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Potential Causes for Generational Deafness in Space Colony
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Some background here: I'm working on a sci fi story which heavily integrates themes of varying alien configurations and how they shape society, culture and language. As part of this theme, I want to have some of the human characters using a variety of different methods of communication, rather than falling into the "all humans communicate through spoken language and aliens have variations" trap. I decided to have a main human character who primarily uses a signed language, and have decided to make her Deaf as a part of this. I would rather keep her as Deaf rather than go with some other cause for it, as the viewpoint character is already nonverbal autistic and uses typing to communicate. I could go on at length about the themes I'm exploring here, etc., but it's rather tangential to the point here. (I will say for the record that I am autistic, but not Deaf or nonverbal, and want to tread carefully here as a result. I have been doing research into d/Deaf culture, but that is again outside the scope of this question, for which I'm looking for a medical/biological answer.)
One thing I really want for this character is for her to come from a cultural background of heavy signed language usage. I've also decided for other reasons that I want her to come from a space colony near the setting location rather than from Earth itself.
The idea I have come up with is that this settlement is one of the earliest human settlements outside of the solar system, coming from an intergenerational starship with a minimal staff and a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos meant to establish a human population upon arrival. The idea I had is that for whatever reason, those embryos happened to have a high frequency of d/Deafness, and as the years passed resulted in an established human settlement which mostly uses a signed language.
I do not need an explanation/justification as to why they wouldn't all use technology to become hearing. I have that covered. My questions here are:
- Does that backstory make sense re: establishing an outpost? The idea here is that this was many years ago in-setting, when the technology for deep space travel was still heavily exploratory and before better options had been established.
- What sorts of causes might result in a population with widespread generational deafness such as this?
biology space-colonization medicine
asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
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Some background here: I'm working on a sci fi story which heavily integrates themes of varying alien configurations and how they shape society, culture and language. As part of this theme, I want to have some of the human characters using a variety of different methods of communication, rather than falling into the "all humans communicate through spoken language and aliens have variations" trap. I decided to have a main human character who primarily uses a signed language, and have decided to make her Deaf as a part of this. I would rather keep her as Deaf rather than go with some other cause for it, as the viewpoint character is already nonverbal autistic and uses typing to communicate. I could go on at length about the themes I'm exploring here, etc., but it's rather tangential to the point here. (I will say for the record that I am autistic, but not Deaf or nonverbal, and want to tread carefully here as a result. I have been doing research into d/Deaf culture, but that is again outside the scope of this question, for which I'm looking for a medical/biological answer.)
One thing I really want for this character is for her to come from a cultural background of heavy signed language usage. I've also decided for other reasons that I want her to come from a space colony near the setting location rather than from Earth itself.
The idea I have come up with is that this settlement is one of the earliest human settlements outside of the solar system, coming from an intergenerational starship with a minimal staff and a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos meant to establish a human population upon arrival. The idea I had is that for whatever reason, those embryos happened to have a high frequency of d/Deafness, and as the years passed resulted in an established human settlement which mostly uses a signed language.
I do not need an explanation/justification as to why they wouldn't all use technology to become hearing. I have that covered. My questions here are:
- Does that backstory make sense re: establishing an outpost? The idea here is that this was many years ago in-setting, when the technology for deep space travel was still heavily exploratory and before better options had been established.
- What sorts of causes might result in a population with widespread generational deafness such as this?
biology space-colonization medicine
asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
194
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up vote
3
down vote
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up vote
3
down vote
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Some background here: I'm working on a sci fi story which heavily integrates themes of varying alien configurations and how they shape society, culture and language. As part of this theme, I want to have some of the human characters using a variety of different methods of communication, rather than falling into the "all humans communicate through spoken language and aliens have variations" trap. I decided to have a main human character who primarily uses a signed language, and have decided to make her Deaf as a part of this. I would rather keep her as Deaf rather than go with some other cause for it, as the viewpoint character is already nonverbal autistic and uses typing to communicate. I could go on at length about the themes I'm exploring here, etc., but it's rather tangential to the point here. (I will say for the record that I am autistic, but not Deaf or nonverbal, and want to tread carefully here as a result. I have been doing research into d/Deaf culture, but that is again outside the scope of this question, for which I'm looking for a medical/biological answer.)
