The Ethics Of Erb's Palsy
Erb's palsy is a particular kind of deformity that results from injury/damage to a nerve plexus found in and around the armpit known as the brachial plexus. It's got some pretty interesting synonyms, one being waiter's tip hand but what really gets me stoked is one particular name given to it viz. policeman's tip hand. This descriptive terminology - policeman's tip hand - is very apt for this deformity because the affected arm's posture is such that it looks as though the person is bribing someone, a policeman possibly, surreptitiously. I can't seem to post pictures but if anyone here enjoys that privilege kindly post this image: https://images.app.goo.gl/hPVJeDLmvTVj8NET8
The visual will go a long way in giving readers an idea of Erb's palsy (policeman's tip hand).
Isn't it rather fascinating that a physical illness (Erb's palsy) should cause a deformity that corresponds to an immoral act [policeman's tip (hand)]? It's as if the takeaway, the message to be conveyed, here is that evil is a deformity, an illness of the soul/mind.
I wonder if this rather simple logic can be applied to other diseases - do the physical symptoms/signs of (certain) physical sicknesses appear as if one is about to or in the process of committing an unethical act? :chin:
Please discuss.
The visual will go a long way in giving readers an idea of Erb's palsy (policeman's tip hand).
Isn't it rather fascinating that a physical illness (Erb's palsy) should cause a deformity that corresponds to an immoral act [policeman's tip (hand)]? It's as if the takeaway, the message to be conveyed, here is that evil is a deformity, an illness of the soul/mind.
I wonder if this rather simple logic can be applied to other diseases - do the physical symptoms/signs of (certain) physical sicknesses appear as if one is about to or in the process of committing an unethical act? :chin:
Please discuss.
Comments (4)
Are these Sauron folk evil because they are ugly? Otherwise we might think the war was unnecessary.
Poor Karl. It's likely that Sauron was the only one who would hire him due to his obvious disability, ie. blindness and bad teeth.
It looked like an interesting lead, you know, how a physical deformity (Erb's palsy) resembles the physical posture one would assume if one were offering a bribe to someone. It seemed as though there's a connection between physical illnesses and mental illnesses, specifically moral in nature (deformities of the soul).
By the way, this messes up my theory, have a read of this glowing character assessment of Jeffrey Dahmer (the Miluwakee Cannibal)
[quote=Wikipedia]Friedman testified that it was a longing for companionship that caused Dahmer to kill. He stated, "Mr. Dahmer is not psychotic." He spoke kindly of Dahmer, describing him as, "Amiable, pleasant to be with, courteous, with a sense of humor, conventionally handsome, and charming in manner. He was, and still is, a bright young man."[/quote]
:chin: Hmmmmm
Why not go the brain tumor made me do it route? There were a couple anecdotes from Robert Sapolsky, one about a guy who shot a bunch of people, murdered his wife and was found to be suffering from a brain tumor next to his amygdala; another guy with a brain tumor which was causing hyper sexual behavior which tipped over into pedophilia (or just child porn?). Removing the tumor for the second case caused the bad behavior to cease.
It's a bit different in theme from prejudices others might form about superficial abnormal postures or physical function. We're either dealing with a physical abnormality that causes unfair discrimination or becomes the actual cause of bad behavior.
There was a kid with Tourettes who sat behind me for a moment in highschool. I swear (pun?) the guy was using his condition as an excuse to exaggerate and swear at me but I was probably wrong. I'd say Tourettes is no excuse to whisper terrible things behind my back.
Accusing the disabled of evil is more of a medieval era thing but our hyper discriminative nature based on the appearance and function of things (do I like what I see) is hard to escape. As they say, always judge a book by its cover unless you have the time, energy to read it (who has time or energy or gives a half a fig?)... as what you see often resembles what you get?