Newsgroups: bit.listserv.deaf-l
Date:         Mon, 14 Dec 1992 12:53:53 EST
From:         "Joseph P. Riolo" <riolo@COR4.PICA.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: Re: sex wish (no, not *that* kind)

Seth,

You:
>   .
>   .  [Description of treatment to make a sex change]
>   .
>I argue that parents should be free to give this treatment to their
>infant children, if they so desire.  Tell me why I'm wrong.


Me:
>Joseph Riolo:
>     What you did is in violation of natural development of human
>life.


You:
>If a doctor gives anaesthesia to a woman in labor, is that "in violation
>of natural development of human life"?  Does that make it wrong?

      In my view, it is a little wrong but is not as deadly as sex
change treatment.  The degree of wrongness is related to how bad the
consequence will be or the amount of undesirable/unnatural effects that
an action will cause.  I used to think in term of dichotomy - just
full right and full wrong, nothing between - but I found it not realistic.
A spectrum of degrees of rightness and wrongness looks very realistic to
me.

      The unnatural effect of giving anaesthesia to a woman in a labor
is very short-lived and probably does not cause any permanent damage.
So, it is a little wrong.  But, since it is on the wrong side, I could
encourage woman not to take anaesthesia unless there is a very absolutely
good reason to take it depending on situation.


>If a child is born with the most severely deformed face imaginable,
>but can still see, breathe, and eat soft foods, is it OK for a doctor
>to give that child plastic surgery?

     Seth, I admire your skill in using the extreme cases to grill my
(and anyone's) answer and I admit that this is too extreme.  For the
sake of argument, if I follow my philosophy ideally and perfectly, I
would say that it is wrong to give child a plastic surgery.  But, I am
spoiled by modern thinking and TV influences and society norms and so
on; I would have to give this child a plastic surgery.  I do not feel
that it is as wrong as giving a child a cochlear implant.


>The ancient Greeks thought painted walls and potted plants were "unnatural."

     They are not alone.  I think that potted plants are a little unnatural
but not too much unnatural.  It is a sort of wrong to kidnap them and put
them in prisons (translation: pots).  But, since my house is too synthetic,
I feel justified to kidnap plants to introduce more natural objects into my
house.  It is a very tiny wrong to do that but not a big deal enough for
me to seek atonement for my "sin". ;-)

>The Chinese philosopher Laotse felt the same way about roads and bridges.

      It is interesting that you mention it because I sometimes feel that
way - we have too many roads.  (By the way, wheel is not natural.)  My
driveway at my home is not paved.  Instead, I let grass grow through stones.
Of course, I do mow over them, which is not natural way to do but again it
is not a big deal.

      I do not mind about some little synthetic things in my life.  I do
not think I can live without Lego.  I become concerned when things are
becoming too much synthetic.  The sex change treatment in your post is
totally synthetic.  It totally goes against the natural process of life.
(Seth, I am wondering if your sex change treatment will work more than
once while a child is still less than one year old.  Can a girl be
changed to boy then to girl then boy girl boy girl boy girl girl (oops,
treatment fails) boy girl boy girl boy and finally on 365th day girl? ;-)

     I know that your previous posts were started by discussion on
cochlear implant and whether parents have the right to decide whether to
give their children the cochlear implants.  While they have the right to
decide and I do believe in that, I do not think that a lot of them really
appreciate the natural development of deaf children's lives.  They believe
that it is ok to fight against the nature by changing the course of deaf
children's lives via synthetic process.  Thus, I believe they are wrong
in giving deaf children the cochlear implants but not as deadly wrong
as sex treatment but much more wrong than having artificial heart.

                                        Joseph P. Riolo
                                        <riolo@pica.army.mil>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.deaf-l