syndrome itself...
...Social differences
Although there is no single feature that all people with AS share, difficulties with social behavior are nearly universal and are one of the most important defining criteria. People with AS lack the natural ability to see the subtexts of social interaction, and may lack the ability to communicate their own emotional state, resulting in well-meaning remarks that may offend, or finding it hard to know what is "acceptable". The unwritten rules of social behavior that mystify so many with AS have been termed the "hidden curriculum".People with AS must learn these social skills intellectually rather than intuitively.
Non-autistics are able to gather information about other people's cognitive and emotional states based on clues gleaned from the environment and other people's facial expression and body language, but, in this respect, people with AS are impaired; this is sometimes called mind-blindness. Mind-blindness involves an impaired ability to read others' feelings, understand intended meanings, gauge level of interest in a conversation, take into account others' level of knowledge and predict someone's reaction to a comment or action.
Some people with AS make very little eye contact because it triggers a possible threat response, whereas others have unmodulated, staring eye contact that can cause discomfort in other people. Similarly, the use of gestures may be almost nonexistent or may seem exaggerated and differ from what would normally be considered the most appropriate for a situation.
A person with AS may have trouble understanding the emotions of other people: the messages that are conveyed by facial expression, eye contact and body language are often missed. They also might have trouble showing empathy with other people. Thus, people with AS might be seen as egotistical, selfish or uncaring. In most cases, these are unfair labels because affected people are neurologically unable to understand other people's emotional states. They are usually shocked, upset and remorseful when told that their actions are hurtful or inappropriate. It is clear that people with AS do not lack emotions. The concrete nature of emotional attachments they might have (i.e., to objects rather than to people), however, often seems curious or can even be a cause of concern to people who do not share their perspective...
...Speech and language differences
People with AS typically have a highly pedantic way of speaking, using a far more formal register of language than appropriate for a context. A five-year-old child with this condition may regularly speak in language that could easily have come from a university textbook, especially concerning his or her special area of interest.
Literal interpretation is another common, but not universal hallmark of this condition. Attwood gives the example of a girl with AS who answered the telephone one day and was asked, "Is Paul there?" Although the Paul in question was in the house, he was not in the room with her, so after looking around to ascertain this, she simply said "no" and hung up. The person on the other end had to call back and explain to her that he meant for her to find him and get him to pick up the telephone.
Individuals with AS may use words idiosyncratically, including new coinages and unusual juxtapositions. This can develop into a rare gift for humor (especially puns, wordplay, doggerel and satire). A potential source of humor is the eventual realization that their literal interpretations can be used to amuse others. Some are so proficient at written language as to qualify as hyperlexic. Tony Attwood refers to a particular child's skill at inventing expressions, e.g., "tidying down" (the opposite of tidying up) or "broken" (when referring to a baby brother who cannot walk or talk).
Children with AS may show advanced abilities for their age in language, reading, mathematics, spatial skills, or music, sometimes into the 'gifted' range, but these talents may be counterbalanced by appreciable delays in the development of other cognitive functions. Some other typical behaviors are echolalia, the repetition or echoing of verbal utterances made by another person, and palilalia, the repetition of one's own words.
A 2003 study investigated the written language of children and youth with AS. They were compared to neurotypical peers in a standardized test of written language skills and legibility of handwriting. In written language skills, no significant differences were found between standardized scores of both groups; however, in hand-writing skills, the AS participants produced significantly fewer legible letters and words than the neurotypical group. Another analysis of written samples found that people with AS appear to be able to write quantitatively similarly to their neurotypical peers using grammatical rules, but have difficulty in producing qualitative writing.
Tony Attwood states that a teacher may spend considerable time interpreting and correcting an AS child's indecipherable scrawl. The child is also aware of the poor quality of his or her handwriting and may be reluctant to engage in activities that involve extensive writing. Unfortunately for some children and adults, high school teachers and prospective employers may consider the neatness of handwriting as a measure of intelligence and personality. The child may require assessment by an occupational therapist and remedial exercises, but modern technology can help minimize this problem. A parent or teacher aide could also act as the child's scribe or proofreader to ensure the legibility of the child's written answers or homework.