One thing I really want for this character is for her to come from a cultural background of heavy signed language usage. I've also decided for other reasons that I want her to come from a space colony near the setting location rather than from Earth itself.
The idea I have come up with is that this settlement is one of the earliest human settlements outside of the solar system, coming from an intergenerational starship with a minimal staff and a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos meant to establish a human population upon arrival. The idea I had is that for whatever reason, those embryos happened to have a high frequency of d/Deafness, and as the years passed resulted in an established human settlement which mostly uses a signed language.
I do not need an explanation/justification as to why they wouldn't all use technology to become hearing. I have that covered. My questions here are:
- Does that backstory make sense re: establishing an outpost? The idea here is that this was many years ago in-setting, when the technology for deep space travel was still heavily exploratory and before better options had been established.
- What sorts of causes might result in a population with widespread generational deafness such as this?
biology space-colonization medicine
asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
194
New contributor
QWriter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Some background here: I'm working on a sci fi story which heavily integrates themes of varying alien configurations and how they shape society, culture and language. As part of this theme, I want to have some of the human characters using a variety of different methods of communication, rather than falling into the "all humans communicate through spoken language and aliens have variations" trap. I decided to have a main human character who primarily uses a signed language, and have decided to make her Deaf as a part of this. I would rather keep her as Deaf rather than go with some other cause for it, as the viewpoint character is already nonverbal autistic and uses typing to communicate. I could go on at length about the themes I'm exploring here, etc., but it's rather tangential to the point here. (I will say for the record that I am autistic, but not Deaf or nonverbal, and want to tread carefully here as a result. I have been doing research into d/Deaf culture, but that is again outside the scope of this question, for which I'm looking for a medical/biological answer.)
One thing I really want for this character is for her to come from a cultural background of heavy signed language usage. I've also decided for other reasons that I want her to come from a space colony near the setting location rather than from Earth itself.
The idea I have come up with is that this settlement is one of the earliest human settlements outside of the solar system, coming from an intergenerational starship with a minimal staff and a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos meant to establish a human population upon arrival. The idea I had is that for whatever reason, those embryos happened to have a high frequency of d/Deafness, and as the years passed resulted in an established human settlement which mostly uses a signed language.
I do not need an explanation/justification as to why they wouldn't all use technology to become hearing. I have that covered. My questions here are:
- Does that backstory make sense re: establishing an outpost? The idea here is that this was many years ago in-setting, when the technology for deep space travel was still heavily exploratory and before better options had been established.
- What sorts of causes might result in a population with widespread generational deafness such as this?
biology space-colonization medicine
biology space-colonization medicine
asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
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asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
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edited 2 hours ago
asked 3 hours ago
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asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
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asked 3 hours ago
QWriter
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194
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6 Answers
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Your colonists have Waardenburg syndrome.
https://healthjade.com/waardenburg-syndrome/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waardenburg_syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome is a rare genetic disorder most often
characterized by varying degrees of deafness, minor defects in
structures arising from the neural crest, and pigmentation changes.
There are a lot of other images of folks with this syndrome on the web. They characteristicaly have a white forelock, bright blue irises and wideset eyes. The Wikipedia article states that about 1 in 30 students at schools for the deaf have this syndrome and so they can be cognitively normal.
For your story, there is some tremendous benefit conferred by Waardenburg syndrome as regards living on your space station, such that all available Waardenburg embryos were chosen to grow up. You will need to invent this benefit or read more about the syndrome than I have. An easy one is that for reasons beyond control, your space station is irrevocably loud such that inhibitants are driven to deafness anyway, and having Waardenburg's is an easy way to ensure deafness without also having more debilitating congenital anomalies. Or you could give them something extra - for example an abnormal accumulation of neural crest cells in the pituitary (the vestigial "third eye" in the center of our brain) give that organ back the powers that it lost during our evolution
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
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Genetic manipulation/augmentation can often have consequences that extend to offspring, whether they affected the target of the augmentation or not. Perhaps this generational deafness came from some initial genetic augmentation targeting something else that had unforseen consequences in the offspring.
answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
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Perhaps your colony was designed to be deaf.
