“They were in the same womb” Omg they were womb-mates

@mariewikiwaka3851

3 жыл бұрын

I hate this. Why am I laughing?

@buffienguyen

3 жыл бұрын

+++

@OnionBro

3 жыл бұрын

I love this

@izstrella

3 жыл бұрын

Oh my gosh 😂

@MarlinRectory

3 жыл бұрын

And instantly that vine from long ago resurfaces in my brain

“I’m not even sure I have blonde hair” somehow sums up this entire video very well

@Smithington_

3 жыл бұрын

It honestly baffles me because I would never have, and still never would, consider him to have blond hair.

@mahdi8835

3 жыл бұрын

It really changes. I swear every time I see a video or a photo of him, it's a different color.

@splash__

3 жыл бұрын

@@Smithington_ out of curiosity what color do you think it is?

@TheDarkMessiah

3 жыл бұрын

What hair colors are called literally makes no fucking sense, tbh.

@Azzarinne

3 жыл бұрын

@@mahdi8835 It's all in the lighting. Here, dark blonde / very light brown. SciShow, light brown. Real life, definitely blonde.

Med student here: my thought is generally if it sounds like eugenics don't do that

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

Pretty amazing how many people are confused on that point.

@joshmcgoo

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers for sure. Hey - love what you folks are doing! Appreciate ya!

@acdory

3 жыл бұрын

Well put. Thank you.

@GM-pn2bi

3 жыл бұрын

It doesn't sound like eugenics. It's explicitly eugenics.

@meneither3834

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah except it's stupid. Eugenics will happen and I don't see how it's bad if you can make sure that no genetic aristocracy takes power (although you arguably don't even need eugenics for that happen.) Humans aren't well fit to the modern world we made, improving our biology is the logical next step and that will involved some degree of eugenics.

As someone with a physical disability who is often in the middle of this conversation, more varied people makes a more productive community.

@chloeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

3 жыл бұрын

+++++++++++++++

@NielMalan

3 жыл бұрын

Diversity trumps ability. Mathematically proven.

@heatherstock4491

3 жыл бұрын

++++++++

@_maxgray

3 жыл бұрын

Totally agree - the social model of disability is a powerful way to reimagine our concepts of dis/ability. But I think the more challenging situation comes when the disability is related to a disease that's causing pain and ongoing illness. It's hard for me to imagine telling someone that we could cure a disease that will otherwise cause them to suffer and/or kill them prematurely, but refuse to in the name of variation - they should have the choice. As a society we need to think carefully (complexly, even) about when and how we offer that choice.

@Llowdar

3 жыл бұрын

I personally dislike pivoting this stopic around "productivity". There's something wrong about aiming all for more productivity. Let's say that could be better speaking of a better productivity.

I mean props to the Green brothers for turning sound-bites into profound-bites

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

If we had a tagline...

@laurastoughton8666

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers Isn't it already "imagine others complexly?"

@OneRandomLeo

3 жыл бұрын

These are both great

@MayaFarrugia

3 жыл бұрын

+++

@mushyomens6885

3 жыл бұрын

+

We absolutely are still *educating* children for a world that existed 50 years ago, not the one that currently exists, and it’s freaking time that we evolve with the times there, too.

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

It’s very difficult to change. Trust me.

@CharlieQuartz

3 жыл бұрын

I’d like to know what elements of education you think are aspects of the past that no longer apply to the modern world.

@ammalyrical5646

3 жыл бұрын

@@CharlieQuartz not the op, but I've got the feeling it mostly has to do with elements missing from education and not so much with the stuff that is included. I'm also not a US American so I don't have a comprehensive idea on what is and isn't taught there. I just noticed a decade ago that our Dutch education system needs change and came up with ideas of how to do it. I regret not sending those to the government but they wouldn't have listened anyway. But I've seen some of my ideas emerge in this year's election and I really hope that stuff here changed.

@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721

3 жыл бұрын

Educators educate us for the world they _think_ we're supposed to be living in.

@natanoj16

3 жыл бұрын

Yea. Here in Denmark we (the teachers) are trying to force changes in education, and it has been working, but just not fast enough

Shout out to all the twins who have participated in twin studies! The world knows so much more about the effects of genes vs. environment because of you.

@aubreylabarre

3 жыл бұрын

Have you ever watched Three Identical Strangers? It’s on Hulu, and it’s basically about just that, except the test subjects don’t realize it. It gives you a lot of insight into what these tests actually are sometimes, and it’s very eye-opening.

@jasmeenmalhotra2225

3 жыл бұрын

What a fabulous perspective to have on this! Thank you so much for sharing it :) There's so much in all the rich and varied content around us that we miss out on seeing, and it's amazing when people who think differently than us point out the things that we haven't observed ourselves. (Omg another example of why diversity is important!)

@sarahisaraccoon2233

3 жыл бұрын

I am/have an identical twin but we never did any of these lmao are we doing it wrong?

@rhubarb06

3 жыл бұрын

TEDS twins represent! (UK)

@harryspackman5773

3 жыл бұрын

I'm an identical twin participating in TEDS, a UK based twin study. I think we should shout out instead to the parents of twins who put their children forward for these studies

I'm autistic and have spent time researching why/how autism develops. One of the evolutionary theories is that it was actually pretty useful to be autistic in the past. We were more sensitive to rotten food signs, we are more observant of our environments, and we often are better with animals and children than neurotypicals. Yet despite the fact that autism was a useful trait for survival, it is very much not suited for modern society. This video helped remind me that neurological differences often exist for a good reason and shouldn't be viewed as something detrimental or to be fixed. Thanks for the great video and reminding me of that Hank!!!

@TheProductofyourmind

3 жыл бұрын

Looking at how life during COVID was/is, I have learned that being autistic may not be suited for modern society so well, but it's absolutely suited for a pandemic lockdown. Spending an entire year without most social contacts was such a non-issue for me personally and I know that for many neurotypical people it was really hard.

@semicolon.advocate

3 жыл бұрын

+

@zanderwohl

3 жыл бұрын

Also, you don't have to be evolutionarily "useful" to justify existing. People have different and beautiful views of the world. We need to have a society where all types of people - those with processing disorders, those who can't be in/hate large crowds, those who can't read quickly, etc. can still thrive and have good relationships. Idolizing a mythical "Big I intelligence" will certainly do bad things for those who don't conform.