Narrow, intense interests
AS can involve an intense and obsessive level of focus on things of interest. For example, one person might be obsessed with 1950s professional wrestling, another with national anthems of African dictatorships, and another with building models out of matchsticks. Particularly common interests are: means of transport (e.g., trains), computers, foreign languages, mathematics, science fiction, astronomy, geography, history, and dinosaurs. Note that many of these are normal interests in ordinary children; the difference in children with AS is the unusual intensity of their interest.[30] Repetitive interests in children with autism are more often in the domain of "folk physics" (how things work) and less often in the domain of "folk psychology" (how people work), suggesting that obsessions are not content free.
Sometimes these interests are lifelong; in other cases, they change at unpredictable intervals. In either case, there are normally one or two interests at any given time. In pursuit of these interests, people with AS often manifest extremely sophisticated reasoning, an almost obsessive focus, and a remarkably good memory for trivial facts (occasionally even eidetic memory). Hans Asperger called his young patients "little professors" because he thought his patients had as comprehensive and nuanced an understanding of their field of interest as university professors.
Some clinicians do not entirely agree with this description. For example, Wing and Gillberg both argue that, in children with AS, these areas of intense interest typically involve more rote memorization than real understanding,[3] despite occasional appearances to the contrary. Such a limitation is an artifact of the diagnostic criteria, even under Gillberg's criteria, however.
People with AS may have little patience for things outside these narrow interests. In school, they may be perceived as highly intelligent underachievers or overachievers, clearly capable of outperforming their peers in their field of interest, yet persistently unmotivated to do regular homework assignments (sometimes even in their areas of interest). Others may be hypermotivated to outperform peers in school. The combination of social problems and intense interests can lead to unusual behavior, such as greeting a stranger by launching into a lengthy monologue about a special interest rather than introducing oneself in the socially-accepted way. In many cases adults can outgrow this impatience and lack of motivation, however, developing more tolerance to new activities and meeting new people.
Other differences
Those affected by AS may show a range of other sensory, developmental, and physiological anomalies. Children with AS may evidence a slight delay in the development of fine motor skills. In some cases, people with AS may have an odd way of walking, and may display compulsive finger, hand, arm or leg movements, including tics and stims.
In general, orderly things appeal to people with AS. Some researchers mention the imposition of rigid routines (on self or others) as a criterion for diagnosing this condition. It appears that changes to their routines cause inordinate levels of anxiety for some people with this condition.
Some people with AS experience varying degrees of sensory overload and are extremely sensitive to touch, smells, sounds, tastes, and sights. They may prefer soft clothing, familiar scents, or certain foods. Some may even be pathologically sensitive to loud noises (as some people with AS have hyperacusis), strong smells, or dislike being touched; for example, certain children with AS exhibit a strong dislike of having their head touched or their hair disturbed while others like to be touched but dislike loud noises. Sensory overload may exacerbate problems faced by such children at school, where levels of noise in the classroom can become intolerable for them. Some are unable to block out certain repetitive stimuli, such as the constant ticking of a clock. Whereas most children stop registering this sound after a short time and can hear it only if they consciously attend to it, a child with AS can become distracted, agitated, or even (in cases where the child has problems with regulating emotions such as anger) aggressive if the sound persists. A study of parent measures of child temperament found that children with autism were rated as presenting with more extreme scores than typically-developing children...
...Prognosis
Persons with AS appear to have normal lifespans, but have an increased prevalence of comorbid psychiatric conditions such as depression, mood disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.[1]
Children with AS can learn to manage their differences, but they may continue to find social situations and personal relationships challenging. Many adults with AS are able to work successfully in mainstream jobs, although they may continue to need encouragement and moral support to maintain an independent life.[5]
Individuals with AS may make great intellectual contributions: published case reports suggest an association with accomplishments in computer science, mathematics, and physics. The deficits associated with AS may be debilitating, but many individuals experience positive outcomes, particularly those who are able to excel in areas less dependent on social interaction, such as mathematics, music, and the sciences...
...Non-clinical perspective
Some professionals contend that, far from being a disease, AS is simply the pathologizing of neurodiversity that should be celebrated, understood and accommodated instead of "treated" or "cured".
Shift in view
Autistic people have contributed to a shift in perception of autism spectrum disorders as complex syndromes rather than diseases that must be cured. Proponents of this view reject the notion that there is an 'ideal' brain configuration and that any deviation from the norm is pathological. They demand tolerance for what they call their neurodiversity in much the same way physically handicapped people have demanded tolerance. These views are the basis for the autistic rights and autistic pride movements. Researcher Simon Baron-Cohen has argued that high-functioning autism is a "difference" and is not necessarily a "disability." He contends that the term "difference" is more neutral, and that this small shift in a term could mean the difference between a diagnosis of AS being received as a family tragedy, or as interesting information, such as learning that a child is left-handed.
Autistic culture
Main article: Autistic culture
People with AS may refer to themselves in casual conversation as "aspies", coined by Liane Holliday Willey in 1999, or as an "Aspergian". The term neurotypical (NT) describes a person whose neurological development and state are typical, and is often used to refer to people who are non-autistic.
A Wired magazine article, The Geek Syndrome, *** suggested that AS is more common in the Silicon Valley, a haven for computer scientists and mathematicians. It posited that AS may be the result of assortative mating by geeks in mathematical and technological areas. AS can be found in all occupations, however, and is not limited to those in the math and science fields.
The popularization of the Internet has allowed individuals with AS to communicate with each other in a way that was not possible to do offline due to the rarity and the geographic dispersal of individuals with AS. As a result of increasing ability to connect with one another, a subculture of "Aspies" has formed. Internet sites have made it easier for individuals to connect with each other.
Social impact
AS may lead to problems in social interaction with peers. These problems can be severe or mild depending on the individual. Children with AS are often the target of bullying at school due to their idiosyncratic behavior, language, interests, and impaired ability to perceive and respond in socially expected ways to nonverbal cues, particularly in interpersonal conflict. Children with AS may be extremely literal and may have difficulty interpreting and responding to sarcasm or banter. These types of problems can even arise in the family; given an unfavourable family environment, the child may be subject to emotional abuse. A child or teen with AS is often puzzled by this mistreatment, unaware of what has been done incorrectly. Unlike other pervasive development disorders, most children with AS want to be social, but fail to socialize successfully, which can lead to later withdrawal and asocial behavior, especially in adolescence. At this stage of life especially, they risk being drawn into unsuitable and inappropriate friendships and social groups.
Children with AS often display advanced abilities for their age in language, reading, mathematics, spatial skills, and/or music—sometimes into the "gifted" range—but this may be counterbalanced by considerable delays in other developmental areas. This combination of traits can lead to problems with teachers and other authority figures. A child with AS might be regarded by teachers as a "problem child" or a "poor performer." The child’s extremely low tolerance for what they perceive to be ordinary and mediocre tasks, such as typical homework assignments, can easily become frustrating; a teacher may well consider the child arrogant, spiteful, and insubordinate. Lack of support and understanding, in combination with the child's anxieties, can result in problematic behavior (such as severe tantrums, violent and angry outbursts, and withdrawal).
Although adults with AS may have similar problems, they are not as likely to be given treatment as a child would. They may find it difficult finding employment or entering undergraduate or graduate schools because of poor interview skills or a low score on standardized or personality tests. They also may find themselves more vulnerable to poverty and homelessness than the general population, because of their difficulty finding (and keeping) employment, lack of proper education, premature social skills, and other factors. If they do become employed, they may be misunderstood, taken advantage of, paid less than those without AS, and be subject to bullying and discrimination.
