Auto-refresh on the main page disappeared my original, much longer comment and I don't feel like retyping it, so in summary: if I was a parent of that baby I wouldn't view it so much as a miracle as a cruel joke.

How can a baby with no Cerebrum laugh?


I think they are mistaking some stimulus the baby is bringing to their in group for something it is not.

Hypothesis 1:
The baby makes stimulus, and then an authority in the in group makes a decision based on intuition. After that every one is in agreement. Classic group think.

Hypothesis 2:
Some one made a mistake and the child has an underdeveloped brain.

>> ^NordlichReiter:
How can a baby with no Cerebrum laugh?

The neurons that inervate the facial muscles are intact in the brainstem, so the baby can still move and display certain reflexes despite the lack of conscious control.

It's interesting that religious people can still consider this a miracle. It's like, lets attribute the survival of this baby to God, and the fact that the baby was born WITHOUT A BRAIN, well, that's just bad luck. Self delusion: the only way to reconcile religion with reality.

Like the great George Carlin said: "Can’t we silence these Christian athletes who thank Jesus whenever they win and never mention his name when they lose? You never hear them say, 'Jesus made me drop the ball' or, 'The Lord tripped me up behind the line of scrimmage.'"

>> ^mentality:
>>...It's like, lets attribute the survival of this baby to God, and the fact that the baby was born WITHOUT A BRAIN, well, that's just bad luck. Self delusion: the only way to reconcile religion with reality.

The baby may have no actual brain, but I think he's a bit brighter than his parents...

So, instead of creating this massive elaborate multi-user simulation known as the Matrix, why didn't the evil future robots just make babies like this one to power their "fusion" bio-batteries?

I hope the whole family is burned alive. Fucking scum.

would definitely keep some valuables in the empty skull cavity

Oh the lengths human selfishness will go... This "miracle" is depressing on many levels.

I don't understand how this is a miracle.

I'm not so sure about this being #humanitarian.

Some seriously messed up comments here. As though highly educated humans are the only lives worthy of not having their throats slit at birth.

I didn't note any mention in the video of extraordinary measures being taken to save this life, like those often taken in the cases of premature babies. Just the opposite in fact - he just survived. Perhaps the commenters that think his parents should diaf believe the baby would have been better off being drowned at birth? Or dumped in a ditch to die quickly of dehydration/starvation? Maybe we could extend that - any toddler that doesn't walk by 18 months, or any child that doesn't quote shakespeare by 5 years is euthanized.

wtf?

>> ^jonny:

Some seriously messed up comments here. As though highly educated humans are the only lives worthy of not having their throats slit at birth.
I didn't note any mention in the video of extraordinary measures being taken to save this life, like those often taken in the cases of premature babies. Just the opposite in fact - he just survived. Perhaps the commenters that think his parents should diaf believe the baby would have been better off being drowned at birth? Or dumped in a ditch to die quickly of dehydration/starvation? Maybe we could extend that - any toddler that doesn't walk by 18 months, or any child that doesn't quote shakespeare by 5 years is euthanized.
wtf?


Yeah, how we respond to the video probably depends on our temperament and assumptions.

>> ^chilaxe:

Yeah, how we respond to the video probably depends on our temperament and assumptions.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. I wouldn't have expected folks here to be so quick to dismiss life as worthless because it doesn't rise to their predefined notion of consciousness -- that notion apparently being based on a well developed cerebrum. I find that notion odd considering how very little is understood about the human brain and consciousness. Following that logic to its conclusion, any living thing without a well developed hominid brain would be subject to euthanasia, wouldn't it?

I'm very happy to dismiss life as worthless when it doesn't rise to my predefined notion of consciousness. That's not a baby, it's a lump of meat. Family of lunatics.

@jonny: "Following that logic to its conclusion, any living thing without a well developed hominid brain would be subject to euthanasia, wouldn't it?"

-I understand your points, but this is my take on the neural angle: Animals have feelings and volition, which wouldn't be how we describe anencephalic babies. When a mouse is hungry it cries. When an anencephalic baby needs food it does nothing because it cannot experience hunger or generate actions.

-This is my take on the economics angle: If it cost $10,000 per year to keep alive every mouse in the world, yes, we would feel that money was better spent elsewhere. We could invest it in scientific research to make sure anencephaly never happens again, or invest it in humanitarian organizations that can save a human life for around $1000, through things like fighting malaria or developing better access to clean water.