We are a pattern seeking species.  There was, long ago, a variation amongst some of our ancestors in their ability to recognize patterns.  Variation being the impetus of evolution we began to slowly acquire this ability as each generation attempted to survive in the natural world.  Why?  Because recognizing patterns was of great importance to us.  Where the shadows pointed when prey were grazing (i.e. time of day), the markings left by predators vs. those left by the more innocuous beasts, or the trails leading to or going away from camp, are all examples of recognizing patterns that were of great advantage to our ancestors, the result of which being that pattern seeking remains a very human trait.  Traits such as these are the geists of our evolutionary history.  These "ghosts" have produced some truly remarkable breakthroughs (atomic theory, the theory of gravity, and the theory of evolution itself to name a few).  But the ghosts of evolution also haunt us.  All too often we see patterns where none exist --pareidolia is an excellent example.  Subconsciously we reject elements that contradict the patterns we think we see, especially for the things we don't understand.  Of the many things scientific experiment is it is a means of testing those patterns and seeing if they really exist.

I recently read an Autisable post on whether antibiotics have a possible connection with autism.  This is --in my opinion---a very good example of pattern seeking behavior. 

"My nephew is autistic and my sister WAS definitely taking antibiotics while pregnant..."

The author of this post later went on to say that she began asking family friends with autistic children whether they had been taking antibiotics while pregnant.  As you would expect (given the title of the post) they had.

Now, if a correlation (i.e. large numbers of cases outside of the authors circle of family and friends) were seen amongst mothers who had taken antibiotics while pregnant and gave birth to children who developed autism it would be pertinent to test it more thoroughly.  One way of doing that would be to look at those individuals who have autistic children and (through hospital records, not memory) see if the number of autistic cases have a significantly greater amount of mothers who did in fact take antibiotics during pregnancy.  Being that the typical human pregnancy lasts about 3/4 of a year a problem arises.  It may be that a disproportionate amount of mothers take antibiotics while pregnant compared to those who do not.*  A much better way would be to look at the number of mothers taking antibiotics while pregnant and see if those numbers correlate with the number of autistic children.  Now, obviously we'd all (well I would) love to research anything and everything we can, but so little of our federal budget goes to research that we can't pour money into every anecdote we come across.  We must first assess the observation.  And a good way to start would be to consider the history of both antibiotics and autism. 

Autism rates have  only recently (1992) had a significant increase in numbers.  I suspect this has more to do with doctors widening the spectrum of the disorder and less to do with a greater prevalence of it, and that seems to be the direction the scientific consensus is heading as well.  Antibiotics, on the other hand, have been commercially available for over 75 years.  If there were causation between antibiotics and autism wouldn't it be more likely for this spike in the rate to have occurred 75 years ago?

Going back to my original point, the thing about Autism is that it is currently an idiopathic disorder (i.e. we don't know what causes it).  As a result that pattern seeking behavior within us begins to accept anything we can find as being the cause.  Add any preexisting oppositions (like those against modern medicine) and you have a recipe for the most incorrigible misconceptions about the disorder --these misconceptions can, sadly, carry weight with those who do not know, understand or appreciate the scientific method.  If we are to truly understand autism and perhaps someday have an effective treatment for it we need to exorcise our evolutionary demons and instead of letting theories based on zero evidence prevail (e.g. vaccines, antibiotics, etc. cause autism), let science, like a candle, light the dark for us.

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.  Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." ~Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia by Aurthur C. Doyle

*I don't know the number of pregnant women who take antibiotics so if anyone knows were I can find them I'd like to see the data.

I know this is a day late but I was having trouble getting on Xanga last night.  Growing up we used to have these huge Thanksgiving dinners in which we would get together with family members we did not often see.  As a result I always thought Thanksgiving was a reminder to be thankful that you didn't have to see these people everyday.  I'm kidding of course, but I never really considered the things I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving day --I do at random intervals throughout the year, but never in a ceremonious sort of way.  This Thanksgiving I did have one of those moments where I really thought about one of the things I'm thankful for. My parents.  They have been, without doubt, incredibly supportive of my endeavors no matter how ludicrous they may seem.

When I was in the second grade I learned that the world was very different on the microscopic level and became obsessed with Biology; so my parents bought me a microscope.  When I was in the third grade I didn't understand how a digital clock worked so I took apart they're alarm clock.  Unlike what I'd expect most parents to do they didn't yell at me when they came home to find wires, circuits and what remained of the clock's shell laid haphazardly on the coffee table.  Instead my mother came in with a can of soda and asked if I would be able to put it back together.  "I think so", I said --I can't remember if I did or not.  When I was in the 5th grade I showed an interest in the solar system, so they bought me a telescope.  I couldn't get it to work so I (unsuccessfully) tried to make it stronger by taking it apart, rendering it useless, and still they did not get mad --well to be honest my stepdad did a little, and I vaguely remember my mom asking him what he expected to happen putting something like that in my hands, or something similar to that. 

When I was 13 and decided I wanted to be a musician my parents scraped together all the money they could to buy me a real guitar --the one I had learned on was a 3/4 size guitar I bought for $25 and went out of tune every 5 minutes --yet to this day I can't bring myself to get rid of it.  They never had the money to send me to college but were more than willing to let me stay with them free of charge when I started.  I have moved out on three separate occasions and have occasionally had to move back in because of financial constraints, yet they still welcomed me back each time no questions asked.

Yesterday we were sitting at the dinner table and my mom asked me if I decided which classes I was taking.  I had told her earlier that as I was looking at the classes I need take for the last two years as a Biomedical major versus a Biological Science major, and that the Bio Science classes sounded much more interesting to me. 

"Oh so you think you're just going to major in Biology and not go into medicine?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do after my undergrad, but I'm thinking I might double major and get my degree in physics as well though."

"Oh, and what would you do with that (a double major in Biology and Physics) if you didn't go into medicine?"

"Well, I was thinking it might be cool to do research in astrobiology."

"????"

"I mean it involves all the things I like, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, mathematics and I've been really getting into Astronomy lately, and how cool would it be to find life elsewhere in the Universe?"

"Hey, whatever makes you happy."

"Plus, I could probably teach any one of those subjects as well, which would also be really cool."

"Well I know you like teaching [the nephew] all that science stuff."

Sorry if this sounds a bit "schmoozy" and overly personal but I know at least one of them reads this blog on occasion and I suspect they don't know how much I appreciate what they've done for me.  And what better way to show my appreciation than tell all you nice folks what a spoiled little brat I am? 

Anyway I want to know:

What are you thankful for?

Do or did you get along with your parents growing up, were they've supportive of your ambitions?