People with AS report a feeling of being unwillingly detached from the world around them. They may have difficulty finding a life partner or getting married due to poor social skills, and their poverty. In a similar fashion to school bullying, the person with AS is vulnerable to problems in their neighbourhood, such as antisocial behaviour and harassment. Due to social isolation, they can be seen as 'oddballs' in the community and thus may be at risk of wrongful suspicions and allegations from others.
On the other hand, some adults with AS do get married, get graduate degrees, become wealthy, and hold jobs. The intense focus and tendency to work things out logically often grants those people with AS a high level of ability in their field of interest. When these special interests coincide with a materially or socially useful task, the person with AS often can lead a profitable life. The child obsessed with naval architecture may grow up to be an accomplished shipwright. More research is needed on adults with AS.
Notable cases
Albert Einstein may have had AS.
Main articles: List of autistic people and People speculated to have been autistic
AS is sometimes viewed as a syndrome with both advantages and disadvantages, and notable adults with AS or autism have achieved success in their fields. Prominent AS-diagnosed individuals include Nobel Prize-winning economist Vernon Smith, electropop rocker Gary Numan, Vines frontman Craig Nicholls, and Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon. Colorado State University professor and author Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism at a young age, and has used her autism to her advantage in her profession as an animal behaviorist specializing in livestock handling.
Some AS researchers speculate that well-known figures, including Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Glenn Gould, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Stanley Kubrick, had AS because they showed some AS-related tendencies or behaviors, such as intense interest in one subject, or social problems. Autistic rights activists use such speculative diagnoses to argue that it would be a loss to society if autism were cured. Speculative diagnoses, especially posthumous ones, remain controversial, however.[/snip]
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Making_Sense
Stop Making Sense
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stop Making Sense is the highly acclaimed 1984 concert movie featuring Talking Heads live on stage. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over three nights in December 1983, as the group was touring to promote their new album Speaking in Tongues. The movie is notable for being the first made entirely utilising digital audio techniques.
The movie
The movie begins with the opening credits, utilising a style similar to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (the movie trailer also makes references to Dr. Strangelove). In fact, title designer Pablo Ferro was responsible for both title sequences.
Lead singer Byrne walks onstage with a portable cassette tape player and an acoustic guitar. He introduces "Psycho Killer" by saying he wants to play a cassette tape, presumably from the boom box. In reality, the tick-tock drum machine was played from the mixing board.
One by one, Byrne is joined by Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison. Then Talking Heads are augmented by several additional musicians: Back-up singers Edna Holt and Lynn Mabry (a.k.a. The Brides of Funkenstein), keyboardist Bernie Worrell, percussionist Steve Scales, and guitarist Alex Weir. The first song to feature the entire lineup is "Burning Down The House." Byrne also leaves the stage at one point, leaving the Tom Tom Club to perform their song "Genius of Love".
The movie is also notable for Byrne's "big suit", an absurdly oversized business suit he dons late in the concert. The suit was partly inspired by Noh theatre styles, and became an icon not only for Byrne, but for the movie itself.
The movie is notably different from many other rock and roll concert movies:
It contains no audience shots until the very end, during the performance of "Crosseyed and Painless." According to David Byrne's comments on the DVD commentary, this is intended to enable the viewer to form their own opinion about the performance, which he hoped would be confirmed by the end sequence. The only other time the audience appears on film is during wide shots and whenever the camera is at the back of the stage.
Byrne wanted no colored lights to illuminate the performers. This led to some unusual lighting methods being used for each song.
Byrne wanted as few distractions as possible onstage. Water bottles were not allowed, and most props were painted with a black matte so as to avoid reflecting light.
**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Byrne_%28musician%29
"Interestingly, Byrne was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome sometime in the past ten years. One quote that appears in the video series by the autistic civil rights movement, AutTV, has him stating that it was not so much a diagnosis as it was an "explanation"."
