Subject:
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Re: Wackiness, Thy Name is Two-Headed Moose Foetus
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 26 Feb 2002 21:56:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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216 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Kevin Wilson writes:
> Pedro Silva wrote in message ...
> > This is hardly a unique occurrence. Once I went on a study trip to a
> > hospital/medical college, and they shown us the "genetics" gallery - boy, • it
> > looked like a freak show! There was a goat with one head and two bodies
> > (total of 6 legs, like a bug); plenty of one-eyed mammals... and I'll save
> > you the more graphic descriptions.
> > I left the place very shaken. Awkward how it is visitable by everyone
> > interested, upon request - how can *anyone* have interest in such things?
>
> IMO, having this kind of stuff available to view is a *good* thing precisely
> because although things like this do occur regularly in nature, we almost
> never see them and so have a view of what is "normal" (and how often "not
> normal" occurs) which is not based in reality. This has real-life effects on
> people who are born "not normal" by society's standards (eg intersexuals)
> even though the condition in fact happens quite frequently (widely varies
> for different types of intersex conditions, up to 2 in 100 live births, see
> review article in the American Journal of Human Biology at
> http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/69504033/START ).
I'm afraid I explained myself poorly: what I mean is that, besides the
obvious scientific study of mutations, and the sociological study you
mention (this one I did not recall, to be honest), there is no point in
making such a display of "weird" stuff a popular event - all one needs to
know is that such things happen, and in a way "abnormality" is, in fact,
quite normal. Beyond this point the thin thread between genuine interest for
the development of mankind and pure voyeurism tends to be crossed - it is a
tricky situation.
Apparently, that was what happened. An increasing number of people passed
the pictures on-line, and I seriously doubt that the reason for it was any
other than the one which leads crowds to see Jerry Springer.
> Any discussion of this should probably go to OT-debate
Quite right. There isn't much fun in it.
Pedro
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