There are two racers.
Jane is legless. Since the age of two she has excelled.
Jill is apathetic. She has trouble getting started. She gives up easily. Jill is lazy.
Each is invited to race one mile without devices. Jane rolls. She somersaults. She walks on her hands. She is relentless. The odds are invigorating.
Jill is disinterested. She starts slowly. She complains about her sore foot. She stops to rest. She doesn't like her shoes.
Jane finishes bruised, scraped, dirty and sore. Jill finishes first.
Who is the better person? Who do we praise?
Jane and Jill are identical twins. Jane lost her legs after a childhood infection. Jill's personality changed after a brain tumor was removed at age 17. Jill has spent years relearning speech and ambulation.
Who is the better person? Who do we praise?
Jane and Jill are not identical twins. Jill was born lazy.
Who is disabled?
Jack is a sociopath. He was born unable to form connections to other persons ...
See also ...
- A taxonomy of American politics - how attitudes to the weak define America (3/2011)
- Free Will RIP - The Economist on preemptive punishment (12/2006)
- Calvin, free will and me (3/2010)
- Addiction and disease: My comments on the TIME Science blog (7/2007)
- Lurching towards wisdom: neurodiversity and the morality of abnormality (5/2004)
- Bad genes, bad people and a crisis of punishment? (11/2009)
- Diminished responsibility: the next cultural battleground (9/2005)
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