***
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers.html
|
|
|
|
|
Hermit
Archon
Posts: 4287
Reputation: 8.94
Rate Hermit
Prime example of a practically perfect person
|
|
Re:Stop making sense : Asperger's syndrome and empathy
« Reply #1 on: 2006-10-17 00:43:23 » |
|
[Blunderov] It's a fine line...
Dear Blunderov
If you mean what I think you may be hinting, I think you are precisely correct in your thinking. :-)
The trouble I have with much of the DSM is that it is a catalog of symptoms, most of which are far from definitive, practically all the attributes described are highly subjective, almost all of the diagnostics are "merely" differential and many diagnoses attempt to describe a potpourri of "effects" which may or may not describe anything from a behavioral characteristic to a pathology depending on the phase of the moon.
Professionals have told me that a significant problem in training clinical psychologists and psychiatrists is the tendency (for at least the first two years) for anyone investigating abnormal psychology to decide (not entirely illogically) that they are exhibiting all the symptoms of every pathological condition they study. This happens largely because the "symptoms" tend, at least in isolation, not to be of any more diagnostic rigor than palmistry. The more intelligent the student, the more likely they are to experience significant issues related to this phase of their training. Immunity is difficult to establish, because no matter how well the "intellect" might comprehend the probability of this happening, it doesn't provide "emotional insulation" when it happens as it inevitably does (This comes only from being repeatedly jerked out of immersion in self-concern and self-pity by "brutal" instructors who have seen it all a thousand times before).
So if you are wondering whether your concept of empathy is in fact indistinguishable from the vast multiplicity of symptoms tending to suggest that you may have Asperger's Syndrome, then you are in good company. But it has to be seen in perspective. Perhaps you just have toxoplasmosis :-).
Kind Regards
Hermit
|
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
|
|
|
Blunderov
Archon
Gender:
Posts: 3160
Reputation: 8.90
Rate Blunderov
"We think in generalities, we live in details"
|
|
Re:Stop making sense : Asperger's syndrome and empathy
« Reply #2 on: 2006-10-17 04:28:40 » |
|
[Blunderov] Dear Hermit, your hawklike power of inference is undimmed! Much of of what I read in the Wikipedia was uncannily familiar. The Politburo assures me though that I don't have any hint of AS. She says that what I really am is deeply and importantly self-centered. This I can live with.
The Politburo went on to relate that teaching children with true AS can be a disconcerting experience; "they don't do people".
This new information made hindsight sense of a curious over-the-board experience I had the other evening. My opponent was one of the seemingly never ending stream of whiz-kids that it seems to be my Caissic fate to meet in perpetuity.
In this game, there was a complete abscence of that normal gestalt (which you mentioned in another context. It even happens over the internet amazingly enough.). This I have never met before. I felt as if I was being completely and utterly "dissed" for the entire game. Some whiz-kids are like this, at least at first. Generally speaking though, they do eventually warm up, at least a bit. Not this kid. The game eventually ended in a draw but we never manged to get our wires uncrossed even in the brief post-mortem that followed.
I was mightily puzzled but in retrospect it seems possible that he is an Aspie. He seems to be held under unusually close supervision by his mother whom I now learn is a professional nurse. Apparently this little chap is off to play in some tournament in Russia soon. <envy>
Thanks for the link to toxoplasmosis. Great site. Mmm RSS...tangentially:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ScienceblogsChannelBrainBehavior
[q]
Autism and Television [Mixing Memory]17 October 2006, 00:44:39 - Chris none@example.com
Every once in a while I run across a paper that I have no idea what to make of. That happened earlier today, when I read a paper titled "Does television cause autism?" by Waldman, Nicholson, and Adilov (you can read the entire paper at that link). Television causes autism? If you'd asked me this morning, I'd have told you that was crazy talk, but this as of yet unpublished (and unsubmitted, apparently, which means unreviewed) paper takes the idea very seriously. Well, they don't really set out to show that television is the cause of autism, but that it's part of a causal chain that begins with genetic predispositions toward autism spectrum disorders. One of the explanations for the increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorders over the last few decades is that the genetic predisposition requires some sort of environmental trigger, and that the prevalence of this trigger has increased during the period that has seen an increased incidence of autism. Waldeman et al. hypothesize that television is that trigger.
