02-02-2008, 11:33 PM
normally_impaired Wrote:
Quote:
Need to finish that work project, and wish you had the mental intensity to do it? Just take a synapse-regulating inhibitor, induce temporary autism, and you'll want to ignore your friends and do nothing but number-crunching for days. Autism-inducers could become as popular as Provigil among the geek set by 2020. Last night, in fact, a group German researchers announced they'd perfected the method for inducing autism. (They can also cure it.)
Over the past year, researchers have demonstrated several times that they can turn mice autistic by messing with brain chemistry -- and then "cure" them using the same techniques. The discoveries could lead to a scenario similar to the one in Vernor Vinge's novel A Deepness in the Sky, [/php]where people are given a brain treatment called "focusing" that essentially turns them autistic and makes them obsessive, detail-oriented workers.
It might also lead to recreational autism, where people who want to take a break from having messy emotions about other people decide to unplug and enter a state where human relationships are no more important than inanimate objects.
Read about how scientists can induce autism [PNAS] and how they can cure it [BBC News].
Over the past year, researchers have demonstrated several times that they can turn mice autistic by messing with brain chemistry -- and then "cure" them using the same techniques. The discoveries could lead to a scenario similar to the one in Vernor Vinge's novel A Deepness in the Sky, [/php]where people are given a brain treatment called "focusing" that essentially turns them autistic and makes them obsessive, detail-oriented workers.
It might also lead to recreational autism, where people who want to take a break from having messy emotions about other people decide to unplug and enter a state where human relationships are no more important than inanimate objects.
Read about how scientists can induce autism [PNAS] and how they can cure it [BBC News].
I was wondering how many people in here might consider using the "NT pill" they may create using this method. I realize the anti-cure sentament that this group represents and I fully agree with it, but I am curious as to how many here might consider giving this thing a try knowing the condition that it will only turn you into an NT for a short time and you go right back to your usual style. I'm not asking who would get a regular prescription to this, just who might be tempted to give it a try to see what it's like.