Regarding human "rationality". , President Obama apologizes for a medical experiment carried out now more than 60 ani in Guatemala, in the 40s. Hundreds of prostitutes were infected with syphilis and gonorrhea (the pathogens of these diseases). The methods used are themselves difficult to describe, presented in the attached clip. They were then sent to infect prisoners and patients in psychiatric hospitals. The goal was to test the effect of penicillin on these diseases. But the prostitutes were not volunteers, they were not told what was happening and they were not asked for their consent. The doctors who participated in this experiment declared that such a thing could not be done in the States. Why? Because people have rights there and there could be a big scandal.
But it was done anyway. Some of the doctors who worked on the Guatemala experiment had participated in a similar one in Alabama, started in 1932. The "guinea pigs" had been unimportant American citizens, who rarely voted in those days, although they had the right to vote. It was about African Americans. Alexis de Toqueville tells in "Democracy in America" that 1830 there were many free blacks in the northern states. But they never voted, because they didn't have the courage to vote. The main character of "Charlie Wilson's war", recently aired on HBO, he talks about the same situation in his childhood. I don't know exactly how old Senator Charlie Wilson is, but this probably happened in the 50s. The experiment in Alabama was so traumatic that even now African Americans do not trust the medical system.
Emphasize the medical principle of "first do no harm", that is, first don't do any harm. The medical act aims at the good of the patient. But on the other hand, the attraction towards human experiments is extraordinary. Why? Among other things, because some diseases only have humans, and to those that other animals also have, human resistance is different, the incidence of these diseases is different. To give examples from my field, the rat does not get Alzheimer's, it doesn't even cause atherosclerosis... To study Alzheimer's disease, you use animal models, transgenic sobolani, but their usefulness is limited. You cannot be sure that the results will apply to humans. On the other hand, the distance from the conception of a medicine to its application is very long, of 6- 25 years. This means reduced chances for people who could be saved. That's why I was very happy when I heard that experimental treatments can be tested relatively easily on patients in serious condition in Great Britain.
These experiments say something else important about human nature. I was thinking about one of the theories regarding the origin of altruism, that we behave with certain people as we want them to behave with us. If we don't need them, if they have no way to influence our lives, then we don't care about them. Sure, there are such people, who feel that way. But let's be serious, who wants to deal with prostitutes and prisoners (Careful, there are quality people among them), people with poor education and questionable morality? I don't. On the other hand, for them I am in no way worth more than what I have in my wallet. Then why do many people reject the idea of harming others? There is empathy, after all, they are people, but there is also something else, a strong inhibition given by numerous reasonings and feelings that form our virtual universe. You understand why he behaves that way, but in the last instance it is also the self-image that prevents you from doing certain things that you consider below your dignity. Altruism could have a much more complex mechanism, being really related to the development of typical human functions.
But experiments on humans can be carried out under certain conditions, with the consent of the subjects, who are warned about side effects. My theory has certain predictions related to the treatment of a form of baldness, the most common. Other animals do not have baldness (there are transgenic nude mice), and there are few effective drugs in this regard. One is rogaine (minoxidil), an "opener" of potassium channels and vasodilator, but why it is effective is not exactly known. Let's say I have a certain explanation, let's say that understanding this, I could come up with others that do the same thing, even better. I wonder how many men (Caucasian, Westerners, who votes) they would like to be guinea pigs in this sense. I thought of Basescu and Boc, but I would not do such experiments on them. I think the treatment would have some positive side effects:)
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Ethics/22672?utm_content=GroupCL&utm_medium=email&impressionId=1286871945171&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=mSpoke&users=189288
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34276015/vp=39749883�
