Comment by Waterfall | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Waterfall | Hacker News Reader

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This is the kind of comment I enjoy on here. Thank you for sharing your human experience. I am not sure when the idea of nature/nurture will be put to rest, I have accepted it but it also has very strange philosophical ideas, like the idea of how laws are made making assumptions about humans, but what if the humans are not knowledgeable or understand what they are doing, or have different values? We already have laws for disabled or other classes of humans, and also temporarily insane. This brings up very interesting points on how equality is not equal, how laws are complex for the purpose of gaming them by those of higher intelligence or memory of obscure facts.

Genetics has a lot to do with who we are, our race/looks, height, thoughts/intelligence even. Yet many cling to the idea that nurture can overcome nature. Our mtDNA and Y chromosome is the hardware our consciousness runs on. Just the way we are, not a strong or a weak thing you say, there are mutations in us, some are beneficial, some are good/bad, but I disagree, of course some are weak or objectively bad. Hotwheels from 8chan made a good post about how he doesn't like his existence and would support euthanasia for people like himself. I doubt anyone would want to be born with tay-sachs, and when you say not strong/weak you may be using a surviorship bias to say it, although most humans are on average quite healthy.

I was originally going to post how I had the opposite reaction to an event like this like you, a car crash when I lost control in the rain, thinking I was about to die. I didn't and I was mostly fine aside from some back pain from whiplash. I have aphatasia, do you happen to have it? I have a bad memory so I don't think people with it can get PTSD, so it is an adaptive mechanism, although I lose a lot of richness in thought I suppose I have been through really bad things with no problems, had a gun pointed at me, demanded my stuff, and I said no, he was confused and didn't really know what to do, I left. I didn't really think much of it but others thought it was crazy. No PTSD either.

I too enjoyed Teknoman117's and renewiltord's contrasting slice-of-life anecdotes about near-death experiences. It's neat to get this kind of insight into human nature.

But I really don't understand the need to make up a bunch of strange commentary (nature/nurture, temporary insanity, equality not equal, genetics, euthanasia, etc.) that either doesn't really have a point, or beats around the bush so much with vague language it's not even possible to tell what the point is. I suppose English isn't your first language, and that's fine, but I'm sure you realize even talking about genetics is a mine-field.

I also specifically want to consider your casually-mentioned phrase: "laws are complex for the purpose of gaming them". To my thinking mind, this is a throw-away accusation that really has no standing in actual fact. Yes, laws can be complex. Yes, regulatory capture exists. Yes, people game "the system" all the time. But all three together implies some highly unlikely turn of events, given that it is contradictory (why would a self-serving law be so complex that it can only be taken advantage of with added difficulty). Even if this unlikely convergence has happened, it cannot be a pattern because it is rare--and the unspoken conclusion would be "conspiracy." Your first 2 paragraphs contain a lot of illogical and unfounded assertions like this, with vague conclusions that are outside of normal discourse, and I find it hard to take any of it seriously.

"laws are complex for the purpose of gaming them"

Would saying simpler laws that everyone can understand and obey be better? That was the thing I agreed with but my friend, doing tax tricks and making more money when unemployed, as well as lawyers who get people off serious crimes are adept at finding loopholes because law is confusing.

If you aren't smart you aren't going to get good legal advice you have to understand the implications. It is clear that is what happens in courts to many people. If there is a simple Wikipedia for people to use, why is there no simple laws for those who aren't lawyers to understand?

Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed reading your story. Sorry about your memory and aphantasia.

> I have aphantasia, do you happen to have it?

Nope, I'm completely fine. The only thing is that for months afterwards I couldn't head the ball in my weekly soccer game, so I had to give it up. I still kick it around with my friends, but I can't compete in rec because a centre-back has to head the ball, so I don't. I was comparatively advantaged in the air, so that sucks, but c'est la vie, right?

To be clear, aphantasia is not a symptom. People are "perfectly fine" that have it. We just don't see things without our eyes open. If that makes sense. And, I believe, most of us have been this way our whole lives.

Do you dream?

I first learnt about aphantasia maybe a couple of years ago in some corners of the net.. I can’t really imagine how it’s possible that you don’t see stuff with your mind.. To me it seems just as strange as being unable to speak while having a perfectly fine voice..

I probably have the opposite problem, when I read a book that I like I’m completely lost in that world and I’m kind of unaware of what is happening in the real world.

I remember when I had an EEG ages ago and the technician asked me to relax, and I did exactly that. He must have noticed something strange since he asked me if I was sleeping..

I remember dreams. I don't remember seeing things in them, per se. Just like I remember yesterday, but couldn't visualize anything.

Easiest way to relate it is I will recognize people well. But if you asked me cold to tell you what someone's hair color was, I'm unlikely to be able to. (Now, if someone is notable for having a color hair, I can remember that as a fact. But I have to specifically remember it as one.)

How can you remember something you forgot could be rephrased as how can you forget something if you remembered! My experience is the same, the dreams are like a story a kaleidoscope of things that happened and ideas rather than visual memories

Ah, okay. No judgment of your wellness intended.

No worries, just making sure you don't dismiss it as "something wrong with you." Entirely plausible you could be this way and just not realize it is notable.

Are you interested in changing it? I don't know if there is a PM option here, but I had good success with using tACS for other reasons and it had the side effect of restoring my mental vision for a few things. I haven't used it in a while so it's possible that it is temporary.

I'm not entirely sure, all told. I don't see it as much of a handicap for me, just a bit of how I remember things. That said, I'm almost always willing to try things.

Any reason not to just have the conversation in the open?

So... people without Y chromosome are only half-conscious?

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