World of Suck

There seems to be a common theme in the religious right these days: science where it suits them, but only to the degree that it meets their needs.

Recently a couple had been trying to have kids, and when they couldn't they turned to science to help them. As a side effect of the medical (not holy) intervention they conceived six. The doctors told them that trying to have six wasn't a good idea, that there would be problems, and that they should reduce the number to increase their chances of survival. This is the same science that they turned to in the first place to conceive right? You'd think that they'd say "Yes, we want a child and a healthy one so we'll do what we have to as insurance."

But no. Now it was back to "faith". Science got you pregnant, but faith will ensure that the doctors will be wrong? Uh no. Four of the six are dead, and the remaining two are in intensive care, but they still have "faith".

If all the babies die then they'll be back to "science" again trying to conceive. Given the time and money wasted on them in the first place I hope they get a back seat to newer couples who are more willing to listen to the doctors.

You were told of the consequences thus it's no surprise that it happened. It wasn't science that let you down, it was either your "faith" or your own lack of intelligence.

Once again, Darwin proves his mettle.

Logically speaking the first child is the eldest child. There's lots of things special about being first in any venue, but recently, it's been diagnosed that eldest kids are often the smarter kids. Ok, well, that comes as no big surprise to many of us. But if our overly-sensitive society that's now a problem rather than a simple statement of collected data.

The knee jerk reaction being published is "Oh that's so unfair to the rest of the kids."

Come the fuck on.

Unfair? How? You can't blame the parents or the child for the birth order of the kids, nor can you switch them around after their born. People can't "take turns" at being the eldest, I'm sorry. Instead of just acknowledging that someone conducted an effective study to uncover supporting data for something most people took for granted, people are how howling about the inherent inequality for subsequent children. There will be a drive to "equalize" family dynamics to make things more "fair".

As far as I'm concerned this is so unspeakably stupid it's almost hard to express. Why this should be a problem for anyone at all is beyond reason. Life does not require justification. Eldest kids are test-subjects for their parents. Eldest kids are stuck with additional responsibilities. Eldest kids face more scrutiny. The list goes on and on. If you want to talk "fair" how does all that weigh into the balance?

Finally, these meddling morons who want to make certain all kids have an even slice of the intelligence pie - is that really what you want? You want the oldest child to be stupider when he's the one in charge of his siblings? Or is it that you want the younger kids smarter so they can better circumvent any authority?

Be careful what you ask for. The current situation works, instead of trying to destroy that balance maybe some analysis needs to be done regarding the public consumption of scientific studies first.

The data? You can't handle the data...