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From: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: M.S.
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Date: 19 Nov 90 04:04:02 GMT
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 DB>  So amazing in fact that our Government controlled communications 
 DB> network is
 DB>  looking at introducing timed local calls, they would tax breathing if 
 DB> they
 DB>  could...

Privately owned phone companies also do the same thing, unfortunately.

 DB>  AF> It makes no sense to me why I can't do a
 DB>  AF> particular activity.
 DB>  You mean you can actually FLY or transport yourself???

Very good point.  In fact, we sometimes forget that a lot of the
devices we have are really prosthetic devices to compensate for
disabilities because the disabilities are commonplace or
universal.  Airplanes compensate for being born without wings and
telephone systems compensate for our inability to speak loud enough
to be heard miles away.  Getting closer to the point, few people
regard eyeglasses the way they do wheelchairs, but without them a
lot of people we consider able-bodied would in fact be severely
disabled.  People who regard you as inferior because they can do
something you can't are really trying to hide their insecurity;
deep down they know the reason for the difference in abilities is
that they're simply lucky and 1) they don't want to face the
possibility that their luck might run out and 2) they were brought
up to believe that you can do anything if you take enough
responsibility, and they interpret that as meaning that
responsibility is a sufficient condition for achievment as well as
a necessary condition (meaning that if one doesn't succeed, it'd
due to lack of responsibility.  Saying that lack of responsibility
results in lack of success DOES NOT logically imply that lack of
success is always due to lack of responsibility, anymore than the
fact that you can't win the lottery without buying a ticket implies
that everybody who didn't win the lottery didn't buy a ticket).

--
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