This isn't as far-fetched as it may seem at first glance. Today there are many known instances of parents intentionally having children with a “disabilityâ€Â. Using preimplantation genetic diagnosis parents can choose the traits of their children. While generally, we assume that parents would choose to have “healthy†children many parents are using these services to have “disabled†children, generally in the same way they themselves are “disabledâ€Â. Your use of Deafness with a capital D suggests you already are aware of this, but many "disabled" communities, Deafness perhaps chief among them, think of deafness as less of a handicap and more of something like a culture. Advocates of this idea feel that being deaf isn’t a significant impediment to their everyday lives and rather enriches their lives in various ways.
New colonies are often formed by those dissatisfied with their current environment or who are being persecuted for one reason or another. Perhaps your Deaf colony arises from a Deaf community fleeing laws outlawing their continued existence or otherwise seeking independence.
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
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First, I'll say that it would be a lot better to have your characters descend from or be raised by capital D Deaf people. This way you get an established Sign Language (which can morph like any language will) vs having to spontaneously create one. I've actually seen a first generation Sign Language (wrote my undergraduate thesis on it) and it's not as grammatically complex as an established language (though it for sure had grammar) and the vocabulary wasn't very big either. Plus you have consistency issues. In this case, the language didn't start up until the children were old enough to go to school, and there were strong influences from visitors and of course the native spoken language. While doing it this way can make an interesting story, if you want to honor Deaf culture, preserve an existing language with native users.
There's a terrific short story in this anthology:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23129839-octavia-s-brood
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Earth transports babies deemed unacceptable due to their disabilities to a space colony. Which turns out to be a pretty awesome place.
While of course a lot of deafness is acquired, for those born deaf, even existing technology can diagnosis it (all newborns in hospitals get the screening tests and there are further tests for those who "fail").
Another way to get a Deaf community is to have a colony come from a group of workers or settlers chosen for their deafness. Because it was advantageous for that location or the work. As they raise families, many of the children will also be deaf, since some deafness is genetic (you can even screen for that initially). And everyone will grow up signing.
Depending on what's around, people born hearing might not thrive, or might live with whatever noise there is, or the noise could be gone by then, or they might choose (or their parents will choose) to make them deaf medically for their own comfort and health. I can imagine all the hearing readers gasping right now. But the reality is that our society routinely removes someones ability or even bodypart that is not deemed important, because there are other benefits. Extra fingers? who needs those? A quick clip of the auditory nerve could save a lot of children in this colony.
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
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In your universe, people should already feature brain-to-brain, brain-to-machine and machine-to-brain full-duplex efficient communication. This means that communicating through verbal means is something outdated and inneficient. Even typing things is inneficient. Further, in that scenario, many people do not even need to develop or learn spoken languages.
Space is quiet. If you live your whole live in a spaceship, you aren't going to hear anything from the outside. If your spaceship is quiet, there should be no need to hear anything.
Things happening inside the spaceship could be detected by machinery installed into the spaceship itself. If needed, sounds could be captured with microphones and transmitted to humans via a machine-to-brain mechanism. This also have the advantage that frequencies that are way out of the human biologically-hearing ranges can be heard perfectly.
This means that hearing through the biologic hear is not needed anymore. Talking isn't needed either.
Now, let's suppose that the ship is not so quiet. That damn reactor produces a very loud awkward sound! That combustion chambers produces horrible echoes around all the ship! Couldn't we be better if we just choose to not hear them? If those sounds are captured by a biological hear, then we can't filter them out and they bother and hurt too much for being tolerable. So, it would be better to be biologically deaf and hear things only via the machine-to-brain interfaces. The machine is responsible to filter out unpleasant or irrelevant noise.
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
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The statements
"...a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos"
and
"those embryos happened to have a high frequency of deafness"
seem to be a statistically very unlikely combination. Any sensible expedition would be sure to have plenty of genetic diversity and that is implied by 'a wide variety'.
However if the embryos were all planted by a mad scientist (probably all his/her own offspring) then massive inbreeding would occur. It would be very likely that a genetic defect such as deafness would arise.
Alternatively, perhaps many of the embryos were destroyed in transit. Again inbreeding would be a serious problem.
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
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6 Answers
6
active
oldest
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6 Answers
6
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
2
down vote
Your colonists have Waardenburg syndrome.
https://healthjade.com/waardenburg-syndrome/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waardenburg_syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome is a rare genetic disorder most often
characterized by varying degrees of deafness, minor defects in
structures arising from the neural crest, and pigmentation changes.