Why do they pick television? They list four reasons, which, when taken together, suggest television as a candidate for the environmental trigger. The reasons include the fact that television viewing has increased among children over the last few decades (due largely to increased access to cable television), the connection between television watching and ADHD, and behaviors consistent with television watching among "at risk" infants. That's only three, right? I saved the last for a sentence of its own, because once again, it's just odd: autism rates are extremely low among the Amish, who don't watch any TV at all (you have to have electricity to watch TV).
As if things weren't already surreal by this point, the first study is just odd. They start by using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey to show that the amount of television households watch, on average, is positively correlated with the amount of precipitation an area gets. When it rains, people watch more TV. They then show that autism prevalence is positively correlated with the amount of precipitation an area gets. This indirectly associates television watching and autism. To strengthen their case, they also show in a second study that in two states (California and Pennsylvania), the prevalence of autism in a county during the 70s and 80s is positively correlated with the percentage of households in that county that have cable.
So that's the evidence. It's not just correlational, it doesn't actually involve correlating autism and television watching, but autism and something that is correlated with television watching, and autism and cable -- not watching cable, but owning it. Like I said at the beginning of the post, I have no idea what to make of this. I suppose it's definitely enough to foster future research on the question, but before anyone starts fearing that their infant's TV watching habits might cause him or her to develop autism, keep in mind that this study is pretty convoluted. I don't like to use the old "correlation is not causation" objection because, well, in the absence of alternative explanations, correlation is often really good evidence of causation. But in this case, we don't actually have a correlation between autism and television viewing rates, so we're left with all sorts of potential third (fourth, fifth, sixth... nth) variables. Hell, maybe precipitation causes autism. Why not?[/q]
[Bl.] I think it was in a Cosby show that someone said that they went to university full of doubts and emerged with very well-informed doubts?
Best regards.
|
|
|
|
|
Hermit
Archon
Posts: 4287
Reputation: 8.94
Rate Hermit
Prime example of a practically perfect person
|
|
Re:Stop making sense : Asperger's syndrome and empathy
« Reply #3 on: 2006-10-17 06:56:02 » |
|
[Blunderov] I felt as if I was being completely and utterly "dissed" for the entire game.
[Hermit] Could also be a form of psychological warfare. As one example, it works very well when you are looking for a "willing receptacle" rather than anything more meaningful. We apes really seek one another's approval, but failing that, attention will do. Even if we have to buy it at significant cost. Those who refuse to grant approval or attention to others, except on their terms, gain great advantage. This is why it remains the most effective interrogation and programming technique available (much more probable to get results than any amount of sparring or even torture). We are hardwired to want to help others we recognize as similar. In chess that might be translated into a nasty, but effective technique to get the opponent to look at you, seeking your approval before he makes a move - and exposing him to eye-contact and micro-expression psychological intimidation (to which we are all vulnerable). Very difficult to counter unless it is recognized. Watch for your opponent mirroring your physical moves while withholding recognition. That combination is a dead giveaway that it is intentional. Even then it can be very difficult to overcome. And as you know, that might be all it takes to win or draw a game. A response strategy might be to focus your attention on the board, do not look up under any circumstances. Then, after figuring out your move, make it, still without looking up. Then shift your attention to the clock - and keep it there. To be a real bitch, you might lean back, defocus slightly and stare at your opponent for all the time he is thinking, without once looking at your opponent. Use your facial muscles to show emotion, but mix it up. Best of all is to think of amusements that are guaranteed to make you smile naturally. We are very sensitive to the timing of the eye-before-mouth movement of a genuine smile - and your opponent will become convinced you are laughing at something you know or have worked out, and that you are not sharing the joke. This will annoy any one. Chess players are far from immune to this tactic. It is designed show that your opponent can't buy your attention except on your terms. If he is smaller or younger than you, that may be all that it takes to reverse the ploy. Larger or older it is a toss-up. At least your opponent will go away angry, not knowing why an "infallible" "destabilizing program" failed when this was "inconceivable"*.
