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Genetic Glitch May Prevent Kids From Learning From Their Mistakes

jamie pointed out an interesting piece being featured in Newsweek that claims a "genetic glitch" may prevent some kids from learning from their mistakes to the same degree as others. "If there is one thing experts on child development agree on, it is that kids learn best when they are allowed to make mistakes and feel the consequences. So Mom and Dad hold back as their toddler tries again and again to cram a round peg into a square hole. [...] But not, it seems, all kids. In about 30 percent, the coils of their DNA carry a glitch, one that leaves their brains with few dopamine receptors, molecules that act as docking ports for one of the neurochemicals that carry our thoughts and emotions. A paucity of dopamine receptors is linked to an inability to avoid self-destructive behavior such as illicit drug use. But the effects spill beyond such extremes. Children with the genetic variant are unable to learn from mistakes. No matter how many tests they blow by partying the night before, the lesson just doesn't sink in."

7 of 500 comments (clear)

  1. Hey! by Herr_Skymarshall · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's party like we don't know any better!

  2. Sadly... by g0dsp33d · · Score: 5, Funny

    After 25 years of research the leading scientist discovered he also had the gene.

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    lol: You see no door there!
  3. This explains... by nebaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why Bart Simpson kept trying to reach the electrified candy, while Lisa's hamster did not. The whole "bzzt...ow...bzzt...ow" sequence is stuck in my head.

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    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
  4. Obligatory xkcd by unfasten · · Score: 5, Funny

    from the bzzt-ow-bzzt-ow-bzzzzzzzzzt-ooooooow dept.

    http://xkcd.com/242/

  5. Re:Refusing to learn from mistakes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kinda like voters?

  6. I think I have this... by srjh · · Score: 5, Funny

    I always hit submit before

  7. Re:Refusing to learn from mistakes? by Miseph · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unless your business gets big fat government subsidies. Then you'd be Iowa.

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    Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.