There are a lot of other images of folks with this syndrome on the web. They characteristicaly have a white forelock, bright blue irises and wideset eyes. The Wikipedia article states that about 1 in 30 students at schools for the deaf have this syndrome and so they can be cognitively normal.
For your story, there is some tremendous benefit conferred by Waardenburg syndrome as regards living on your space station, such that all available Waardenburg embryos were chosen to grow up. You will need to invent this benefit or read more about the syndrome than I have. An easy one is that for reasons beyond control, your space station is irrevocably loud such that inhibitants are driven to deafness anyway, and having Waardenburg's is an easy way to ensure deafness without also having more debilitating congenital anomalies. Or you could give them something extra - for example an abnormal accumulation of neural crest cells in the pituitary (the vestigial "third eye" in the center of our brain) give that organ back the powers that it lost during our evolution
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Your colonists have Waardenburg syndrome.
https://healthjade.com/waardenburg-syndrome/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waardenburg_syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome is a rare genetic disorder most often
characterized by varying degrees of deafness, minor defects in
structures arising from the neural crest, and pigmentation changes.
There are a lot of other images of folks with this syndrome on the web. They characteristicaly have a white forelock, bright blue irises and wideset eyes. The Wikipedia article states that about 1 in 30 students at schools for the deaf have this syndrome and so they can be cognitively normal.
For your story, there is some tremendous benefit conferred by Waardenburg syndrome as regards living on your space station, such that all available Waardenburg embryos were chosen to grow up. You will need to invent this benefit or read more about the syndrome than I have. An easy one is that for reasons beyond control, your space station is irrevocably loud such that inhibitants are driven to deafness anyway, and having Waardenburg's is an easy way to ensure deafness without also having more debilitating congenital anomalies. Or you could give them something extra - for example an abnormal accumulation of neural crest cells in the pituitary (the vestigial "third eye" in the center of our brain) give that organ back the powers that it lost during our evolution
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Your colonists have Waardenburg syndrome.
https://healthjade.com/waardenburg-syndrome/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waardenburg_syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome is a rare genetic disorder most often
characterized by varying degrees of deafness, minor defects in
structures arising from the neural crest, and pigmentation changes.
There are a lot of other images of folks with this syndrome on the web. They characteristicaly have a white forelock, bright blue irises and wideset eyes. The Wikipedia article states that about 1 in 30 students at schools for the deaf have this syndrome and so they can be cognitively normal.
For your story, there is some tremendous benefit conferred by Waardenburg syndrome as regards living on your space station, such that all available Waardenburg embryos were chosen to grow up. You will need to invent this benefit or read more about the syndrome than I have. An easy one is that for reasons beyond control, your space station is irrevocably loud such that inhibitants are driven to deafness anyway, and having Waardenburg's is an easy way to ensure deafness without also having more debilitating congenital anomalies. Or you could give them something extra - for example an abnormal accumulation of neural crest cells in the pituitary (the vestigial "third eye" in the center of our brain) give that organ back the powers that it lost during our evolution
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
Your colonists have Waardenburg syndrome.
https://healthjade.com/waardenburg-syndrome/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waardenburg_syndrome
Waardenburg syndrome is a rare genetic disorder most often
characterized by varying degrees of deafness, minor defects in
structures arising from the neural crest, and pigmentation changes.
There are a lot of other images of folks with this syndrome on the web. They characteristicaly have a white forelock, bright blue irises and wideset eyes. The Wikipedia article states that about 1 in 30 students at schools for the deaf have this syndrome and so they can be cognitively normal.
For your story, there is some tremendous benefit conferred by Waardenburg syndrome as regards living on your space station, such that all available Waardenburg embryos were chosen to grow up. You will need to invent this benefit or read more about the syndrome than I have. An easy one is that for reasons beyond control, your space station is irrevocably loud such that inhibitants are driven to deafness anyway, and having Waardenburg's is an easy way to ensure deafness without also having more debilitating congenital anomalies. Or you could give them something extra - for example an abnormal accumulation of neural crest cells in the pituitary (the vestigial "third eye" in the center of our brain) give that organ back the powers that it lost during our evolution
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
answered 2 hours ago
Willk
95k24184404
95k24184404
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up vote
1
down vote
Genetic manipulation/augmentation can often have consequences that extend to offspring, whether they affected the target of the augmentation or not. Perhaps this generational deafness came from some initial genetic augmentation targeting something else that had unforseen consequences in the offspring.
answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
112
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up vote
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Genetic manipulation/augmentation can often have consequences that extend to offspring, whether they affected the target of the augmentation or not. Perhaps this generational deafness came from some initial genetic augmentation targeting something else that had unforseen consequences in the offspring.
answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
112
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up vote
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up vote
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Genetic manipulation/augmentation can often have consequences that extend to offspring, whether they affected the target of the augmentation or not. Perhaps this generational deafness came from some initial genetic augmentation targeting something else that had unforseen consequences in the offspring.
answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
112
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Genetic manipulation/augmentation can often have consequences that extend to offspring, whether they affected the target of the augmentation or not. Perhaps this generational deafness came from some initial genetic augmentation targeting something else that had unforseen consequences in the offspring.
answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
112
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answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
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answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
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answered 2 hours ago
ActionEconomy
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Perhaps your colony was designed to be deaf.
This isn't as far-fetched as it may seem at first glance. Today there are many known instances of parents intentionally having children with a “disabilityâ€Â. Using preimplantation genetic diagnosis parents can choose the traits of their children. While generally, we assume that parents would choose to have “healthy†children many parents are using these services to have “disabled†children, generally in the same way they themselves are “disabledâ€Â. Your use of Deafness with a capital D suggests you already are aware of this, but many "disabled" communities, Deafness perhaps chief among them, think of deafness as less of a handicap and more of something like a culture. Advocates of this idea feel that being deaf isn’t a significant impediment to their everyday lives and rather enriches their lives in various ways.
New colonies are often formed by those dissatisfied with their current environment or who are being persecuted for one reason or another. Perhaps your Deaf colony arises from a Deaf community fleeing laws outlawing their continued existence or otherwise seeking independence.
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
Perhaps your colony was designed to be deaf.
This isn't as far-fetched as it may seem at first glance. Today there are many known instances of parents intentionally having children with a “disabilityâ€Â. Using preimplantation genetic diagnosis parents can choose the traits of their children. While generally, we assume that parents would choose to have “healthy†children many parents are using these services to have “disabled†children, generally in the same way they themselves are “disabledâ€Â. Your use of Deafness with a capital D suggests you already are aware of this, but many "disabled" communities, Deafness perhaps chief among them, think of deafness as less of a handicap and more of something like a culture. Advocates of this idea feel that being deaf isn’t a significant impediment to their everyday lives and rather enriches their lives in various ways.
New colonies are often formed by those dissatisfied with their current environment or who are being persecuted for one reason or another. Perhaps your Deaf colony arises from a Deaf community fleeing laws outlawing their continued existence or otherwise seeking independence.
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Perhaps your colony was designed to be deaf.
This isn't as far-fetched as it may seem at first glance. Today there are many known instances of parents intentionally having children with a “disabilityâ€Â. Using preimplantation genetic diagnosis parents can choose the traits of their children. While generally, we assume that parents would choose to have “healthy†children many parents are using these services to have “disabled†children, generally in the same way they themselves are “disabledâ€Â. Your use of Deafness with a capital D suggests you already are aware of this, but many "disabled" communities, Deafness perhaps chief among them, think of deafness as less of a handicap and more of something like a culture. Advocates of this idea feel that being deaf isn’t a significant impediment to their everyday lives and rather enriches their lives in various ways.
New colonies are often formed by those dissatisfied with their current environment or who are being persecuted for one reason or another. Perhaps your Deaf colony arises from a Deaf community fleeing laws outlawing their continued existence or otherwise seeking independence.
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
Perhaps your colony was designed to be deaf.
This isn't as far-fetched as it may seem at first glance. Today there are many known instances of parents intentionally having children with a “disabilityâ€Â. Using preimplantation genetic diagnosis parents can choose the traits of their children. While generally, we assume that parents would choose to have “healthy†children many parents are using these services to have “disabled†children, generally in the same way they themselves are “disabledâ€Â. Your use of Deafness with a capital D suggests you already are aware of this, but many "disabled" communities, Deafness perhaps chief among them, think of deafness as less of a handicap and more of something like a culture. Advocates of this idea feel that being deaf isn’t a significant impediment to their everyday lives and rather enriches their lives in various ways.
