Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient • Hacker News Board

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#21

Post by pksebben » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

dctoedt wrote: post #10

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please let adults evaluate the risks and make up their own minds. Otherwise it sounds like MPTP https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/01/12/frozen-addicts-garage-d... but that kills dopamine producing cells, so did he regrow these?

> Please let adults evaluate the risks and make up their own minds. I imagine Ellen would have appreciated the same opportunity to decide how she would spend that part of her life. (Ellen is the now-estranged wife of the locked-in guy; she spent months helping to care for him.) Ditto the taxpayers of Massachusetts, who had to foot the bill for millions of dollars of medical care for the locked-in guy. Those dollars c…

That is not why we have those social norms and laws. The War On Drugs was a political move by the Nixon administration that got doubled down on by the Reagan administration and has simply lasted long enough to become baseline cultural context. The costs associated with American drug policy far outweigh the costs of treatment, and our cultural attitude of abstinence only has been demonstrated to increase drug abuse, not curtail it. As for the taxpayers of massachusetts, why not ask them how it feels to get prison expenses _down_ to $1.4 B with a 33% nonviolent prison population? That's mostly black?

Also take note, Jacob got his start on oxycontin, which is legal, and currently the focus of a series of state-led lawsuits against Purdue pharma and the sackler family, major campaign donors to conservative drug policy causes.

I don't mean to come at you, but that argument of yours is one that I've heard and it's dangerous. https://www.mass.gov/service-details/quick-statistics

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#22

Post by Hnrobert42 » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

I am reading a fantastic book about a man who overcame being locked in called Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius. It is so uplifting. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#23

Post by throwaway_pdp09 » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:53 PM UTC

morelisp wrote: post #20

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you from the US? If so do you agree with US gun culture which "2017, [...] the [the CDC's] National Center for Health Statistics reports that gun deaths reached their highest level since 1968, with 39,773 deaths by firearm" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_Sta... ) One person paralysed by a contaminant (not heroin itself) = bad, but tens of thousands of deaths otherwise = ok. I agree wit…

This is a weird comparison. Most Americans both reject casual heroin use and support additional measures restricting gun sales.

I struggle to see the weirdness. Whether or not what you say is true, and actually I suspect it is, that doesn't change the massive death discrepancy I gave.

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#24

Post by luma » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 2:54 PM UTC

xwdv wrote: post #12

When you’re locked in, how do you know you’re locked in and not just dead, and this is what eternity will be like for you forever? Sure you might think you’re alive at first, but then what if you get a crazy idea that you died and you’re just a Boltzmann brain right now or something. Any way to prove you’re alive?

This question is somewhat akin to the problem that Decartes eventually chose to resolve with "I think, therefore I am". The way I understand it, you can't really decide this so presume it to be true or nothing at all can be decided.

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#25

Post by morelisp » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 3:07 PM UTC

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #23

morelisp wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a weird comparison. Most Americans both reject casual heroin use and support additional measures restricting gun sales.

I struggle to see the weirdness. Whether or not what you say is true, and actually I suspect it is, that doesn't change the massive death discrepancy I gave.

It’s weird because people agree both are bad. There is no aberration.

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#26

Post by dctoedt » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 3:16 PM UTC

yostrovs wrote: post #13

dctoedt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Please let adults evaluate the risks and make up their own minds. I imagine Ellen would have appreciated the same opportunity to decide how she would spend that part of her life. (Ellen is the now-estranged wife of the locked-in guy; she spent months helping to care for him.) Ditto the taxpayers of Massachusetts, who had to foot the bill for millions of dollars of medical care for the locked-in guy. Those dollars c…

Other adults decided that they're going to take care of this guy. Whether the wife or the society of Massachusetts. That was their choice. That choice should not automatically impose limitations on 3rd parties that would like to make their own choices.

If we take that logic to the reductio ad absurdum, the other adults in your neighborhood could choose to band together, forcibly evict you from your house, and let one of their number live there — after all, that'd be their adult choice, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#27

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 3:18 PM UTC

pksebben wrote: post #21

dctoedt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Please let adults evaluate the risks and make up their own minds. I imagine Ellen would have appreciated the same opportunity to decide how she would spend that part of her life. (Ellen is the now-estranged wife of the locked-in guy; she spent months helping to care for him.) Ditto the taxpayers of Massachusetts, who had to foot the bill for millions of dollars of medical care for the locked-in guy. Those dollars c…

That is not why we have those social norms and laws. The War On Drugs was a political move by the Nixon administration that got doubled down on by the Reagan administration and has simply lasted long enough to become baseline cultural context. The costs associated with American drug policy far outweigh the costs of treatment, and our cultural attitude of abstinence only has been demonstrated to increase drug abuse, n…

[deleted]

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#28

Post by cbanek » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 3:22 PM UTC

muststopmyths wrote: post #4

Interaction of his condition with Covid is fascinating towards the end of the article. We understand so little of the human body.

Yes! I'm so glad you mentioned this, this was utterly fascinating to me too. I don't think Covid is some miracle drug, but it's really interesting how different things can seemingly trigger the body's reaction to heal itself.

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#29

Post by throwaway_pdp09 » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 3:26 PM UTC

morelisp wrote: post #25

throwaway_pdp09 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I struggle to see the weirdness. Whether or not what you say is true, and actually I suspect it is, that doesn't change the massive death discrepancy I gave.

It’s weird because people agree both are bad. There is no aberration.

Things are bad not in absolutes, which you are suggesting, but in degree.

Contrary to your flat statement I do not agree that taking heroin is bad, it only becomes bad when it affects other people negatively.

Re: Life on the inside as a ‘locked-in’ patient

#30

Post by throwaway_pdp09 » Sat, Nov 28, 2020, 3:30 PM UTC

dctoedt wrote: post #26

yostrovs wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other adults decided that they're going to take care of this guy. Whether the wife or the society of Massachusetts. That was their choice. That choice should not automatically impose limitations on 3rd parties that would like to make their own choices.

If we take that logic to the reductio ad absurdum, the other adults in your neighborhood could choose to band together, forcibly evict you from your house, and let one of their number live there — after all, that'd be their adult choice, right? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

I'm not taking sides here but, original post

> Other adults decided that they're going to take care of this guy

Taking care of people is a good thing. What you're suggesting, of other adults banding together and ruining someone's life (assuming for no good reason but their personal gain), is clearly a bad thing.

I mean there are no absolute good and bad but you're