This latest confirms my impression that transhumanists have an overrepresentation of bottom-feeders and generally sleazy characters. The latest blog posting of George Dvorsky brings even his performance to a new low.
Before I get into the latest post of his, a little history is in order. Dvorsky was the source of the quote about “Ashley X” aka the “Pillow Angel” that became really popular with the defenders of the radical surgical alteration of the young girl. One example of the quote can be found in the following news story:
George Dvorsky, a director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, countered: “If the concern has something to do with the girl’s dignity being violated, then I have to protest by arguing that the girl lacks the cognitive capacity to experience any sense of indignity.
“The estrogen treatment is not what is grotesque here. Rather, it is the prospect of having a full-grown and fertile woman endowed with the mind of a baby.” (emphasis added)
This mantra about matching “mental age” to body size became pretty popular and was even paraphrased by “don’t know squat about developmental disabilities but people will believe me because I’m a TV psychiatrist” Keith Ablow:
It is more appropriate, actually, for her to be in a physical body more the size to kind of match her intellectual abilities, which are so limited and that affords her a higher quality of life.
So what is Dvorky’s latest “contribution” to the “Ashley X” discourse? Unlike people close to Dr. Daniel Gunther, who are struggling to deal with his suicide, Dvorsky’s found a way to exploit the tragedy by throwing out a baseless accusation:
This is particularly upsetting for me, not just because I supported Gunther during the controversy, but because of the possibility that his suicide was wrought by undue pressure exacted on him by overzealous and vocal disability groups. (emphasis added)
As I noted yesterday in this blog, this accusation by Dvorsky would come as news to Gunther’s family who made a specific point of pointing to Gunther’s prolonged struggle with depression as the cause for his suicide – and specifically dismissed the idea that the controversy over “Ashley X” had anything to do with it.
I guess Dvorsky couldn’t resist an attempt to exploit this tragedy in an attempt to smear and possibly silence critics of the so-called “Ashley Treatment.” I guess it would be irresistible if you lack principles and any sense of shame. –Stephen Drake