“Like a Hole in the Head,” is an article by Christopher Turner. The article is about the perilous plight of Amanda Fielding. In 1970, she filmed herself performing a self-trepanation. Trepanation is an archaic surgical procedure, and is defunct in the realm of modern medicine. As for the contents of the procedure, trepanation is drilling a hole in the skull of a patient. That is to say, Amanda Fielding filmed herself drilling a hole in her own head. Her reasoning was that it would relieve pressure in her skull, increase blood flow to her brain, and thus increase brain performance. She was introduced to trepanation by a man named Bart Huges. Huges trepanned himself for the purpose of being permanently high. The two then aided a third man in …show more content…
Fielding even says herself that her instincts were the biggest obstacle. If one’s mind is trying to prevent an action, it is most likely best to follow its advice. Fielding herself was not certain that the positive effects weren’t placebos. That being said, there are better ways to evoke these effects besides self-mutilation. Another reason for their trepanation was to get high. As said before, altering the function of your brain is unethical, drugs, trepanation, or otherwise. There is a reason that drugs are considered negative, and trepanation is no different. There is also the matter of the harmful effects of trepanation. It could lead to infection, foreign substances entering the brain cavity, incorrect blood flow, and other negative results. The most obvious problem is that, if done incorrectly, a trepanation could quickly become an accidental lobotomy. If the drill were to slip and go too far, it could lead to brain damage, or death. In summary, Fielding and associates were major supporters of trepanation, which is an immoral action. There is no good, solid reason for it. It has the potential for exponentially more harm than good. It is said to result in getting high, which is also immoral. Humans were created a specific way, and to alter that both physically and mentally at the same time seems like some kind of physiological
The term used to describe this surgical procedure is trepanning or trephination. It has also been referred to burr holing. Trepanning is hought to be the oldest surgical procedure performed that can be validated by archaeologists. (1) It is also thought to be the first attempt to reign in unruly or deviant behaviors. Mental illness was an unknown in this era. The prevailing thought of the time was that these individuals were ruled by evil spirits. Hippocrates endorsed trepanning, writing explicit instructions in how to perform the surgery.
2)Strassman, R. Human Hallucinogenic Drug Research: Regulatory, Clinical and Scientific Issues. Brain Res. 162. 1990.
Sessa, B. "Is It Time to Revisit the Role of Psychedelic Drugs in Enhancing Human
Colloquially called ‘auto-pilot’ I would venture to guess that these instances must be few and far between else we probably would not be long for this world. My issue with this and our dualist would be the ‘come to’ stage that never arrives. Surely Armstrong would think such a drug is impossible in principle because someone stuck in auto-pilot would indefinitely find him or herself in a situation where that mode would conclude in death. Armstrong believes that Behaviorism is problematic but a step in the right direction and that while mental states cannot be identified with behaviours, mental states are linked to behaviours and also believes that dispositions are the inner mental states that cause behaviour. So if we were to destroy the mind preventing the formation of dispositions or inner mental states, our behaviors would most definitely be altered if not destroyed as
The critical approach to institutional contexts and social structures is one that aims to analyze them carefully and shrewdly, taking into consideration for example, how they exist in relation to and as agents of oppression, as well as examining the ways in which these institutions and social structures inherently propagate the oppression of marginalized peoples. As well as that, the critical approach intends to judiciously evaluate the function of these institutions and social structures in regards to the power relationship within them with an end goal of alleviating the struggle of those marginalized, exploited, and oppressed. Specifically, the critical approaches taken by bell hooks in “Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression” and Michael Kimmel in “Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity” do not present the ideas of feminism and masculinity as just catch-all terms, but rather emphasize the complexities and intricacies of these concepts as they occur in the world. These texts also include varied perspectives on feminism and masculinity and analyze how they come together to create a thorough and comprehensive analysis of these concepts.
