Lobotomy

In article , "Famille Brault-Tremblay" wrote:

I'm going to say this again, Brittany is probably a lot smarter than she has been letting on. She's no genius but she does have some smarts (hey this could be a new Daria Theory -- stay tuned). She probably only subconsciously hides her intellect, it does come to the surface sometimes.

As for Kevin, I think it is safe to say that he's not acting.

Not at the moment, but do lobotmies have to be done by aliens?

Ooh, la la!

Do we have any in the medical profession in the group?

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that lobotomy was an early procedure used by human doctors in the beginnings of post-medieval medicine. Although aliens of a sort give a lobotomy to one of the astronauts in "The Planet of the Apes", seems to me that the "Making of" segment said they had to go back into the human history books to find out what a lobotomy scar looked like. My time line might be totally off, though. That's what happens when your mind is as cluttered as your room and you rely on TV for knowledge. :-)

Hmm...that line with Brittany saying to Kevin, "He was trying to say you're not getting any smarter. That's what school's for...from a teacher's point of view." That might be SOME evidence. I suppose her analysis of Daria's advice in "The Misery Chick" might have a tad. She did reach a conclusion which summed up Daria's ideas, but it was so confused. You might toss in her analysis of Daria's "vanity problem", but again. Tough call.

Hmm...in "Lab Brat" she goes after a difficult goal and somewhat succeeds, but I don't know...she seems so generally clueless. It's not like Val at all. Jodie's and Daria's use of sarcasm, for instance, is totally lost on her.

I know you've said it before, but could you refresh me on some of your evidence?

Sincerely, Rev. Paul L. Vasquez

In article ,

What episode was that? I can't remember.

not like Val at all. Jodie's and Daria's use of sarcasm, for

The things that stick out in my mind are her strategizing in The Daria Hunter, her reasoning in Through a Lens Darkly and her driving Kevin and 'outsmarting' him in Fair Enough. Most of the things you've mentioned would fit into this theory perfectly.

also was (don't think it still is) used on mental patients i think... eg. frances farmer (actress who nirvana wrote a song about, which is how i know <lol>), apparently. oh, and a character in 'the bell jar' iirc. :)

"endless, nameless" wrote:

ISTR that a lobotomy involves the removal of parts of the frontal lobes of the brain, making a person EXTREMELY docile, and it's been performed in the US up until the 70s. I also STR that JFK's Father, whose name escapes me right now, had it done to one of his more unruly daughters. Fortunately, we now have drugs that can do the same thing, only without quite so much permanent damage.

Re: the following-- Kids don't try this at home!

The medieval practice that Father V is thinking of is Trepanation, which is actually even older than that--- Trepanned skulls as old as 3,000 years old have been found in South America, and it is still practiced by many remote tribes in the world as a last-ditch operation to cure depression, severe headaches, etc.

<icky stuff ahead> Trepanation involves boring a hole into the skull in order to improve the blood volume in the brain-- somehow, the theory goes, the hole in the skull changes the intracranial pressure in such a way that more blood reaches the brain. Actually, all of the myths about it being used to "let out evil spirits" are a bunch of hooey. It was also used in medieval Europe as a last-ditch effort to alleviate depression and chronic headaches. (A number of skulls have been found with multiple holes in them, and most of the old holes have healed over, leading to the theory that people had it done again when the old hole closed and symptoms returned.) </icky stuff>

These days, there are people who have had it done to themselves, for whatever reason. They claim that they get a "natural high" and that they get improved cognitive function from the hole in their skull. The jury is still out on that part, and, frankly, there isn't a lot of call for research in that particular area. There's a link to ITAG on my website, mostly because I think anyone motivated enough to get high who's willing to try to drive a hole in his/her skull with a Black & Decker is worth checking out, just for their singlemindedness. ;-)

rich.

Quinn: I can't be a brain! My friends will hate me!

(Note this post contains a scene from early season 3)

All I can say is that's some pretty cool stuff.

Back to Mike Quinn. The lost scene, let me check Outpost Daria quick... Through a Lens Darkly: Kevin - I'm really psyched, babe. All that bench-pressing is paying off. Brittany - Huh? Kevin - Tone, babe. You heard what Mr. O said about seeing my inner strength. Brittany - Um, babe, he was trying to say you're not getting any smarter. Kevin - Oh... well, am I supposed to? Brittany - Yeah, that's what school's for. From a _teacher's_ point of view. Kevin - Oh.

The Daria Hunters...ironic I forgot that considering I've been talking about it quite a bit recently. You're right, of course. The people's "surprise" reaction, is telling, but does bolster your argument. Hmm...

Sincerely, Rev. Paul L. Vasquez

P.S. Do we still have to declare episodes 301-305, 307 as spoilers, or only the most current new season.

On Thu, 01 Jul 1999 16:08:27 GMT, [email] (paperpusher) wrote:

(snip)

IIRC, early lobotomy often involved the removal of the frontal lobe of the brain (either surgically removed or disolved by alcohol.) After a few years of this method it was discovered that the nerve bundles leading to the frontal lobe could be severed with the same result and the removal of the lobe was obsolete and barbaric. This new method, called pre-frontal lobotomy, was more efficient than the older ice cream scoop method. This innovation allowed mental hospitals to adopt an assembly line mentality towards lobotomy. Larger hospitals could easily do 2 or 3 dozen lobotomys a day.

Another inovation was the orbital lobotomy. This procedure was even more efficient and could often be done without anesthetic in under 15 minutes. This involved an icepick-like device and a hammer. The icepick would be hammered into the brain through the eye socket (the angle of the patient's nose was often used as a reference for inserting the pick) and then swiveled around, randomly cutting nerves and brain tissue. It is said that a patient could see the doctor on his or her lunch hour, get lobotomized, have lunch and be back to work on time. I think the orbital lobotomy was also featured on an episode of The X-Files.

Lobotomy was inspired by a railroad worker, named Phineas Gage, who took an iron spike through the skull in an accident involving explosives. He survived the accident and was never the same. This once drunken foul-mouthed man turned into a docile obedient employee (I hope no one from Microsoft is reading this<g>.)

that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I hope this was somewhat informative and I hope I didn't deviate too far from the facts.

No! Lobotomys were done in the 14th century to "calm" people, and have nothing to do with aliens.

[email] wrote:

Rather later than the 14th century! For instance Randle McMurphy in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" was subjected to a lobotomy. The practice was common up until a few years ago.

Should I be disturbed that so many people are so knowledgeable about drilling holes in people's heads?

"You don't need any more holes in your head."

RKHenry wrote:

Or should you be even more disturbed to know that you are on a newsgroup frequented by such people? ;-)

rich.

Quinn: People are so weird!

Daria: Some are weird. Some are just astonishingly self-centered and deceitful.

In article , [email] wrote:

Nah. Actually I'm gratified to find a place where an interest in a variety of subjects is appreciated. Where telling what you know, maybe showing off a little, behavior that got me tormented and ostracized as a child as well as in high school, is accepted as normal. I'm home!