There is a certain kind of research that goes on in brain functioning,
by finding people who have had brain damage in certain regions and
asessing the overall effects and impacts this has had. In fact,
researches have salivated and hunted down cases to probe this
phenonmenon. Why is science in this "straight jacket"? Wouldn't it
be so much more productive to do this research ourselves, by getting
subjects and purposefully destroying parts of their brains (by surgey,
cutting vessels and arteries, applying toxins, etc. to selective
parts) and documenting directly what was done and what happened? We
could do this on babies as well as grown ups of all ages. Why not do
this? What would be wrong with forcing these experiments on people?
We could use death row inmates, get some use out of them before they
die (for example, they're going to die anyway. Let's get some use out
of it, what a waste.). Or we could make it volunteer. We could give
death row inmates a sign up for the option of undergoing important
experiments instead of or in addition to dying, noble that will
increase human's understanding of brain functioning. Perhaps letting
them one last attempt at redemption before ending their miserable
lives. We could make the volunteer program open for all people, not
just death row inmates. (For example, I would volunteer, if I knew
that the research was being conducted in good hands, by competent
people who are good at this research, and would take good data that
might but not neccesarily lead to important new discoveries of brain
function.) In some parts of the world, people blow themsels up for a
cause. What nobler cause then the furtherment of science for the rest
of humanity! Perhaps, if the number of subjects was a trickle, we
could offer financial incentives, to the family who gives up a baby
for exciting experimental research, or for the surviving family
members. (Giving a person the option of not just furthering
humanity's development at their sacrifice, but also immediate
betterment of their loved ones.) We could go to other parts of the
world, not just the United States, in fact, the market would probably
be cheaper. There is not just the noble aspects of these experiments,
like potential new understanding for stroke victims, etc. but also the
excitement that can be shared by all participants, including the
experimenter and the experimentee. What will happen when we do this,
or do that? What surprises lurk behind the horizons of this new
enterprise? What an exciting adventure! Let's do it!!

Joe wrote:

There is a certain kind of research that goes on in brain functioning,
by finding people who have had brain damage in certain regions and
asessing the overall effects and impacts this has had. In fact,
researches have salivated and hunted down cases to probe this
phenonmenon.
[snip crap]

http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/sunshine.jpg

--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/qz.pdf

There are some other experiments that I have been thinking about.
What would be wrong with investigating the structural failure of a
baby's skull? We could place a baby's head in a vice, and slowly
compress it, taking carful data of the pressure and record when there
is a sudden drop in resistance to that pressure and the skull cracks.
How does this yield strength change with age? We could perform the
experiment on adults and people of all ages to get a good spectrum.
We could also analyze the electrical conductivity of the human body,
at different voltages. Starting from small voltages, to very strong
(arbitrarily high) voltages. How does the electrical resistance
change? What about ccross different parts of the body? We could put
one electrode on one hand, and another on the other, and start
measuring. Or we could put one up the anus, and another as skull cap,
and repeat the same measurement. How dos temperature effect
resistance? We could go to very low temperatures, and then to very
high. What about the yield strength of different parts of the body?
We could apply a torque and twist the head, at what point does the
neck snap? Again for different ages. What about bending torques on
arms, legs, back, etc. When does hooke's law fail for stretching of
the human body? We could chain the legs and and hands, and stretch.
When does the body yield? What about the compressibility of the human
body? How does arbitrarily large pressure effect the compressiblity?
Again we could do this for different body parts. When does stretching
out a human penus go plastic? (In other words, not return to the same
shape as before.) When does it get "ripped off" to use less
scientific terminology. What about the compressibility of the human
testicle? At different, arbitrarily large, pressures? If this is
tough to do just detach it from the rest of the body. What about
putting a clamp inside a woman's vagina, and applying pressure to
"open it". At what point does terring begin? In babies versus
adults. What about using calipers to measure the diameter of a
woman's nipple? What about thermal conductivity? At different
temperatures, how does the body conduct heat? Even at drastic
temperature gradients. What is the freezing point of the human body?
What about the melting point? What about scattering of high energy
particles in the body? Like gamma rays and others. There are other
things too, like reaction time with different chemicals and how long
it takes to "disolve" a human body in different acids. How the body
combusts, etc. There are others too, like effects of malnutritution,
water depravation, and also changing the ambient atmospheric pressure
to very low, to very high, and seeing the effects on babies and adults
alike. What will happen then? As an aside, why wait until the
patient is dead before beginning these experiments? You can be
waiting around a long time before you get to begin your experiments.
Someone also might object "but what use are some of these?" What
"use" is there in performing them on crystals, metals, plastics,
semi-conductors, etc. It is purely for the joy of science, to
discover the "what will happen", a journey in the unknown. To come up
with theory to describe the results. We do this all the time with
wires and other materials, what's wrong with doing it on the human
body? Someone should write a book: "The Joy of Science: Experiments
that you can do with the Human Body" Everything becomes clear when
you recognize that fundamtentally, it's the exact same stuff in a
human body and concrete, metal wire, plastic, etc. What do you think?

Joe wrote:

body? Someone should write a book: "The Joy of Science: Experiments
that you can do with the Human Body" Everything becomes clear when
you recognize that fundamtentally, it's the exact same stuff in a
human body and concrete, metal wire, plastic, etc. What do you think?

Have you read -A Modest Proposal- by Jonathan Swift?

Bob Kolker

Joe wrote:

There are some other experiments that I have been thinking about.
What would be wrong with investigating the structural failure of a
baby's skull?
[snip}

African or European baby's skull?

--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/qz.pdf

Joe wrote:
There are some other experiments that I have been thinking about.

run on sentences... bad.. break up your posts with occasional carriage returns
and you might get more answers.

Have you read -A Modest Proposal- by Jonathan Swift?

Thanks,
I just read it at : http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html#hit

There's nothing new under the sun

African or European baby's skull?

Well, it would be interesting to see if there was any differences in
fatigue strength between the two.

Joe wrote:

African or European baby's skull?


Well, it would be interesting to see if there was any differences in
fatigue strength between the two.

Go rent "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Slap forehead.

Mark L. Fergerson

When I was young, a friend of mine and I used to like making comedy in
class during school, and we sometimes failed to have reasonable
limits. Once, while we were having fun catching lizards in the
desert, we dissected one alive with cactus needles. I always wondered
if my friend later became some sort of warped, Mormon, serial killer.
I myself spent about 18 years of my life incarcerated, and I have five
adult felony convictions.

I became a Christian and have avoided crime for kicks ever since, but
the sad thing about your desired experiments is that's just about the
way things are. The difference between a murderous terrorist and a
Republican ideologue regarding a prisoner's right to medical care is
the means of execution. Each one is self-righteous.

Maybe you can get a good job in Iraq?

Very Respectfully,
Ray Donald Pratt