This week’s Critical Thinking analysis, I’m going to draw a conclusion and evaluation of the work that I have done for “Hastening Death.” In the first Critical Thinking analysis, I talked about whether or not the United States should legalize hastening death throughout the country. I also gave information on the different types of methods to hasten your death and the controversial issue of it. I would have to say that some of my strengths in the first analysis is depicting a strong point of both sides in the controversy. I provided a lot of pros and cons to the issue and backing it up with information to support both sides. For instance, giving examples of Oregon and Washington’s view on the topic since it has already been legalize and seeing
The purpose of this essay is to reflect and critically study an incident from a clinical setting whilst using a model of reflection. This will allow me to analyse and make sense of the incident and draw conclusions relating to personal learning outcomes. The significance of critical analysis and critical incidents will briefly be discussed followed by the process of reflection using the chosen model. The incident will then be described and analysed and the people involved introduced. (The names of the people involved have been changed to protect their privacy) and then I will examine issues raised in light of the recent literature relating to the incident. My essay will include a discussion of communication, interpersonal skills used in the incident, and finally evidence based practice. I will conclude with explaining what I have learned from the experience and how it will change my future actions.
The search for a "higher level of consciousness" is one that seems to be as old as consciousness itself. Practices such as the ritualistic or religious consumption of peyote, ayahuasca, psilocybe mushrooms or other such naturally-occuring hallucinogenic drugs, self-deprivation and transcendental meditation are just a few of the countless ways in which mankind has sought to expand the limits of human experience; these practices are still a mainstay in many modern countercultures. They are also very well-known and documented practices. There exists, however, a radical surgical procedure, as old as the aforementioned practices but far less notorious in the general public, which purports to result in the same sort of enlightenment: trepanation, also known as trephination.
Felix Frankfurter once said, “the most constructive way of resolving conflicts is to avoid them.” which means evading the conflicts is the best way to resolve the conflicts.In the other words, if we don’t want to face the conflicts, we should stay away from them and try to not get involved in.However, in my personal opinion, I disagree with this quote since the conflicts will still surround us even though we try to avoid them. Moreover, if the conflicts are initiated by us or just comes to us, to avoid the conflicts will not help us to resolve them.
This idea sounded ideal, especially with the discovery of psychotropic medication, but it eventually led to an increase in repres...
If people seeking neurological enhancement are given access to these types of drugs many more ethical issues will be raised. Firstly, are these drugs even safe? Many pharmaceutical therapies for cognitive enhancement are relatively new, and therefore there is a severe lack of information about their long term usage. Of course, side effects are a concern with any medicine currently available to patients. However, not all drugs available deal with systems so complex as the brain and nervous system. The dangers presented are amplified greatly because of the importance and intricacies of this system.
Many would say that simply entertaining the idea of having hallucinogenic drugs associated with therapy is probably the work of another idealist. That hallucinogenic drugs are far too dangerous to be used as medicine and may addict patients receiving the treatment. Another theory would be that that it’s another hoax to endorse drugs such as LSD. After hallucinogenic drugs were made illegal society wrapped its mind around it being dangerous and morally wrong to consume ...
Unbowed Critical Review In reading Wangari Maathai’s memoir, Unbowed, you will see the author’s main goals and accomplishments unfold through the different chapters of the novel. In reading the memoir, you quickly come to realize that her loyalty lies with her country, and she wants to see her country develop, along with her help. The narrative is told from the perspective of Wangari Maathai, and her experiences in life, beginning in her early childhood during the 1940s, and up until just after she received her Nobel Prize for Peace in 2004 (Maathai 2006). The use of telling different accounts of her life and different stories is used to convey Maathai’s message to places such as Kenya and other areas of the world in regards to women’s rights, social inequality, and environmental issues.
Couch, D., Liamputtong, P., & Pitts, M. (2012). What are the real and perceived risks and
In his essay Critical Thinking: What Is It Good For? (In Fact, What Is It), Howard Gabennesch explains the importance of critical thinking by drawing attention to how its absence is responsible for societies many ills including, but not limited to, the calamity in Vietnam. Yet, at the end of his essay, Gabennesch also mentions that, despite “the societal benefits of critical thinking, at the individual level, uncritical thinking offers social and psychological rewards of its own.”(14). Similarly, it is these rewards that, like the bait on a fishhook, often make individuals hesitant to engage in critical thinking despite the resulting harm to both them and society.