http://mrsilence.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] mrsilence.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] talkpolitics 2011-02-23 10:53 pm (UTC)

Re: So....

only possible way

You don't actually know that.

Research into neuroplasticity tends to suggest that it is feasible that absent or lost functionality in the brain is possible to reproduce in other parts of the brains with the proper inducements. There are numerous cases where the part of the brain responsible for particular faculties are absent, individuals have acquired or regained the faculty either naturally or with specialised training.

The jury is still out on exactly how far this neuroplasticity goes, but that's exactly my point. We don't know enough about the brain to make a definitive statement either way at this point.

I'm not comfortable with ruling out any potential solution that could take people with profound mental disorders, who are a danger to themselves and others, out of prison, or off death row, and putting them back onto the street as a well adjusted contributing human being.

That reality is probably a very long way off, but treating it as an impossibility only postpones it further.


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