Genetic Research In The Heart of Amish Country

FrenchyinOntario writes "Insular, inbred communities like the Ashkenazi Jews and Indian tribes can be a bonanza of genetic information for researchers, and the Amish & Mennonite communities in the United States are proving to be fertile ground as well for scientists who want to better understand the nature of genetic diseases and how rare illnesses occur more frequently in such closed-off communities. The Amish, famous for their renunciation of a lot of technology, are embracing a lab that has been built in the centre of their community because their faith teaches them to "help their fellow man", recognizing that helping scientists better understand the genetic causes of diabetes, mental retardation, and some of the rarer diseases in their families, helps themselves as well as others. For a better understanding of the Amish and their approach to technology, Wired magazine ran an excellent story a few years back better illustrating why they are not just mindless kneejerk technophobes."

Comments

Duh

[afidel]

Of course they are not mindless technophobes. For one thing every member of the sect is given a period in late adolecense where they are to go forth and experience the rest of society before they join the church. This insures that they have made a choice that is at least somewhat informed. They are an interesting group of very deeply religious folk who have very good reasons for believing as they do. Hell one of my favorite vacations was one where I didn't touch an electronic device for an entire week, it was SO much more relaxing than any other vacation I have ever taken that I have to sometimes wonder if I wouldn't be more happy if I were to give it all up and live life in the simpler fashion of the amish.

Somewhat informed?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you spent a single year living as Amish people do, then you'd want to come back here, too. They send them out with little education and little support and no friends in the outside world. Of course they are going to come back after a year. They may think they are giving people the choice, but in the end, it's adding to the indoctrination because they come back thinking that they know what it's like outside their little community.

I'm not criticizing the Amish here. I have no doubt that they mean well by doing this, but it is not a fair way to do the comparison.

Re:Somewhat informed?

[NanoGradStudent]

The Amish (and I believe to a lesser extent, Mennonites in general) believe that you have to make a conscious and informed decision to be baptised and formally join their faith, so Rumspringa lets them have a taste of life on the outside. The majority usually decide to stay, but UPN had a reality TV show Amish in the City and for some reason, the four Amish that were featured all decided to leave the community. Probably had something to do with the fact that they put them up with a bunch of "English" in a big mansion, and got them doing various activities together.

Re:Somewhat informed?

[aussersterne]

It's not just education and friends that are missing, either. Having grown up and been socialized in isolation from mainstream society, they possess a disctinctly different set of social skills and a different connotative vocabulary, both verbally and nonverbally.

They lack the correctly formed tools to cope with basic aspects of the mainstream social world, things like dealing with separation and boundaries/emotional distance, the need to be assertive or to tolerate assertiveness in others, the "sixth sense" that most urban and even suburban dwellers develop about crime and dangerous situations, the expectations about what the rights/responsibilities of friendships and coupline relationships are, etc. It's not that they don't have any social tools or skills, it's just that theirs are all applicable to a very different society.

It's rather like traveling to another country--you think it's nice to visit, but for most people, nothing feels as "comfortable" as being "home," for the very same reasons. Of course the difference is that for religious groups, visits outside the group aren't constructed as visits just to "other people" as they would be if an American visited New Zealand, but rather they are constructed as good vs. evil--you are leaving the "good" people to visit and explore the structurally opposed world of "apostates" or "heretics" or "nonbelievers," so the experience is in no way value-neutral, but rather begins with the expectation that the outside world isn't just different (and hence always at least a little uncomfortable), but that it is uncomfortable because of the presence of various kinds of evil presumed to be a property of the outside world, and conversely absent within the group.

Thus, even for the most outgoing, life outside the community, while potentially exciting at first, ultimately seems both frightening and hollow, since nothing (including relationships and interpersonal communication) seems to respond safely in a manner that they expect, understand, or need as social beings, and they attribute this mismatch to nefarious forces.

The problem isn't unique to the Amish, it's seen in children from nearly any intensively lived faith organized into insular communities, i.e. Mormonism, or hare krishna, etc. Even when someone decides that they want to leave the faith, life outside it can be so difficult to navigate and their methods of social interaction and personal development so dependent on its structures that it's easier just to stay inside the group as a nonbeliever.

The Amish

[petrus4]

The Amish are an extremely important cultural group, IMHO. I'd be lost without my computer, but aside from that I consider them a positive example to the rest of us (at least in some respects) where sustainable living is concerned. I've believed for a while now that despite having had some people laugh at them, it may well be that the Amish themselves will have the last laugh once peak oil hits. Their lifestyle also has numerous sociological benefits as well. It's fairly self-evident that the level of communal interaction is higher among less technologically oriented societies, as well as overall levels of apathy being a good deal lower. People from such communities tend to care a great deal more about their fellow man, and on a day to day basis, as well...not just when disaster hits. The rest of human society could learn a lot from them.

Impressive workmen.

[The Tyro]

When I was growing up, one of my relatives was a physician in eastern Ohio, and had some amish patients. He was pediatrician and a strong christian, which was something the amish greatly appreciated. As a result, many members of their community brought their children to see him.

He mentioned in passing to one of them that he was thinking of remodeling his kitchen. The amish man immediately stated "we could do that for you."

I was there when they came to redo the place... it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Two truckloads of people, men and women, and they worked from sunup to sundown, breaking only briefly for lunch. The workmanship was incredible... everything fit perfectly. They also put in all kinds of clever little gadgets; sliding racks for table leaves, concealed hangers for towels, pivoting shelves and rack for dishes and pots... I've been in million-dollar homes that didn't have a kitchen as nice.

Whatever criticism are leveled at the amish, there's definitely nothing wrong their work ethic.

Re:Impressive workmen.

[Anonymous Coward]

But did he have place to plug in the microwave when they were done?