The Speed of Dark
In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Unfortunately, there will be a generation left behind. For members of that missed generation, small advances will be made. Through various programs, they will be taught to get along in the world despite their differences. They will be made active and contributing members of society. But they will never be normal.Lou Arrendale is a member of that lost generation, born at the wrong time to reap the awards of medical science. Part of a small group of high-functioning autistic adults, he has a steady job with a pharmaceutical company, a car, friends, and a passion for fencing. Aside from his annual visits to his counselor, he lives a low-key, independent life. He has learned to shake hands and make eye contact. He has taught himself to use "please" and "thank you" and other conventions of conversation because he knows it makes others comfortable. He does his best to be as normal as possible and not to draw attention to himself. But then his quiet life comes under attack. It starts with an experimental treatment that will reverse the effects of autism in adults. With this treatment Lou would think and act and be just like everyone else. But if he was suddenly free of autism, would he still be himself? Would he still love the same classical music--with its complications and resolutions?
Stats for nerds
2recommend
14mentions
7people
2012–2025years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- an interesting book related to this discussion is "Speed of Dark" by Elisabeth Moon. It tells the story of an autistic person and their struggles while faced with the possibility of a "cure"
- a disability or illness implies the need to be cured. but for high functioning autistic people it is not clear whether they are actually having a disability or an illness that needs curing. if something doesn't need curing then it's not an illness, nor a disability. so either we don't diagnose people who don't need curing but do need an explanation for their differences as autistic, or we accept that at least some high functioning autistic people are not disabled or ill.
i mentioned before the book "Speed of Dark" by Elisabeth Moon which explores this topic.
- Many good tips so far in this thread. If your friend reads a lot of papers, they might be able to "leap" into classics without being bogged down by the language and sometimes dense prose - but I'd still err on the side of accessible for getting someone into reading for pleasure.
I'd recommend for example (in no particular order - just some great books imnho):
Earthsea quartet by LeGuin
Dune by Herbert
South of the Border by Murakami
Islands in the Net by Sterling
Foundation trilogy by Asimov
Speed of Dark, by Moon
Accelerando, by Stross
Murderbot diaries, by Wells
A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vinge (and Rainbow's End by same)
2312, by Robinson
And many more, I'm sure :)
- Came here to make sure someone mentioned these. Might not qualify as great fiction imnho - but the technical detail more than makes up for it. And the books are entertaining.
I see people's mentioned Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" - while I loved "diamond age" and like "snowcrash" - I much prefer Singh's "the codebook" on a similar theme. Thrilling non-fiction.
On the more fiction side, I enjoyed Bruce Sterling's "The Zenith Angle" a lot.
And second the recommendations for Mitnick's books - both the autobiography "ghost in the wires" and the more free form "made up examples" in "the art of deception" (like many of the stories in the stealing the network books, "inspired" by true events...).
Other than that there's of course: https://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
(and to a lesser extent "homeland").
And others mentioned the non-fiction book detailing operation sun devil:
"THE HACKER CRACKDOWN Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier", Bruce Sterling
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/101
[ed: I think maybe "Rainbows End" by Vernor Vinge deserves a mention too. And maybe "speed of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon]
- To me it sounds like he probably ended up on the far sensitive side of the spectrum, but well within normal. But, even if he was an adult, he didn't have the mental tools to handle the emotion - I read it as if he suddenly got the intense and open empathy children can have. You don't go to a six year old and describe the suffering of refugees in detail, because it'll give them nightmares. Just having a general idea of someone's suffering can be overwhelming for a child.
I know people that are very emotional, and can get overwhelmed by seeing others suffer -- but people that are absolutely "normal". I wouldn't call it "average" (for adults anyway) however.
I do think he's wrong about not having had a limited form of empathy: literally feeling other peoples pain is empathy. That doesn't mean he didn't care, or loved before - but it absolutely sounds like he had trouble: "understanding and entering into another's feelings" (from WordNet, my emphasis).
It's a fascinating story, like a real-life "The Speed of Dark", by Elizabeth Moon (in part inspired by her son):
http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Dark-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/d...
- The book: "The Speed of Dark" by Elizabeth Moon has a similar theme to your question (but deals with autism, not downs syndrome).