@TheProductofyourmind

3 жыл бұрын

@@zanderwohl very true, thank you for adding that.

@colonelb

3 жыл бұрын

I'm also autistic w/adhd - and I agree - I've found it VERY helpful as a programmer, which as a great example, all the skills that make a great programmer, weren't in demand before programming existed in the same way. So, who knows what skills we have now that "the technology that makes it super useful" just hasn't been invented yet

You are the ADHD and sensory processing issues representation that I needed Hank. You are proof that I can do it to. It means so much! 💕

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

We can all do different things and have different opportunities, but whatever "it" is I'm sure it will be great.

@ChloeTGAP

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers 😭💕

@joshuasims5421

3 жыл бұрын

++

@travcollier

3 жыл бұрын

Hank, I think we are twins ;) Come to think of it, John is pretty similar to my sister. Swapped at birth, that's the only explanation :) PS: on a serious note, seems like a bit of quantitative genetics might be something kids should learn about in highschool. GxE isn't that difficult a concept.

@leif6534

3 жыл бұрын

I have chronic anxiety, IBS, and adhd; and wow i am so grateful these guys share so much with us

A disabled friend of mine was once talking about when people ask her why she would have a child even though her disability is genetic. Her response was "A disabled life is worth living." One of my most favorite quotes of all time.

@mariewikiwaka3851

3 жыл бұрын

I HATE when people say those kinds of things to me. I happen to not want children but implicitly stating my life shouldn’t have happened isn’t it.

@shellh929

3 жыл бұрын

That's beautiful.

@cubeofcheese5574

3 жыл бұрын

+

@austinobst8989

3 жыл бұрын

Hopefully we can prevent all genetic diseases through gene editing.

@SerenityM54L2SAM5L5N1

3 жыл бұрын

Is it though? If a child is living in pain, sticks out from their peers and ends up with a whole lot more trouble than healthy individuals, it's almost cruel and arguably selfish at its core to deliberately bring such a person to the world if it's certain that such is the outcome. Disabled people should be assisted and helped out. But let's not encourage such traits.

My response to the question of gene editing and eugenics is generally this, "which of your ancestors from 200 years ago do you wish had control of who you are today?" I won't say that the answer to genetic improvement is "no", but I do think there's a lot to lose if we don't tread VERY carefully.

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

That's such a great frame!!

@SuperKing604

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers simple solution don’t edit the germ line, im not afraid to say we fix disabilities and various syndromes.

@aposiopetic

3 жыл бұрын

@@SuperKing604 What counts as a disability, and who decides? What do we lose in a society where we have no people with those qualities and experiences? How do we determine which traits that in present form and circumstances disable people are or are not part of a path of mutations that will be advantageous in future times and circumstances?

@seoyeonahn6377

3 жыл бұрын

This is brilliant

@parisortiz8731

3 жыл бұрын

I mean if they had the ability to do that I just wish they would make me smarter

One of my favourite philosophers, Alan Watts, echoed a similar sentiment in a lecture he gave in 1970: "I went to a meeting of geneticists not so long ago where they gathered a group of philosophers and theologians and said, "Now look here, we need help. We now are on the verge of figuring out how to bring into being any kind of human character we would want to have. We can give you saints, philosophers, scientists, great politicians, anything you want, just tell us what kind of human beings ought we to breed." So I said, "How will those of us who are genetically unregenerate make up our minds what genetically generate people might be?" Because I’m afraid very much that our selection of virtues may not work. It may be like for example this new kind of high-yield grain which is made and which is becoming ecologically destructive. And I can well see that eugenically-produced human beings might be dreadful. We could have a plague of virtuous people. Do you realize that? Any animal considered in itself is virtuous. it does its thing. But in crowds, they’re awful. Like a crowd of ants, or locusts on the rampage, they’re all perfectly good animals, but it’s just too much! I could imagine a perfectly pestiferous mass of a million saints. So I said to these people, "Look, if there’s anything you can do, just be sure that a vast variety of human beings is maintained. Don’t, please, bring us down to a few excellent types. Excellent for what? We never know how circumstances are going to change, and how our need for different kinds of people changes. At one time we may need very individualistic and aggressive people, at another time we may need very co-operative team working people. At another time we may need people who are full of interest in dexterous manipulation of the external world, at another time we may need people who explore into their own psychology and are introspective. There is no knowing, but the more varieties and the more skills we have, obviously the better."

@woodswalker43

3 жыл бұрын

This, exactly. Evolution isn't a path to the optimal configuration. "Optimal" is not a static goal. It moves depending on the situation. As a species, variety is our defense against that moving goal post. As nice as it could be to have a few "good" types of people that work well and accomplish great things, that leaves us incredibly vulnerable to changing conditions.

@elif6908

3 жыл бұрын

++++

@aditi_05

3 жыл бұрын

++

@bzeiny

3 жыл бұрын

Wow, this moved me. ++++

@joesanchez9050

3 жыл бұрын

This is just what I was watching earlier from After Skool! Alan Watt's 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions'.

I say we apply the 'Precautionary Principle', which I know from Environmental Science. It basically says, if we don't understand fully how something works, we should preserve that thing as much in tact as possible. Because if we break it, we won't be able to put it back together. This applies to messing with lots of complex biological systems, from water cycles to human genetics.

@Medhead101

3 жыл бұрын

Hope people understand this regards climate change and not to mess too much with the climate like Bill Gates trying to blot out the sun which thankfully got abandoned.

@flowerheit4512

3 жыл бұрын

+

@MayaFarrugia

3 жыл бұрын

Ooo thanks for sharing! I'd never heard of this before and feel like humans following this approach more would have been MUCH better from the planet. Starting now would still be great too

@OneRandomLeo

3 жыл бұрын

That is some sound advice right there. Why aren't kids taught that in school!?

@aceatlasska4343

3 жыл бұрын

+

As an autistic person, I worry that this kind of thing would lead to erasing neurodivergent people. Also I agree that intelligence and genius are way too vague. I may have amazing pattern recognition and memorization skills but small talk feels like I'm dying, I have zero sense of direction, and ouch loud noise hurty

@chloeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

3 жыл бұрын

++++++++++ as an autistic disabled person i 70000% agree with all of this this really really fucking worries me and i wish hank coud have talked about it (tbf 4 minutes is only so long :þ)

@mariewikiwaka3851

3 жыл бұрын

“Ouch loud noise hurty” is the best description of neurodivergence I may have ever heard.

