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Just ask him? He wasn't retarded, he just didn't have a working memory. You can also ask him multiple times.

by Ihmahr 12y ago

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
You can just ask a child too. What experience did he draw on to make an informed decision? I feel he was definitely taken advantage of.
- Dylan16807 12y ago
  The experience of the decades of life he could remember? I don't see how postmortem brain scanning is any worse than doing memory tests on him when he's alive. And children can agree to things just fine through their guardians.
  - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    He was 20-something when he lost his memory. So barely an adult. And memory tests are not quite the same as dissecting his brain on television, then putting it on permanent display in grotesque life-sized cross-sections. Further, he was institutionalized. So the guardians were - who? the doctors doing the dissecting?
    - nitrogen 12y ago
      You say "grotesque" in several of your comments, but this is a value judgment that is not shared by all. After death, what could be more poetic than using the instrument of one's intellect, the brain, to uplift the intellects of others?
      - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
        And you, as an educated 21st-century world citizen can make judgements like that for yourself. This guy arguably can't. That's the whole issue, ignoring semantic arguments about word choice.
        Dylan16807 12y ago
        And a permanent-twentysomething with an IQ of 117 can't make such a decision? Even though it barely affects him?
- DanBC 12y ago
  The UK has the Mental Capacity Act. It's important to recognise tjat lack of capacity is limited - a person may not have capacity to look after their own money but you should not assume that they lack capacity to decide where to live for example. Informed consent is mostly not that informed. Clinicians don't understand risk, cannot communicate risk to patients, and patients can't understamd that communication.
- dennisgorelik 12y ago
  What exactly did he loose by having his brain dissected postmortem?
mcguire 12y ago
And if he gives different answers?

Just ask him? He wasn't retarded, he just didn't have a working memory. You can also ask him multiple times.

by Ihmahr 12y ago

Just ask him? He wasn't retarded, he just didn't have a working memory. You can also ask him multiple times.

You can just ask a child too. What experience did he draw on to make an informed decision? I feel he was definitely taken advantage of.

Dylan16807 12y ago
The experience of the decades of life he could remember? I don't see how postmortem brain scanning is any worse than doing memory tests on him when he's alive. And children can agree to things just fine through their guardians.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  He was 20-something when he lost his memory. So barely an adult. And memory tests are not quite the same as dissecting his brain on television, then putting it on permanent display in grotesque life-sized cross-sections. Further, he was institutionalized. So the guardians were - who? the doctors doing the dissecting?
  - nitrogen 12y ago
    You say "grotesque" in several of your comments, but this is a value judgment that is not shared by all. After death, what could be more poetic than using the instrument of one's intellect, the brain, to uplift the intellects of others?
    - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
      And you, as an educated 21st-century world citizen can make judgements like that for yourself. This guy arguably can't. That's the whole issue, ignoring semantic arguments about word choice.
      - Dylan16807 12y ago
        And a permanent-twentysomething with an IQ of 117 can't make such a decision? Even though it barely affects him?
DanBC 12y ago
The UK has the Mental Capacity Act. It's important to recognise tjat lack of capacity is limited - a person may not have capacity to look after their own money but you should not assume that they lack capacity to decide where to live for example. Informed consent is mostly not that informed. Clinicians don't understand risk, cannot communicate risk to patients, and patients can't understamd that communication.
dennisgorelik 12y ago
What exactly did he loose by having his brain dissected postmortem?

mcguire 12y ago

And if he gives different answers?