New colonies are often formed by those dissatisfied with their current environment or who are being persecuted for one reason or another. Perhaps your Deaf colony arises from a Deaf community fleeing laws outlawing their continued existence or otherwise seeking independence.
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
answered 1 hour ago
Mike Nichols
7,78152870
7,78152870
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
I had briefly considered this, but had been thinking of it as primarily a government-driven settlement effort wherein it seemed odd that whoever was in charge would select in that fashion. Your point about new colonies often being formed more by people fleeing persecution would address that nicely, though.
– QWriter
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
First, I'll say that it would be a lot better to have your characters descend from or be raised by capital D Deaf people. This way you get an established Sign Language (which can morph like any language will) vs having to spontaneously create one. I've actually seen a first generation Sign Language (wrote my undergraduate thesis on it) and it's not as grammatically complex as an established language (though it for sure had grammar) and the vocabulary wasn't very big either. Plus you have consistency issues. In this case, the language didn't start up until the children were old enough to go to school, and there were strong influences from visitors and of course the native spoken language. While doing it this way can make an interesting story, if you want to honor Deaf culture, preserve an existing language with native users.
There's a terrific short story in this anthology:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23129839-octavia-s-brood
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Earth transports babies deemed unacceptable due to their disabilities to a space colony. Which turns out to be a pretty awesome place.
While of course a lot of deafness is acquired, for those born deaf, even existing technology can diagnosis it (all newborns in hospitals get the screening tests and there are further tests for those who "fail").
Another way to get a Deaf community is to have a colony come from a group of workers or settlers chosen for their deafness. Because it was advantageous for that location or the work. As they raise families, many of the children will also be deaf, since some deafness is genetic (you can even screen for that initially). And everyone will grow up signing.
Depending on what's around, people born hearing might not thrive, or might live with whatever noise there is, or the noise could be gone by then, or they might choose (or their parents will choose) to make them deaf medically for their own comfort and health. I can imagine all the hearing readers gasping right now. But the reality is that our society routinely removes someones ability or even bodypart that is not deemed important, because there are other benefits. Extra fingers? who needs those? A quick clip of the auditory nerve could save a lot of children in this colony.
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
First, I'll say that it would be a lot better to have your characters descend from or be raised by capital D Deaf people. This way you get an established Sign Language (which can morph like any language will) vs having to spontaneously create one. I've actually seen a first generation Sign Language (wrote my undergraduate thesis on it) and it's not as grammatically complex as an established language (though it for sure had grammar) and the vocabulary wasn't very big either. Plus you have consistency issues. In this case, the language didn't start up until the children were old enough to go to school, and there were strong influences from visitors and of course the native spoken language. While doing it this way can make an interesting story, if you want to honor Deaf culture, preserve an existing language with native users.
There's a terrific short story in this anthology:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23129839-octavia-s-brood
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Earth transports babies deemed unacceptable due to their disabilities to a space colony. Which turns out to be a pretty awesome place.
While of course a lot of deafness is acquired, for those born deaf, even existing technology can diagnosis it (all newborns in hospitals get the screening tests and there are further tests for those who "fail").
Another way to get a Deaf community is to have a colony come from a group of workers or settlers chosen for their deafness. Because it was advantageous for that location or the work. As they raise families, many of the children will also be deaf, since some deafness is genetic (you can even screen for that initially). And everyone will grow up signing.
Depending on what's around, people born hearing might not thrive, or might live with whatever noise there is, or the noise could be gone by then, or they might choose (or their parents will choose) to make them deaf medically for their own comfort and health. I can imagine all the hearing readers gasping right now. But the reality is that our society routinely removes someones ability or even bodypart that is not deemed important, because there are other benefits. Extra fingers? who needs those? A quick clip of the auditory nerve could save a lot of children in this colony.
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
First, I'll say that it would be a lot better to have your characters descend from or be raised by capital D Deaf people. This way you get an established Sign Language (which can morph like any language will) vs having to spontaneously create one. I've actually seen a first generation Sign Language (wrote my undergraduate thesis on it) and it's not as grammatically complex as an established language (though it for sure had grammar) and the vocabulary wasn't very big either. Plus you have consistency issues. In this case, the language didn't start up until the children were old enough to go to school, and there were strong influences from visitors and of course the native spoken language. While doing it this way can make an interesting story, if you want to honor Deaf culture, preserve an existing language with native users.
