> On Sun, 15 Oct 2000, Spike Jones wrote:
> >
> > Living in a facility the size of a minivan for indefinite periods would
> > be not so different from her current living arrangement...
> >
> > She has the heart of a lion: accustomed to overcoming enormous...
> >
> > She weighs only about 25 kg. spike
>
> Alex Future Bokov wrote: Does spina bifida cause reduced body weight (yes, I
> could look this
> and everything else up but I'm lazy)?
In general, I dont know, but in the particular case with which I am
acquainted, the young lady has always been paralyzed from the waist
down, and those parts never did develop to any extent. I honestly do
not know if her lack of growth above the paralysis point was caused
by the condition, or if she would have been small anyway. Both
her parents are a bit on the shrimpy side, but the fact that the
girl *is* small may have saved her life, since there are known
problems with S.B. if the person grows large.
> Eris help me, this actually makes sense to me.
Thank you *very much* Alex, you have made my day. As it turns
out you are the first to bite on this notion. People want to send a
tall, handsome young Captain America type to Mars, to plant a
damn striped piece of cloth and come home, I suppose. What is
the point of that? The first Martians need to stay and work, not
just explore and poke flags into the red soil. We can build machines
that can explore.
My notion is a one-way trip, with the idea to set up a farm, build
habitation modules by guiding and repairing semi-autonomous robots,
setting up for the next generation, who would actually be born
native to Mars. I admit that it is an outrageously high-risk venture.
> Really, this would apply to many different types of disabilities.
Right-o!
> Microgravity could be the next great equalizer.
Right-o!
> Is there an untapped extropic reserve among the worlds "dis"abled?
There is. Such a mission would lend new meaning to the
euphamism "differently abled." The differently abled are
pre-adapted to the confines of a Mars hab module.
> At the very least, this gives me
> (and hopefully actual real sci-fi writers lurking on this list) the
> beginnings of what could be a poigniant and inspiring sci-fi story.
Truely. Damien Broderick could go to town with something like this.
> Not just physical disabilities either. I remember reading someplace
> that people with autism who have found jobs in the computer industry
> sometimes find their autism to actually be an asset.
Or how about obsessive compulsive "disorder." If the person obsesses
about surviving in an unforgiving environment, that condition would come
to be called obsessive compulsive order. spike
ps. now youve gotten me on my old soapbox... {8^D
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