Friendly to the Extreme: Kids and Adults With Williams Syndrome (Link)

XiXiDu

Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition [...].

"Little babies will come up to you, they will stare into your face, and it will be hard to actually disengage from that stare," explained Helen Tager-Flusberg whose lab at Boston University studies the social behavior of children with Williams. "When they're four or five...whether they know you or not, within about five minutes you're their new best friend."

One fascinating study by researchers in Europe found that children with Williams show no racial bias whatsoever. While children, even babies, prefer people of their own race, the neural pathway that imprints for race bias is somehow lacking in children with Williams.

Williams Syndrome is caused by the deletion of roughly 25 genes on chromosome 7. The deletion can occur randomly during the production of a sperm or egg cell. Though there are 20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human genome, even the loss of just 25 genes can have profound effects on a person's physical, behavioral and cognitive make-up.

[...]

In one experiment to test empathy, the adult experimenter bangs her knee on a table and expresses a great deal of pain. In many runs the lab recorded, the typically-developing child just watched and expressed no empathy or concern. But children with Williams often went right over to the experimenter to rub her knee and ask, "What's wrong?"

[...]

What do most children with Williams Syndrome do when presented with the creepy spider? They pet it.

Link: abcnews.go.com/Health/friendly-extreme-meet-kids-adults-williams-syndrome/

Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition [...].

"Little babies will come up to you, they will stare into your face, and it will be hard to actually disengage from that stare," explained Helen Tager-Flusberg whose lab at Boston University studies the social behavior of children with Williams. "When they're four or five...whether they know you or not, within about five minutes you're their new best friend."

One fascinating study by researchers in Europe found that children with Williams show no racial bias whatsoever. While children, even babies, prefer people of their own race, the neural pathway that imprints for race bias is somehow lacking in children with Williams.

Williams Syndrome is caused by the deletion of roughly 25 genes on chromosome 7. The deletion can occur randomly during the production of a sperm or egg cell. Though there are 20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human genome, even the loss of just 25 genes can have profound effects on a person's physical, behavioral and cognitive make-up.

[...]

In one experiment to test empathy, the adult experimenter bangs her knee on a table and expresses a great deal of pain. In many runs the lab recorded, the typically-developing child just watched and expressed no empathy or concern. But children with Williams often went right over to the experimenter to rub her knee and ask, "What's wrong?"

[...]

What do most children with Williams Syndrome do when presented with the creepy spider? They pet it.

Link: abcnews.go.com/Health/friendly-extreme-meet-kids-adults-williams-syndrome/

It's not an obvious choice to me. Taking a stab on trying to actually trying to think of what I'd do in that situation plunged my simulation way into a tangled web of consequences. Ad that was without the stuff I'd do before trying to think of an actual solution I were really faced with the problem, such as discussing it with people, thinking of it for 5 min, or giving it more introspection that random idle tired though.

I'd certainly be willing to take the risk personally if the numbers came up as it being beneficial to the world thou.

It's not an obvious choice to me.

It's obvious to me. You might as well wish to have Down's Syndrome. From PubMed:

"Most patients require full-time caregivers and often live in supervised group homes."

Williams Syndrome is plainly a case of a brain gone wrong. It gives a superficial facility with social interaction but with no substance behind it.

4CharlieSheen15y

Its pretty much a slam dunk in my eyes. Most people with an IQ of 100 seem to be a net positive for everyone else on the planet. Most people with an IQ of 65, not so much. With the exception of the proverbial North Korean Space Zombie Hitler Stalin Bad Guy straw man an individualist classiest sexist racist speciest ableist with an IQ of 135 has a higher probability of contributing something to mankind that a selfless person with an IQ of 100 who can't detect any hostility or ill intention. But people seem to drop utilitarianism when it can't help you signal good things. Killing arbitrarily large numbers of certain kinds of people dosen't seem to be a bad signal in practice. Implicitly violating taboos is. Funny that.