Ordered Disorders

Jonesy · 01-07-2008, 05:37 PM

Chemical differences in the brain lead to what people call 'disorders'. But are they really disorders, or have we thusfar failed to know the truth?

When someone has a dopamine deficiency, their brain is difficult to program. You can punish them 1,000 times and they will not learn. This is almost certainly a cause of homelessness.

But i'm wondering... maybe we should not be 'correcting' this dopamine difference. Maybe we simply need to understand how it can be good. There are advantages to being incapable of programming. Is it possible jobs could be developed based on the differences these chemicals produce?

slowhand · 01-07-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonesy

Chemical differences in the brain lead to what people call 'disorders'. But are they really disorders, or have we thusfar failed to know the truth?

When someone has a dopamine deficiency, their brain is difficult to program. You can punish them 1,000 times and they will not learn. This is almost certainly a cause of homelessness.

But i'm wondering... maybe we should not be 'correcting' this dopamine difference. Maybe we simply need to understand how it can be good. There are advantages to being incapable of programming. Is it possible jobs could be developed based on the differences these chemicals produce?

Parkinsons Disease is a cause of deficiency of dopamine in the brain

chambers92 · 01-07-2008, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonesy

Chemical differences in the brain lead to what people call 'disorders'. But are they really disorders, or have we thusfar failed to know the truth?

When someone has a dopamine deficiency, their brain is difficult to program. You can punish them 1,000 times and they will not learn. This is almost certainly a cause of homelessness.

But i'm wondering... maybe we should not be 'correcting' this dopamine difference. Maybe we simply need to understand how it can be good. There are advantages to being incapable of programming. Is it possible jobs could be developed based on the differences these chemicals produce?

No offense but this doesn't make a lot of sense. If you're asking if chemical imbalances in the brain are real disorders the answer is yes. You talk about dopamine deficiency but in some chemical imbalances, schizophrenia for example, there is too much dopamine.

A deficiency or excess of any neurotransmitter is going to cause disfunction in many areas. Which is why it needs to be treated or corrected.

CosmicRocker · 01-07-2008, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonesy

Chemical differences in the brain lead to what people call 'disorders'. But are they really disorders, or have we thusfar failed to know the truth?

When someone has a dopamine deficiency, their brain is difficult to program. You can punish them 1,000 times and they will not learn. This is almost certainly a cause of homelessness.

But i'm wondering... maybe we should not be 'correcting' this dopamine difference. Maybe we simply need to understand how it can be good. There are advantages to being incapable of programming. Is it possible jobs could be developed based on the differences these chemicals produce?

dopamine is only one small area of concern for mental disorders.
Think of it as the master mood chemical.
Moods are important, depression, anxiety, even Manic Depression can be associated with wacked out dopamine levels,

Still there is much more than dopamine. there are many brain chemicals, and hormones that contribute to psychosis.

But not all disorders are organic in nature.
Some are psychologcal too.

slowhand · 01-07-2008, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CosmicRocker

dopamine is only one small area of concern for mental disorders.
Think of it as the master mood chemical.
Moods are important, depression, anxiety, even Manic Depression can be associated with wacked out dopamine levels,

Still there is much more than dopamine. there are many brain chemicals, and hormones that contribute to psychosis.

But not all disorders are organic in nature.
Some are psychologcal too.

Seratonin is another

Jonesy · 01-07-2008, 10:41 PM

Can you tell... I have this dopamine deficiency. My teacher in 5th grade gave me detention every day... for no apparent reason. Sometimes he would give me two detentions, by making me write lines during P.E.. but it had zero effect.

People commonly know this 'deficiency' as a.d.h.d..

Knowing things as I do, I can tell you, there are advantages. It can be a curse or blessing depending on the structure of your society.

Jonesy · 01-08-2008, 01:38 PM

It's easy enough to talk to people with these kinds of differences, and see how they've used them to their advantage. I would say, the most useful thing for jobs i've found is the ability to hyperfocus and slow down time. In video games, people always call me a cheater, and in a weird way, they're right. But the ability to slow down time comes from this dopamine difference I was born with.

anhailla · 01-08-2008, 01:42 PM

Neurology is the "Dark ages" of "Enlightened" medicine...the brain is still a mystery...but we are making advances.

someday, I really believe all "brain disorders" will have effective treatments.
that includes compulsive disorders such as drug and alcohol addiction.

chambers92 · 01-08-2008, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonesy

Can you tell... I have this dopamine deficiency. My teacher in 5th grade gave me detention every day... for no apparent reason. Sometimes he would give me two detentions, by making me write lines during P.E.. but it had zero effect.

People commonly know this 'deficiency' as a.d.h.d..

Knowing things as I do, I can tell you, there are advantages. It can be a curse or blessing depending on the structure of your society.

If you're doing well then there's no reason to be on meds or fix what isn't broken. ADHD isn't as severe as other disorders where neurotransmitters are affected. The key word again is "functional". There's lots of folks with ADHD who function fine and who don't want or need to be on meds.

As for what happened to you in 5th grade, teachers often have a hard time managing kids with severe ADHD when they're also dealing with a classroom full of other kids.

Jonesy · 01-08-2008, 04:11 PM

The chemicals don't really do much themselves. They pretty much just guide development; except in maybe extreme cases. People are screwed up more because society is not structured properly. We basically only have one programming method, which does not work for everyone.

If the education system was re-designed with these things in mind, we would have less crime and we could find all sorts of new abilities which could be tremendously helpful in business as well as elsewhere.

The education system could also be changed so people find pleasure in democratic duty fulfillment.

01-08-2008, 01:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
anhailla Senior Member Yeti Pentathlon Champion! Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: iowa Posts: 3,590 Thanks: 102 Thanked 61 Times in 48 Posts	Neurology is the "Dark ages" of "Enlightened" medicine...the brain is still a mystery...but we are making advances. someday, I really believe all "brain disorders" will have effective treatments. that includes compulsive disorders such as drug and alcohol addiction. __________________ ...either I go, or that wallpaper does. Oscar Wilde
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