*think Princess Bride
[Blunderov] The reasons include the fact that television viewing has increased among children over the last few decades (due largely to increased access to cable television), the connection between television watching and ADHD, and behaviors consistent with television watching among "at risk" infants.
[Hermit] And eating "TV dinners" happens more frequently where? The packaging of many instant meals have been shown to "off-gas" and the resulting chemical cocktails, particularly when heated can do really nasty things to us? Involved? I don't know. Correlation/causation is often tricky to unscramble. Given the risk factors involved, it is not an area I am tempted to experiment with.
Envoi
[Hermit] My take on TV.
All of it is harmful, but some ways of getting it are much more harmful than others.
There is an unarguable direct correlation with ADD/ADHD to worry about. Which is good enough reason in my opinion to pull out the antenna and not plug it back in again until the kids are grown up. In addition, you end up with much more time on your hands.
If you must use some TV functionality, use a PC and be highly selective of the DVDs and games you use.
As far as the media is concerned, most computer LCD screens are not as bad (different, higher, refresh rates) as other display technologies for grabbing you by the eyeballs and shaking for attention. Particularly when nicely deinterlaced and off of a DVD.
Musicals, travelogues, dance material and old (1960s and previous) films, all of which tend to have longer sequences with fewer cuts (and what cuts they have tend to be much less aggressive) and possibly pans and zooms, are, in my opinion, not as bad for kids as modern programming. The "unignorability" (to coin a word) of modern materials, and the well understood editing required to build compelling sequences, points unabashedly to the hijacking and over-stimulation of attention grabbing pathways with consequent neurological fatigue as well as the likely development of an addiction to receiving life in stimulating 1-7 second sequences - with jump cuts on every action as well as POV reversal (both a la Sesame Street which is just a good example of early-onset MTV-style editing for rugrats, not particularly more obviously guilty than any other modern source).
I personally object sufficiently to the attention compelling quality of TV to absolutely refuse to attempt to compete with an operating TV set. Talk to me or watch TV. Your choice. My presence and attention, my choice. I'm polite though. I don't inflict it on visitors either. Unless they are missionaries in which case they are there uninvited and deserve everything which is about to happen to them. And it will. :-).
Kind Regards
Hermit
PS When the Amish (and other related groups) appear to be trying to avoid electricity, all of those I have met and discussed this with are simply carrying out the injunction, "Be not connected with the world" as derived from many scriptures*. This is interpreted extremely literally. A cell phone is fine, a wired phone is not - although a call box in the street just outside the front door, with a bringer loud enough to drive me insane, is apparently also just fine. Solar powered, wind powered and even hand-carried batteries are godly, utility provided electricity is not. Propane via cylinders or a tank in the yard is fine, natural gas via a pipeline is not. Television is evil. So is radio. And most decidedly the Internet. Video is not. Neither is weather radio (it isn't "connected", from the user's perspective broadcasts are intermittent). And computers are fine for keeping breeding records, they just can't be connected to anything else.
I have seen some extremely ingenious schemes concocted by Amish and Mennonite farmers, worthy of Heath-Robinson's seal of approval, to obtain the benefits of power without the religious taboo of connections. Including the buggies around here fitted with alternators driven by a belt off the wheel. These are not used for lighting, but rather to charge batteries - for nighttime use at home, as they go about their chores. I have even seen one buggy with a whole row of cigar lighter outlets, into each one of which a cell-phone was plugged.
*e.g.
Joh 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Ro 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Jas 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world
Cor 1:29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
1Jo 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jo 2:16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world
|
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg, 1999
|
|
|
|
Logged