@t3hsis324

3 жыл бұрын

Took the words out of my mouth... Autistic as well and I KNOW the first thing they'll do is eradicate our existence...

@katiemiller8313

3 жыл бұрын

+

@Jenny-tm3cm

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah same boat being autistic, SPD severely affects my life. As much as sensory overload 100% of the time sucks, I would never give up being autistic for anything. I have always been exploding with creativity and I would never give that up, as much as teachers tried to suppress it and tell me I was stupid and lazy (actual words from teachers I had... majority of them treated me horribly, wasn’t until after high school I got diagnosed) but then once I got an IQ test they all changed their tone to me just being lazy, which I absolutely hate. People shouldn’t be treated differently for an arbitrary number that IMO doesn’t tell you anything about a person.

Hank: "well we all benefit if there are more super smart people to solve hard problems" Me: Yes, that makes sense. Hank: That sentence doesn't even make sense. Me: 👁️👄👁️

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

In fairness, it made sense to me at first too, which is why I thought it was such an interesting thing to talk about!

@ObjectsInMotion

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers While I agree with almost everything in the video, I do think we as a society should not be afraid to change to change the status quo (being default human intelligence here) because we are afraid of potential negative effects of the outcome. That would make sense if things were close to optimal as they are now, but they are not. It has a lot of "natural is better and artificial changes bad" bias that is all too common.

@BadgerPride89

3 жыл бұрын

@@ObjectsInMotion here's the thing, tho: all intelligence scores measure is how good the taker is at taking intelligence tests. there is no reliable way of saying what is "useful" intelligence and what isn't. that changes, as hank says. the hard problems may not even be solved by people who study the problem all their lives and are experts; sometimes an outsider to the field comes in and changes things. we have no way accurately measuring what intelligence is, how selecting for particular genes will end up affecting not just those individuals but the species at large.

@karyon1007

3 жыл бұрын

@@ObjectsInMotion Would you mind explaining what you mean by "optimal"?

@ObjectsInMotion

3 жыл бұрын

@@BadgerPride89 You are mixing up two very different questions: Can we accurately measure and improve genetic intelligence, and should we. Obviously using intelligence scores and selecting one or two genes isn't going to work, but that's not what my comment is about. Assuming we *can* accurately measure and increase intelligence, *should* we? I think the answer to the latter question is yes, provided that the answer to the first question is also yes. Right now, the answer to the first question is no, we can't.

The idea that I could have been changed to not have ADHD in the womb is baffling to me. Who would I even be?

@knitterknerd

3 жыл бұрын

And WHY?! I'm saying this at a time when my ADHD has become partially debilitating. Yeah, it was really rough in childhood, but a sizeable chunk of what I like about myself is due to ADHD. Some parts are direct symptoms, like the ability to hyperfocus, and other parts are results of management strategies, like my expert organizational skills. I'm sure that there are genetic conditions worth curing, but ADHD is so manageable, and we know so much about how to do it, that it's a good type of diversity. I'd much rather work on educating people about it than on attempting to cure it.

@jasonmaguire7552

3 жыл бұрын

@@knitterknerd because on average, people without ADHD have better life outcomes. This is just empirical reality.

@Magniflorious

3 жыл бұрын

@@jasonmaguire7552 That’s because society is built for people without ADHD. It’s a reason to improve society to accommodate a greater variety of people not erase us from existence, you fucking ghoul.

@cliff8459

3 жыл бұрын

its like we are playing God? right?

@IrisGlowingBlue

3 жыл бұрын

@@Magniflorious +++

Yeah, whenever gene editing comes up it very quickly reveals which people are into eugenics

@auroraourania7161

3 жыл бұрын

+

@matthewcox4997

3 жыл бұрын

+

@GM-pn2bi

3 жыл бұрын

+

@aceatlasska4343

3 жыл бұрын

+

@CharlieQuartz

3 жыл бұрын

I find that a harsh judgement on people like myself who wish we could have our own children without the fear of passing on genes that in our life made us suffer. Gene editing as a decision made by individuals based on their own experience and values can’t be conflated with the correct fear of authoritarian control, which applies to all technology and power.

We've been reading through gene editing thought experiments for decades with science fiction novels... Like... Maybe let's not!!

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

It's coming...

@zackcohn

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers it’s already been coming. Now it’s being done quietly, being explored in private. I’m not nearly as worried about human editing as I am with viral/bacteriological editing. If I can figure out how I would do it, a lot of people easily can. It’s only a matter of the technology, will, and resources being all in the same place with the same goal.

@GM-pn2bi

3 жыл бұрын

We've got real world examples. Current real world examples. Eugenics never went away.

@gillsmoke

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers This reminded me about Cyteen by C J Cherryh. It was a thought experiment on what cloning would be like and could you "recreate" people by giving them the same life experiences. The person they were trying to recreate was the terraformming genius geneticist

@polarbearliver

3 жыл бұрын

GATTACA!

i think that there’s a lot we haven’t looked into about influence of different TYPES of intelligence. Besides having more people being “smart”, how are we to ensure that enough people will be emotionally intelligent, socially intelligent, or even just good at things that aren’t necessarily included in intelligence like music, art, kindness, compassion, creativity. Humans would not survive with only intelligent people the way we think of intelligence. we need people with all types of experiences to further our society

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I feel like breaking it down into types of intelligent also is a miss though. What are any of those things? There is so much nuance and diversity and it's always combinations of lots of things, never just one thing.

@OneRandomLeo

3 жыл бұрын

++

@cubeofcheese5574

3 жыл бұрын

I am intelligent in a way that works decently well in the school system. One of my friends was way better at Drumline than I was and is way more socially intelligent than I am but not so good in our other classes. But those skills are not as valued in the school system. I think about it frequently.

@Carebearritual

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers True! Maybe intelligence isn’t really a.... thing? As much as we can measure IQ, what does that even mean? Does IQ correlate to a society that has better quality of life? I feel like we might need to look much more holistically at how we view intelligence and how it impacts society. Someone who’s smart on paper might not be a good person who benefits society, and vice versa. we need to see a whole human instead of a statistic

@happykilmore94

3 жыл бұрын

My understanding is that emotional intelligence and social intelligence don't correlate well with usual measures of general intelligence. Hopefully someone can chime in with clarification.

