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As I was the person in class who kept striving for the "answer" to this issue of the 'broken brain' in society, I wanted to share what I came up with after class. I think what we really discovered is that there probably isn't one right answer (somewhat expected, but I think the process of looking for one sparks interesting debate), but that there are some things that need to change about our society today. I think philosophically we all agree that it would be nice to live in a culture that is completely accepting and open to others-- but again, this can create a problem in itself (take pedophilia-- should we be open and accepting? I think the issue of hurt, either to ones self or another comes in here).

I do however, think the point mentioned above is valuable: " that we all potentially have something to contribute to as well as something to gain from everyone else. Difference, in these terms, is not "disability" but the potential for mutual empowerment, for gaining things by interaction with others that one might not be capable of alone." We are in fact dependent on society and culture, and I think what really came out of the discussion was that we should take what we can from culture and discard the things we do not like (ex. the medical model of disability and overprescription/treatment).

How this actually would play out is hard to say, as I still believe that there will always be some sort of majority that imposes their culture on others and some sort of marginalized minority. I know that we have these grand ideals for a society in the future-- and as was brought up in class, it is possible for the norms to change and the groups in power to recognize unfair treatment. But the realist in me doesnt see that society could ever completely give up this power structure, I cant picture what such a culture would look like. This utopian ideal would be great, with no one creating a "baseline" and everyone accepting that some are good at some things and others are good at others, but I just don't see exactly how this would come about.

 Looking forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts.