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Genetic Testing For Geekiness?

Paul Johnson writes "MSNBC is carrying an article wondering about how to handle a possible future genetic test for autism. Raising a severely autistic child is a heartbreaking grind, and many people (and legal systems) consider termination to be a reasonable choice where the fetus carries other genetic disorders such as Downs Syndrome. But this might also prevent the birth of future geniuses too. The article flippantly uses Bill Gates as an example (Gates is widely thought to have Asperger's syndrome), although Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison are also thought to have been similarly "different". And there is some reason to believe that "geekiness" in general is actually the place where autism shades into 'normal'."

18 of 861 comments (clear)

  1. best ever headline on msnbc ! by maharg · · Score: 4, Funny

    Would you have allowed Bill Gates to be born?
    Advances in prenatal genetic testing pose tough questions

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    $ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
    @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
    1. Re:best ever headline on msnbc ! by xSauronx · · Score: 2, Funny

      or christian whitaker, who lived down the street from me as a child...man that kid was a prick.

      --
      By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
  2. Yes, I agree by zephc · · Score: 1, Funny

    Bill Gates is definitely an assburger.

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
  3. Let the State decide by Pope+Benedict+XVI · · Score: 5, Funny

    Many people believe that "God" alone should determine how many and what sort of babies we have, but I really think that is stupid. Serious matters like this should be decided by the State.

  4. I'm...autistic? by BHAX · · Score: 1, Funny

    It's a 3.4 Ghz. Mobility Radeon 9800. GB of DDR400. Only 8,985 production models. Dad let's me surf porn in the basement. But not on Monday, definitely not on Monday.

  5. Re:This is wrong by Benanov · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's XOR. Obviously you fit in the second category. ;)

  6. Hey. by captnitro · · Score: 2, Funny

    tending his private logs of baseball statistics

    That is perfectly normal for a four year old, so back off!

    /gonna get my gumdrops yet, I tell you

  7. Gratuitous Dilbert - THE KNACK! by dsginter · · Score: 5, Funny
    --
    More
  8. Re:wrong by ucdoughboy · · Score: 1, Funny

    Ahem, i think you missed the irony of the comment. Are you by any chancd autistic?

  9. Re:Where? by damsa · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can abort a fetus for any reason. Most popular reason is the prom dress won't fit right.

  10. Re:ah, Asperger's syndrome by dr_dank · · Score: 2, Funny

    The malady every geek wants to have.

    Syphilis?

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    Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  11. Re:Don't know about Einstein by damsa · · Score: 3, Funny

    Einstein couldn't talk until he was five, and also he married his cousin. I rest my case.

  12. Re:bill gates, genius? by arodland · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, it's a legend. As in, "any wonderful story coming down from the past, but not verifiable by historical record; a myth; a fable."

    That said, it is a "popularly held" belief, yeah.

  13. Re:The same is true for most inventors and scienti by nizo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now all we need to do is see if there is a particular gene common to people who want to be ultra-selective when it comes to picking the genetic makeup of their children, and we can just weed these people out before they are born?

  14. Re:What about gay children? by Lehk228 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I kill babies for food, other reasons are morally wrong.

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    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  15. Re:Let's get something straight: GEEK != AUTISTIC! by bnenning · · Score: 3, Funny

    Seriously! FUCK ALL YOU PEOPLE!

    For future reference, this may not be the best tone to take when attempting to convince others that you're psychologically normal.

    --
    How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
  16. Re:Oh come on, give us some proof... by JoshRosenbaum · · Score: 2, Funny

    chewing on the leather band
    -- Actually the watch was a computer, and the band contained short range antennas that transferred the meeting through Bill's fillings directly into his brain.

    sitting sideways in his chair
    -- The watch just needed to be positioned correctly to receive the most data. Sitting sideways did exactly this for Bill.

    rocking back and forth
    -- This ancient direct-to-brain method had the side effect of causing your fillings to go crazy. Something akin to the sensation people with fillings get when they chew tin foil. :)

  17. Re:What about gay children? by Qzukk · · Score: 2, Funny

    So when you were 3-5 years old, you said to yourself "Self! When your balls descend, you're going to find women who aren't your sister or mother (and if you aren't in Kentuky at the time, your cousin, though if you are, she really is one fine looking honey) totally hot and you'll want to bang them all night long?

    Well, maybe not. Maybe you were 8-10. That cute girl in class, you see her, and you think "ok brain, feel fuzzy now. Heart, you race." Right? You made the conscious and rational decision to have a crush on her? You thought about Wooly Willie teasing you, singing the whole "k-i-s-s-i-n-g" song at you every bus trip home for the next two weeks, and then said "yeah, I can live with that as long as I get to sit next to the red-haired girl"?

    Ok, maybe not even then. But you're an adult now, you're a Big Boy, you make the Big Decisions. Right?. And when that new woman in Accounting walks by (you know the one, for who casual Friday means no bra) you think to yourself "Prep for hormone release. Hormone release is go! Heartrate change is go! Erection in T minus 5! 4! 3!..."

    If you do, then the souls of one hundred thousand dead poets mourn for you, for you will never know romance. And I gotta say, you must suck in bed, what with you counting down every thrust out loud before you blow your wad.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.