I think this is a really important topic in the era of 'problematizing'. Often people with cognitive or mental disabilities are often talked about in the context of their disability being a 'problem'. Yet we so often hear from people who have the conditions that they like themselves exactly the way they are and that they have unique challenges just as each person has their own unique hurtles with or without a disability. Their purposes are just as mysterious as the rest of us and all of us lose without the wonderful diversity the human race has.

@khadijah9604

3 жыл бұрын

+

@jasmeenmalhotra2225

3 жыл бұрын

Can we just say though, in some situations, like some mental illnesses can just be debilitating and traumatic and nothing else. Like I saw my mum go through just horrendously bad phases of schizophrenia, and there was no good side to that. I feel like the overall conversation does need to acknowledge that perspective too, like there is a broad spectrum of mental health issues, and the experiences of different individuals can vary drastically.

@Crimson_Cheetah

3 жыл бұрын

+

@Crimson_Cheetah

3 жыл бұрын

@@jasmeenmalhotra2225 I agree with this too, it’s a very complex conversation. I think great care needs to be taken when deciding what to edit and cure and so on. Both sides need to be considered, definitely.

@tokyomootsie

3 жыл бұрын

@@jasmeenmalhotra2225 As someone with physical and mental disabilities myself (some genetic, others acquired) I totally get that. What distresses me is when I hear people implying that disabled people are wrong to want to have kids or that we should "help" people with disabilities but not let any more people with disabilities be born because disabilities make life hard/bad/etc. There are definitely people I know who are disabled and have said they never want to have biological kids because they don't want to risk passing their struggles along, but I also know people who come from Deaf families or are families with shared diagnoses of dwarfism etc. who find that shared experience actively bonding and positive. I think if disabled people say my life was "worth" living and other people say "yeah, but people with lives like yours have lives that aren't" that is a fundamentally ableist and slippery-slope way of thinking.

I also think its very presumptuous of us to think we can *ONLY* edit for intelligence. We've learned the cognition is REALLY freakin complicated and that the connections between mind and body are blurry at best. If we start messing with things like intelligence, who knows what we will end up unintentionally changing in the process. The unintended side effects might not be what we expect or want.

As someone with 4 members of my family with muscular dystrophy, I struggle a lot with the topic of gene editing. All of us are eager for them to have access to this AND having disabilities doesn't mean you need to be 'fixed'. It's a weird space to dwell in.

@okuno54

3 жыл бұрын

It's almost like illness is nothing to be ashamed of (or shouldn't be

@OcaRebecca

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed. I have a dominant genetic disorder. Were I to have kids, I would hope they not get it. But I don’t feel the need to be fixed or cured. (Now my epilepsy is a somewhat different story.)

@heidy1791

3 жыл бұрын

I feel similarly for similar reasons. My brain keeps coming back to the thought 'it's always xmen'. Which is a weird and silly thought referencing how *not* universal disability is in experience and how to best approach it. Which my brain thinks is similar to how different xmen see and manage their superpowers, uh, hope I made sense

@jasonmaguire7552

3 жыл бұрын

Nobody is saying we get rid of disabled people. We're saying, give parents the choice to have disabled children or not. And since disabled children tens to have worse life outcomes on average, it makes sense to not create any more children like this.

@krmerrill3721

3 жыл бұрын

@@jasonmaguire7552 What about illnesses they cant test for or gene edit away, like schizophrenia, or bipolar? Just because someone even a parent having those problems doesn't guarantee that a child will have them, even if both parents have the illness its only a 50% chance, so what do you do in that situation? Doctors don't even know what genes those types of illnesses are tied to specifically so those parents are taking a shot in the dark. Should they just not have children, even if they want them? Should the state force them to not have children? If we do that are we not making a moral and emotional judgments about mental illnesses?

I think the same thing applies to physical characteristics. If my mom had the ability to edit my genes, I'm sure I'd look a lot like Rick Springfield. I'm glad I look like me, instead.

@d.f.4830

2 жыл бұрын

sorry, *really*? I’m happy to tread carefully around the disability/neurodivergence areas, but this… I can’t empathize with this at all. I almost can’t tolerate my own appearance 😅

"We argue over whether a hotdog is a sandwich" is literally the best argument against attempting to selectively gene-edit people into superhumans I've ever heard.

@GlacialScion

3 жыл бұрын

How? He's basically just pointing out our current lack of ability. Should that change in the future, I don't see how he made any argument to support his initial claim that "having more smart people is good" doesn't make sense.

@NCC1371

3 жыл бұрын

I think Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan and the original series episode “Space Seed” are a great argument against it.

@GlacialScion

3 жыл бұрын

@@NCC1371 "What if superhumans were bad people?" If you accept that argument, it works just as well for everyone. Why have any children if they might be bad?

@NCC1371

3 жыл бұрын

@@GlacialScion engineering people is wrong so it doesn’t matter if they turn out to be good people or not.

@GlacialScion

3 жыл бұрын

@@NCC1371 Because of what? Divine sanctity? There's no reason that it would be wrong to directly change things when it isn't wrong to indirectly change things.

“I’m not sure I even have blonde hair” *not me thinking his hair was brown this whole time*

@mirixf

3 жыл бұрын

he seems like one of those people who was really blond as a child but his hair got darker as he aged ?????? idk

@shandiw7749

3 жыл бұрын

I think Hank has what is sometimes called “dishwater blonde”.

@SarahFletcher12

3 жыл бұрын

I’m pretty sure it’s light brown 😂 I actually saw a tiktok about this exact subject recently. People were basically saying those that insisted their hair was blonde even when it definitely wasn’t light or yellow are often just clinging to the fact that people when they grew up may have praised them for their childhood super platinum blonde hair. It was pretty funny seeing POC point out the way hair colorism seems to exist among some white communities.

@daniellaamayacastroferrada9490

3 жыл бұрын

Not me being absolutelly sure he was a ginger lol

@studyqween9604

3 жыл бұрын

@@daniellaamayacastroferrada9490 EXACTLY I think his hair is causing a ripple effect in the subject of color. He does look slightly ginger though

As a person with a genetic disability I would love to see gene editing to make sure people are born healthy. I would not wish the pain and struggles I’ve gone through on anyone. It is also so heartbreaking to see others do things I know I am unable to do and I don’t want others to feel the despair I do.