There's a terrific short story in this anthology:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23129839-octavia-s-brood
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Earth transports babies deemed unacceptable due to their disabilities to a space colony. Which turns out to be a pretty awesome place.
While of course a lot of deafness is acquired, for those born deaf, even existing technology can diagnosis it (all newborns in hospitals get the screening tests and there are further tests for those who "fail").
Another way to get a Deaf community is to have a colony come from a group of workers or settlers chosen for their deafness. Because it was advantageous for that location or the work. As they raise families, many of the children will also be deaf, since some deafness is genetic (you can even screen for that initially). And everyone will grow up signing.
Depending on what's around, people born hearing might not thrive, or might live with whatever noise there is, or the noise could be gone by then, or they might choose (or their parents will choose) to make them deaf medically for their own comfort and health. I can imagine all the hearing readers gasping right now. But the reality is that our society routinely removes someones ability or even bodypart that is not deemed important, because there are other benefits. Extra fingers? who needs those? A quick clip of the auditory nerve could save a lot of children in this colony.
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
First, I'll say that it would be a lot better to have your characters descend from or be raised by capital D Deaf people. This way you get an established Sign Language (which can morph like any language will) vs having to spontaneously create one. I've actually seen a first generation Sign Language (wrote my undergraduate thesis on it) and it's not as grammatically complex as an established language (though it for sure had grammar) and the vocabulary wasn't very big either. Plus you have consistency issues. In this case, the language didn't start up until the children were old enough to go to school, and there were strong influences from visitors and of course the native spoken language. While doing it this way can make an interesting story, if you want to honor Deaf culture, preserve an existing language with native users.
There's a terrific short story in this anthology:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23129839-octavia-s-brood
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Earth transports babies deemed unacceptable due to their disabilities to a space colony. Which turns out to be a pretty awesome place.
While of course a lot of deafness is acquired, for those born deaf, even existing technology can diagnosis it (all newborns in hospitals get the screening tests and there are further tests for those who "fail").
Another way to get a Deaf community is to have a colony come from a group of workers or settlers chosen for their deafness. Because it was advantageous for that location or the work. As they raise families, many of the children will also be deaf, since some deafness is genetic (you can even screen for that initially). And everyone will grow up signing.
Depending on what's around, people born hearing might not thrive, or might live with whatever noise there is, or the noise could be gone by then, or they might choose (or their parents will choose) to make them deaf medically for their own comfort and health. I can imagine all the hearing readers gasping right now. But the reality is that our society routinely removes someones ability or even bodypart that is not deemed important, because there are other benefits. Extra fingers? who needs those? A quick clip of the auditory nerve could save a lot of children in this colony.
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
answered 53 mins ago
Cyn
1,09211
1,09211
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
The problem with not being raised by capital D Deaf people did occur to me - I'd been thinking of a Nicaraguan Sign Language type situation where it would occur, and be an old + established language by the time of the main story. But I like an explanation which lets them be raised by Deaf people originally a lot better. Them being chosen due to the needs of the location is a good idea that I think I can work with.
– QWriter
35 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
Whoa. How did you know I was talking about Nicaraguan Sign Language? I was the "assistant" (though there much longer) to the primary researcher doing that study.
– Cyn
32 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
It came up in my college linguistics class back a few years ago, heh - I think it's the only observed (recorded, I mean) birth of a new language (aside from conlangs, which have their own considerations), isn't it?
– QWriter
27 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
Ha! I observed (and learned) it for 6 months. Crazy that it's being taught in courses now.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
That's extremely cool! As I said, I've known about it for years, but I never expected to run across someone who was actually there when it happened, especially not the assistant who did their thesis on it.
– QWriter
17 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
In your universe, people should already feature brain-to-brain, brain-to-machine and machine-to-brain full-duplex efficient communication. This means that communicating through verbal means is something outdated and inneficient. Even typing things is inneficient. Further, in that scenario, many people do not even need to develop or learn spoken languages.
Space is quiet. If you live your whole live in a spaceship, you aren't going to hear anything from the outside. If your spaceship is quiet, there should be no need to hear anything.
