So, I actually watched the video. That guy really turned into a monster towards the end of his career. His case notes against that kid sounded just like a regular kid, doing crazy kid things. I can't believe how eager he was to suggest a lobotomy. And then a lobotomy for a 4-year-old? WTF.
Personally, though, I think the side-effects (being a fat, stupid, unmotivated slob) is a lot better than being in a constant state of fear/psychosis. Although, with the invention of Thorazine, it has no use.
Edit: This seems like a pretty serious topic, no?
I agree that this is indeed a very serious topic. What this topic comes down to is completely changing the way someone thinks, hence stripping them of their individuality and mortality. Basically put, I'd believe the morality behind this is whether it's all right to trade someone's personality in exchange to being supposedly 'cured.'
I'm greatly against forcefully changing the way someone thinks and as such I'm against lobotomy. I would sooner die with my problems and be misunderstood then basically be a zombie, Or even less then a zombie. I'll firstly argue on how changing the way someone thinks is wrong and then I'll move into lobotomy.
In our history we've misunderstood the human mind and we've tried to change people completely just because we didn't understand them. I wouldn't be surprised if Christian doctors gave Muslims a lobotomy just because their religion differed from ours, or if we gave gay's lobotomy's to supposedly fix a problem. Basically where I'm going with this is that really, we have no actual understanding whether someone's questionable thinking really should be changed because we cannot assume they actually have a problem. These days most of us know that it would be completely wrong to try and 'cure' a gay person and we know it's wrong to basically readjust someone's thought process to be the same as ours.
I'll even share first hand how this is wrong. As a child a lot of the adults thought there was something wrong with me and from such experiences I'm given the belief that maybe there really was. As early as kindergarten I was supposedly a brat because according to them I would never pay attention to the teacher and I had ADD.
As a kid I actually used that as an excuse to get away with a lot of things too. If I did something I'd blame it on ADD, so they tried to fix that supposed problem with pills. And you know what's really funny? At the age of Nineteen I realize ADD is one of the bullshitiest things ever, I'll even argue it doesn't exist. Looking back at the situation I did listen to the teachers, it's just that I didn't give them eye contact. And even today I still avoid eye contact unless I'm speaking to a friend. Big words like 'Depression' or 'schizophrenic' were added to my list of imaginary problems as I grew older over something as simple as the way I acted. As for my ADD? I was a kid, so of course I'd blame my problems on ADD real or not because I didn't want to get punished. I was never really diagnosed as schizophrenic but it was brought up that I had a few of the symptoms. (like avoiding eye contact)
And further expanding my bitching I'll argue that even if I didn't listen in class it wouldn't make me have ADD. People doodle in class all the time.
So my second argument is that the problems that the individual might be diagnosed with might not even be real to begin with. It's just they're reinforced by the community and other humans through something as simple as a misunderstanding. It's like a game of telephone. One person says something and as the story continues it gets more and more exaggerated and small details are expanded.
Now on to the lobotomy part. Firstly, this isn't something like fixing a leg, because in the end patient and doctor understand without a doubt that we need legs and we know whether it's fixed or not post treatment. Lobotomies however we're tampering with something we don't quite understand, the brain.
We live in a fucked up world where the very thing that brings life does not live,
to reproduce we stick dirty parts in dirty places, George Bush fucking lasted as the president up until his retirement, we fight over an imaginary man yet we condemn homosexuality and gun toting rednecks are recognized as sentient and intelligent beings.
Really, this world is fucked up. And there is no way we can actually measure whether someone's thought process is illogical or logical when the world its self is such a weird fucking place. We condemn cannibalism when it exists in nature to some species, we condemn murder yet we promote the military, we claim that the supernatural does not exist with the exception of god. And inside this neutron shaped little planet we are in an atom shaped galaxy where our very existence is ultimately infinite and beyond our comprehension.
We cannot even begin to imagine what exists past our own ideals and as such we cannot assume whether a mind is functioning or not. In the world the most 'civilized' species are the most savage. We act and walk with our heads up our asses yet the reality is when we hide behind anonymity we'll tear someone a new asshole. By nature we are all rude, aggressive, and power hungry twats.
And the men who get punished are the ones who embrace it as opposed to hiding it - this might be the world really runs.
None.