@masakimoayra00

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. I get that people don't want to see others like themselves removed/excluded/changed, but I would not wish my problems on my worst enemy let alone a child

@pintpullinggeek

3 жыл бұрын

Much respect to you for your fighting spirit. I was wondering where you stand on having your own children. Do you not want any anyway, unrelated to your disability? Do you want them but want to wait for editing technology to catch up, knowing that you might then miss your chance? Or will you "roll the dice" and have a child, disability or not? Or some other option I haven't mentioned. Genuinely interested but totally understand if you don't want to answer.

@FiMilton

3 жыл бұрын

@@pintpullinggeek I personally don’t want kids no matter what but if I “had” to have kids I would not have biological kids. I see the trail of my disease across my family tree and don’t want to add to that. I also think part of the reason I don’t want kids in the first place is I wouldn’t have the energy to take care of them, but I’m not a big fan of kids anyway 😂

@pintpullinggeek

3 жыл бұрын

@@FiMilton Thanks for your reply, and especially your honesty. Adoption does seem like a very sensible option if the biggest concern is stopping the genes from causing more harm while still having a family. I think this goes without saying but DFTBA.

@triton62674

3 жыл бұрын

I feel like ppl are integrating their disability into their personality as if it makes up who they are

What you said is, as always, insightful and thoughtful. It also reminded me of a scene from a John Scalzi novel, where a pet saleswoman talks about how she only sells old fashioned pets, instead of the new genetically enginered ones which are much harder to hurt or kill because she believes a good way to get children to treat animals kindly is to have consequences for bad behaviour. Or something along those lines, it's been a while since I read The Android's Dream.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” - Charles Darwin

My best friend and I have had this conversation SO many times! How do you explain “I’m not conventionally smart and don’t test well but I’m incredible at helping others, leading others, and recognizing the needs others have.”

@Atalinay

3 жыл бұрын

I think you described it pretty well just there :)

@shandiw7749

3 жыл бұрын

I feel this. I had awful grades in school, I can’t do math in my head to save my life, taking notes while someone is talking I find impossible. Yet I’m an amazing problem solver; I can think outside the box and come up with clever solutions for all types of things. I’m a great cook and one of my special talents is being able to make really delicious meals with what’s leftover in the fridge and pantry, where as most people would have said “there’s nothing to eat”.

@colesmith3603

3 жыл бұрын

I do incredibly well in school, never have to try, ace my tests, and am by the books smarter than most of my friends. But I’m 100% less intelligent and will have less of a helpful impact on society or myself than all of them.

@jasmeenmalhotra2225

3 жыл бұрын

"Emotional intelligence", I believe, is the term your looking for there :) And it is becoming increasingly valuable in our world with each passing day, so hooray for you! : D

@duvallnic2

3 жыл бұрын

I think we're getting into the area of 'judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree'. School seems to focus on creating basic, entry level workers but does nothing for the wide variety of characteristics people have. I wonder all of the time what it would be like if different skills and interests were valued.

I have ME/CFS which severely limits my energy. If there were treatments or a cure, I would take it. But my illness has meant I can do a full day's work in about 4 hours. As you say, the world needs diverse people with diverse skills

Someone saying “That person is highly intelligent” communicates as much clarity as a parent telling a child “clean up your room.” The devil is in the details.

A hot dog is a taco. And the adhd thing explains A LOT behind "it has been x days since Hank Green created something" 😂😂😂

@michaelneufeld4515

3 жыл бұрын

But is a taco a sandwich? Is it sandwiches all the way down???

@jagrubster

3 жыл бұрын

Wait wait back up

@RamenNoodle1985

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelneufeld4515 I wish it was sammiches all the way down!

@marianahernandez4679

3 жыл бұрын

Everything is a taco if you try hard enough

Don't know if I missed you doing so already in one of your previous videos, but as a fellow ADHDer, I'm proud of you for claiming and owning your ADHD :D

@khadijah9604

3 жыл бұрын

+

@zoeolsson5683

3 жыл бұрын

+ 1

As someone who gives IQ tests for a living, aside from certain situations, IQ is totally meaningless and nothing should ever be based exclusively on that

@jobriq5

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds a bit depressing saying what you do for a living is meaningless.... I also hate my job tho

@rockkid707

3 жыл бұрын

@@jobriq5 so it's not exclusively what I do and it's used correctly at my job haha my point is more that people make so much out of it and it's not relevant to day to say life for the most part

@Medhead101

3 жыл бұрын

How are IQ tests meaningless? Doesn't it predict ability (for e.g an IQ of 120 would be better than an average of 90 in certain professions like medicine)?

@rockkid707

3 жыл бұрын

@@Medhead101 nope it's just an snapshot of an individual's ability on a given day and it doesn't take into account determination, access, practicing, etc etc. It only really shows how well a person does in a few areas that are believed to be key elements of learning so learning may come easier for someone with a higher IQ but that doesn't mean a person with a lower IQ can't or won't learn the same material. Also 90 is within the average range for IQs so you've probably had a doctor at some point with an IQ in the 90s

@aliciafischer8644

3 жыл бұрын

@@rockkid707 Are you also a school psychologist? I was going to comment and say as a school psych I give IQ tests all the time and they are designed to measure specific things to get at problem-solving and parents ask me all the time can they improve their child's IQ and I have to say well sure you could practice this one thing and it may raise the score but the kid doesn't get "smarter" they just get better at doing that one thing. They also are heavily reliant on prior knowledge and a westernized view of society so they are not always culturally sensitive/not universal.

THE BLONDE HAIR DISCOURSE. NEVER BEFORE HAS A POINT BEEN MADE SO WELL FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONCEPT (also hank, as someone who was a gifted kid eventually broken down by my adhd and then semi-empowered by it, this video is excellent. i wish i could like it more than once)

When I was first pregnant I watched a documentary about people born with genetic "defects" that are now readily screened for that live amazing, productive lives. It really helped take away my fears of genetic "defects". Ultimately, all people need love. Putting extra energy into caring should not be viewed so negatively

I feel like we also need to talk about how smart people may not make smart decisions for humanity as a whole. They are entirely capable of making decisions that are only smart for themselves.

Said starting at 0:01: "Your video made everyone I know laugh very hard, so good job on that". I'm definitely not the only one who absolutely loves that statement and its implied encouragement.

As a fellow ADHD with sensory processing issues, this is a message I've been trying to express my whole life. Thanks for putting it forward so concisely. Glad to hear you've found the tools to turn it into an advantage, I still feel like I was born in the wrong century.

Good afternoon nerdfighters! I hope everyone is staying safe. Don't forget to be awesome and drink water!

@chloeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

3 жыл бұрын

ope i need to drink water, thanks xD

@RainbowSprnklz

3 жыл бұрын

good afternoon! this wholesome!!! DFTBA!!!!!

@saiph426

3 жыл бұрын

good afternoon thank you, you too! : p

@VentrueMinis

3 жыл бұрын

you too nerd!!!!

@CactusCarrot

3 жыл бұрын

thanks for the water reminder.

“a bad” same 😂😂

Yes!! I can't even express how much time I spend trying to convince people that intelligence and reading ability aren't the same thing... I teach middle school, and I've taught more than one kid who might never independently read beyond a 1st grade level, but is also incredibly insightful, thoughtful, knowledgable, curious, able to learn quickly, and remember everything... We have no idea what we're talking about when we say "intelligence."

I love the title so much

@jobriq5

3 жыл бұрын

It’s a bad

@sam3524

3 жыл бұрын

It truly is a bad

Arguably one of your most succinct and coherent takes on a subject that is going to need a whole lot more conversation and consideration. Hank, your 4 minute video essays deliver more bang for the buck than pretty much anything else I consume either in video or in print. Amazing. :) Keep On Keepin' On!

There's all of these profound comments reflecting upon the issues raised in the video. And here I am scrolling through to see if anyone else is also freaking out that their video cut out before Hank said "Tuesday". My brain is lost without this closure.

Totally agree Hank. Firstly, genetic diversity is super important for the survival of populations in a changing world. Also, genes rarely control one thing and we rarely know all the things a gene controls. For instance, we may discover a gene that we think increases intelligence and only after we modify it we find out it also destroys your liver or something totally unpredictable and potentially harmful. Our understanding of genetics is way too basic to even begin to think about taking those unnecessary risks.

You constantly make me thankful to be subscribed here Hank.

Just got a denture commercial before this and I'm very confused why

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

Life comes at you fast.

@anjulikamins6420

3 жыл бұрын

I got a butt deodorant commercial so....

As someone who has a significant number of very influential groups saying that gene editing should be used to prevent people like me from existing (due to disability and neurodivergence), thank you for talking about this.

@matthewcox4997

3 жыл бұрын

I have worked with severely disabled kids for the last 5 years and while I think it would be awsome for them if they never had to go through some of the extra trials that they have to go through, I think that gene editing to "cure" disability is a Terrible Idea. Not only is it not a cure, just preventing people from having certain traits, but it also would increase the stigmatization of disability. This is because it will be treated as a disease and chronic disease that can be prevented and diseases that are associated with poverty are both more stigmatized than the average condition. It will also reinforce inequality along wealth lines, which also tend to run along race lines because those who can't afford it will become "genetically inforeror"

@auroraourania7161

3 жыл бұрын

@@malloF I mean, in current society, my ADHD does make life more difficult, same with my autism, but I wouldn't be me without those traits and I think that, despite that, they give me a unique perspective and unique capabilities that, while they aren't appreciated by society right now, are still things that need to be maintained. I think conditions that cause pain or death directly, like my bladder issues, IBS, or stuff like arthritis or UC are things that most people who have them would be ok with getting rid of through gene editing, but I think that it would be very easy for people to go too far and remove things like neurodivergence, seeing as that's already been attempted many times throughout global history (the Nazis and the American Eugenics movement are pretty clear examples, with modern groups like Autism Speaks also promoting that goal).

@malloF

3 жыл бұрын

@@auroraourania7161 yeah, I get your point.

this is something i've thought a lot about as someone who a) studied education and b) spent a good portion of my short life teaching young people. then, on top of that, i've been told i'm intelligent so much that it has become such a core aspect of who i am as a person that i don't even know what it means. i really enjoy what you say regarding the ties between intelligence meaning that you are good at living in the world as it exists today but are willing to consider and accept the reality of the different ideas and perspectives that lead to the future, and how having everyone at the same standard of intelligence would lead to a lack of this diversified thought process. i'm sure that if we implemented your thought processes into more schools and classrooms, it might lead to a level and point of intelligence that we might be able to further consider that the science that you're speaking of would really benefit. i really enjoyed today's video and am looking forward to thinking more about this in the coming days

this is genuinely one of my favorite videos, i always come back to it

i love your videos because with have a small attention span without tuning out, and your videos fit that perfectly. plus, they’re interesting, and both you and john are funny to watch.

i'm so glad other disabled people are pointing out how often disability comes into these conversations (i'm disabled too!) like somehow when i have conversations about gene editing with people, they always somehow make the conversation go into something that sounds a lot like eugenics which is VERY CONCERNING.

As somebody who is currently waiting for a diagnosis of possible autism spectrum disorder, I think I can say quite firmly and unambiguously that different types of intelligence are HIGHLY relevant. I have synesthesia with music and a sense of how it "flows" in ways that other people have been confused about when I describe it to them. I also tend to see patterns in human behavior, whether small or large (which has helped me filter myself and mask to appear relatively normal despite thoughts being so clearly different internally, whenever I've asked others about their perception). At the same time, I have a lot of difficulty with actually *interacting* with people, because despite my general understanding of human behavior patterns, I have to expend a lot of effort understanding it rapidly while in a social interaction. I also have difficulty parsing verbal language and precise subtext a lot of the time. It's a weird experience, and the overarching point is just that... specializing on a few types of intelligence isn't really a solution to a problem. Having different specialists might be a lot more, especially if there are a fair amount of people who can communicate more clearly. But, at the same time, it's also entirely possible that gene editing applied to intelligence can cause some rather dramatic side-effects and difficulties in areas that are not anticipated.

@marshm3llow467

3 жыл бұрын

Good luck with your diagnosis! I got my ASD one a few months ago and it's changed my life for the better in many ways.

Wow, I love this video so much. EXCELLENT week for the Vlogbrothers channel.

Wow, great video! We may not be able to define exactly what intelligence is, but I always find your videos on topics like this to fit that description. Thank you for sharing your take on important issues with us!

An agree! I also just feel like there are other things the world needs more of right now than intelligence... things like kindness, and compassion

@helenjohannesman9165

3 жыл бұрын

+

@jasonmaguire7552

3 жыл бұрын

High IQ people are more kind and compassionate on average But this world desperately DOES need more intelligence. Only high IQ people can make the medical breakthroughs of the future. Only high IQ people make thr technological advances needed to protect the enviornement and fight off pandemics.

@General12th

3 жыл бұрын

Could you engineer someone to be more kind and compassionate?

"I still dont know if i have blond hair" YES WHAT IS THIS ON MY HEAD

Youre the man hank. I watch and share your stuff all the time.

This is a GREAT take on this debate, I didn't even think about these aspects!!

“a bad” sums up a lot of things

A big part of “intelligence” the way it works now is also performative. The ones we perceive as “genius” are often the ones who are constantly outwardly verified as such. I knew so many people in high school who took the more artistic routes and yet were a shit ton better at problem solving during group projects than any of the kids in my calculus class. But, because they weren’t in calculus everyone in calculus got a big head about how they were the most intelligent in the school (me included, but luckily I squashed that nonsense fast, haha). We weren’t, or maybe we were, but no one could really know because we were just the loudest. Just think about how many “genius level” people are out there right now who think they are “stupid” because they didn’t attend an Ivy League school or something.

Damn you guys both really knocked it out of the park this week

I'm so grateful to you, the Green brothers, for sharing your thoughts, opinions and wisdom with me. You have thought me much, and given me much food for thoughts. Thank you.

This brought up so much for me. Stories! 1. Neil deGrasse Tyson was in a PBS/NOVA special years ago discussing exactly this topic with a focus on the movie GATTACA, which raised questions like Hank’s. This was before I even knew who he was. 🤣 I just remember him being silly and I thought he was a twin because they “cloned” him in the episode. The NOVA videos weren’t as easy to find the last time I looked, but I used them to teach about heredity, epigenetics, and environmental niches. 2. While teaching, I also found out more about intelligence testing history. Fun! My family talked about it recently when one of us was feeling less than smart, and I told them that the first person credited with developing intelligence testing was ADAMANTLY AGAINST administrators using his scale as a measure of static intelligence or aptitude. Alfred Binet intended his work to help identify students who would benefit from additional learning ASSISTANCE, meaning the measure should have told educators where students had potential to develop further with their HELP. Instead, we did the opposite by using adaptations of Binet’s scale to label people as feeble-minded and unable to learn or contribute to society. We turned away immigrants at Ellis Island - forcing them to take a test in English regardless of their first language. Versions were even adapted by eugenicists to justify sterilization and segregation of low scorers. What’s interesting is some of the most devastating genetic illnesses have occurred in people with too LITTLE familial variation. Pair that with insane marketing capacity and the human tendency to glorify sameness and we’ll basically kill ourselves off. 😏Heh heh. 😕🤔😖😫😭 *sniff* But we don’t fight the fight to win. We fight the fight that needs fighting.

JOHN I'LL SEE YOU ON WHEN HANK?? WHEN?!

@OneRandomLeo

3 жыл бұрын

Lol SAME

I'm so glad to hear what you said about your reading ability because I really suck at reading!

hank, this is one of my favorite videos you've ever made. thank you for reminding us that we are important and valuable exactly the way we are.

If you're debating whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich, just say a hot dog's a thing. Now everyone's happy If we had clones of the vlogbrothers, the world would be saved

@jetwaffle1116

3 жыл бұрын

But hot dogs don’t exist

@corestolmyhandle

3 жыл бұрын

Everyone knows hot dogs are not sandwiches, they are tacos.

@rasmusn.e.m1064

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, and another thing: Why would you choose to have the word "Sandwich" be the categorizer? Like, it's probably the most specific cultural reference any food item could have (a literal single person). Any sensible typology of foods would have called it something like "portable-by-way-of-bread meals" and just do away with the whole "Here's a thing that's in a category but also the name of the category" problem. Also, taxonomy would do away with the confusion to an even larger extent because it allows for convergent evolution without actual convergence.

@okuno54

3 жыл бұрын

But a hot dog isn't a thing… it's an idea! (I can't actually mark this as sarcastic: I kinda think it's right

Gene editing makes me vvvery wary. Like I remember in freshman biology in HS my teacher saying something off hand about peoples sexuality being genetic and instantly my brain had alarms blaring because I do not yet trust humans to be able to genetically identify things like sexuality, disability, etc and not go straight to eugenics!!

@tokyomootsie

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. Didn't X-Men: The Last Stand teach us all that trying to "fix" genetics was bad? They didn't give us beautiful queer-coded Angel busting out his wings and rejecting the "mutant cure" for nothing!

Hi Hank, I don't know any other way of getting in touch with you so posting this here. I was doing a Astronomy course on Coursera and the Professor just cued in your (very old, I must say) video about the James Webb telescope - to get us all excited - it was amazing! Felt a little thrill for you 😁

If I could like this more than once, I would. I hope that your platform will get more people to understand what I think is a very important point.

Pardon me as I start screaming “intelligence/“genius” is inherently subjective” from every roof top I can climb

@chewbrocka6833

3 жыл бұрын

Everything humans strive for is subjective

@ThEuNkNoWn9999999

3 жыл бұрын

Not quite. What we call "intelligence" is really about how useful you are in problem solving, fast thinking and pattern recognition.

@izstrella

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it really is. You can be a wiz in one area of what is defined as “intelligence” (e.g. speed of processing/memorization) and absolutely abysmal in another (problem solving). And that same person could be called both a “genius” and and “idiot” on the same day, by the people that are using the same intelligence scale.

@Nashy119

3 жыл бұрын

​@@izstrella There seems to be a bit of a scale from those who are fantastic artists/writers/scientists, through those who get by with a specialisation or two, down to the least shiny tools in the box. Traditionally polymaths would come out clearly ahead but these days people only rank individual specialisations.

@izstrella

3 жыл бұрын

@@Nashy119 • Yeah, we need diverse abilities to survive!

I have the same hair as Hank and "I'm not even sure I have blond hair" has me questioning my hair color

This made me tear up a little bit. It connects beautifully to what I was talking to my students about today. About how all of their strengths are important to the survival and improvement how far species.

I have a very severe sensory processing disorder. It is very limiting at times. But it has also made me me way more innovative, empathetic, and flexible. I am proud of those qualities, and they wouldn’t have developed like they did without my disorder. Thanks for making this video, Hank. You help make me feel seen.

The real question is: can we make dragons with gene editing?

@JimPekarek

3 жыл бұрын

Wyverns would be easier. There's no 6-limbed reptiles to build off of. But theoretically, yes!

Omg im actually first on a vlogbrothers video! I also really like the fact that he brought up the nuances about the understanding of intelligence

@willtheprodigy3819

3 жыл бұрын

Nope, I saw three comments before yours. Close though!

@Adam-lc6mk

3 жыл бұрын

@@willtheprodigy3819 that makes me sad but then I think back to the video tom Scott did on that exact situation

My heart! Wonderful vid. Having ADHD and anxiety and hearing people like Hank and John Green talk about how those things have affected their lives--it means a lot. I don't think I knew Hank had ADHD. Has he talked abt his experience with it before?

@shaiannwyatt7749

3 жыл бұрын

There's a video where he talks about it some from March 2017.

Thank you so much for this video! So much of the conversation around gene editing and intelligence is seriously flawed due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of what intelligence is as well as what genetics is capable of. This is the best explanation I've come across that clearly remedies those misunderstandings. Genetics, especially human neurogenetics, is so much more complicated than an on/off switch for different traits and personalities, and the prevailing conversation only serves to muddy the waters of what CRISPR and gene editing technologies could mean for the prevention or treatment of serious diseases.

Hank, can you do an autobiography? How did you turn ADHD, sensory issues and almost 9th grade reading into assets?

i think we should describe more things as “Bads”

Wow, fantastic oratory! Quite entertaining and enlightening. Well done Sir!

Good point, on the future predictions of what will be beneficial genes in the future. 👍

I think that the importance of intelligence needs to change. Some people are better at some things than others, it doesn’t mean they are not smart 😊

@chloeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

3 жыл бұрын

+++++ “intelligence” as a Set Thing is really just the skills that are valuable to capitalism. people who do not have those skills (whether from disability or some other cause) are no worse than those who do.

Did he just cut off at "I'll see you on-" Was it just to get the timestamp down or is there something changing is this a sign?? I watched the end multiple times because I thought I missed something??

@taniabarg

3 жыл бұрын

I heard tuesday, maybe your device ended the video early haha

Thanks so much for this video, Hank! I have an awesome daughter with sensory processing disorder and ADHD (and ulcerative colitis -- she may be your secret twin) and understanding intelligence in ways other than "I can do well in our rigid school environment structured for one kind of brain" is SO IMPORTANT. (Getting off mom soapbox now.)

The more I learn about you and how you have accomplished so much. Even though I have watched you accomplish this for almost a decade, it still gives me hope that I can create something myself. I always knew there was something I liked about the way your brain worked. Now I just gotta figure out mine 😅

If my grandma was somehow genenically modified back in the 40s, for example, she'd be completely unfit for today. You're 100% right

@OneRandomLeo

3 жыл бұрын

Great example!

Any time I see Jennifer Doudna in the news I panic because I work at UC Berkeley and have worked on things associated with her but also I don't understand any of the stuff about the controversy around her

@itheuserfirst3186

3 жыл бұрын

I'm unaware of any controversy outside of the usual biotech luddites who see dystopia in every technological advancement. The future is not for us to decide. Values change, morals change. Things we find disgusting now will be normal in the future. People should stop worrying about the distant future. You have much less influence over it than you think. Eating humans might become fashionable in the future. We just don't know. The rules are made up.

@itheuserfirst3186

3 жыл бұрын

@Perregrine Perch The repercussions are likely no worse than the status quo. You can't have progress without suffering. Without suffering, there is no living. There's nothing to compare your happiness to. Living a meaningful life should be the standard objective; not the subjective pursuit of "happiness."

As someone getting their teacher credential and learning about learning, I say yes to all of this! Great video!

What an incredible breakdown in 4 minutes. Thank you for this

I cackled at the hot dog is a sandwich line😂😂

My question is this... How do you and John compare in regards to your reading level/ ability 🤔

@vlogbrothers

3 жыл бұрын

John reads very very fast.

@Adam-lc6mk

3 жыл бұрын

@@vlogbrothers eyyy! That doesn't surprise me but what about Hank? Also I just want to say that I love the work that all of you guys do!

I'm glad you went through potential as a variable. We're not even currently set up to support the potential of every intelligent person so how are we going to handle forcing more of it into a system that needs so much work already. There are so many people lacking access to knowledge and support for education, we have no idea how many geniuses we already have that have no ability to reach their potential because of influences outside of their control. If we really want more geniuses that's the place to start.

This is one of the best videos you have made Hank!

but when will we see John? how will we ever know? XD

I recommend the book Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong, and especially one of its essays, "Unspeakable Conversations," by Harriet McBryde Johnson, in which she confronts the eugenicist Peter Singer. The essay starts, "He insists he doesn't want to kill me. He simply thinks it would have been better, all things considered, to have given my parents the option of killing the baby I once was[.]" As a special ed teacher of hearing impaired students, I wouldn't want to live in a world without deaf culture. I've learned what hinders people isn't their disabilities-it's society. The more accessible participation in public life becomes for disabled people, the cooler and more interesting the world becomes for everyone.

Great vid Hank - I agree with your point about whatever the future needs - so many "disorders" like ADHD are "only a disorder" given our current social structure - ADHD traits are GREAT for explorers, pioneers, inventors, entrepreneurs, creatives, so whether it's "preferred" or "disorder" is largely relative and whatever future society's needs are could be wildly different that way. Also worth noting that nature and evolution has already come up with a system for determining "how many short people and how many tall people and how many creative people" etc, a society "needs" by making different traits more or less attractive for mating. Many traits that are considered attractive now were considered unattractive a few hundred years ago, and so as that changes, the ratios of different types of people naturally shift as part of evolution, so humans messing with that would just be b/c we're impatient, but "nature's system" has been working for millions of years, kinda scary to go messing with it now just to see what happens - "don't shake the jello"

Amen. Side note: I'm currently trying some new ADHD meds and I have the feeling I'm reading faster? It sounds so random but your reading remark really makes me think about that. DFTBA!