Things happening inside the spaceship could be detected by machinery installed into the spaceship itself. If needed, sounds could be captured with microphones and transmitted to humans via a machine-to-brain mechanism. This also have the advantage that frequencies that are way out of the human biologically-hearing ranges can be heard perfectly.
This means that hearing through the biologic hear is not needed anymore. Talking isn't needed either.
Now, let's suppose that the ship is not so quiet. That damn reactor produces a very loud awkward sound! That combustion chambers produces horrible echoes around all the ship! Couldn't we be better if we just choose to not hear them? If those sounds are captured by a biological hear, then we can't filter them out and they bother and hurt too much for being tolerable. So, it would be better to be biologically deaf and hear things only via the machine-to-brain interfaces. The machine is responsible to filter out unpleasant or irrelevant noise.
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
In your universe, people should already feature brain-to-brain, brain-to-machine and machine-to-brain full-duplex efficient communication. This means that communicating through verbal means is something outdated and inneficient. Even typing things is inneficient. Further, in that scenario, many people do not even need to develop or learn spoken languages.
Space is quiet. If you live your whole live in a spaceship, you aren't going to hear anything from the outside. If your spaceship is quiet, there should be no need to hear anything.
Things happening inside the spaceship could be detected by machinery installed into the spaceship itself. If needed, sounds could be captured with microphones and transmitted to humans via a machine-to-brain mechanism. This also have the advantage that frequencies that are way out of the human biologically-hearing ranges can be heard perfectly.
This means that hearing through the biologic hear is not needed anymore. Talking isn't needed either.
Now, let's suppose that the ship is not so quiet. That damn reactor produces a very loud awkward sound! That combustion chambers produces horrible echoes around all the ship! Couldn't we be better if we just choose to not hear them? If those sounds are captured by a biological hear, then we can't filter them out and they bother and hurt too much for being tolerable. So, it would be better to be biologically deaf and hear things only via the machine-to-brain interfaces. The machine is responsible to filter out unpleasant or irrelevant noise.
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
In your universe, people should already feature brain-to-brain, brain-to-machine and machine-to-brain full-duplex efficient communication. This means that communicating through verbal means is something outdated and inneficient. Even typing things is inneficient. Further, in that scenario, many people do not even need to develop or learn spoken languages.
Space is quiet. If you live your whole live in a spaceship, you aren't going to hear anything from the outside. If your spaceship is quiet, there should be no need to hear anything.
Things happening inside the spaceship could be detected by machinery installed into the spaceship itself. If needed, sounds could be captured with microphones and transmitted to humans via a machine-to-brain mechanism. This also have the advantage that frequencies that are way out of the human biologically-hearing ranges can be heard perfectly.
This means that hearing through the biologic hear is not needed anymore. Talking isn't needed either.
Now, let's suppose that the ship is not so quiet. That damn reactor produces a very loud awkward sound! That combustion chambers produces horrible echoes around all the ship! Couldn't we be better if we just choose to not hear them? If those sounds are captured by a biological hear, then we can't filter them out and they bother and hurt too much for being tolerable. So, it would be better to be biologically deaf and hear things only via the machine-to-brain interfaces. The machine is responsible to filter out unpleasant or irrelevant noise.
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
In your universe, people should already feature brain-to-brain, brain-to-machine and machine-to-brain full-duplex efficient communication. This means that communicating through verbal means is something outdated and inneficient. Even typing things is inneficient. Further, in that scenario, many people do not even need to develop or learn spoken languages.
Space is quiet. If you live your whole live in a spaceship, you aren't going to hear anything from the outside. If your spaceship is quiet, there should be no need to hear anything.
Things happening inside the spaceship could be detected by machinery installed into the spaceship itself. If needed, sounds could be captured with microphones and transmitted to humans via a machine-to-brain mechanism. This also have the advantage that frequencies that are way out of the human biologically-hearing ranges can be heard perfectly.
This means that hearing through the biologic hear is not needed anymore. Talking isn't needed either.
Now, let's suppose that the ship is not so quiet. That damn reactor produces a very loud awkward sound! That combustion chambers produces horrible echoes around all the ship! Couldn't we be better if we just choose to not hear them? If those sounds are captured by a biological hear, then we can't filter them out and they bother and hurt too much for being tolerable. So, it would be better to be biologically deaf and hear things only via the machine-to-brain interfaces. The machine is responsible to filter out unpleasant or irrelevant noise.
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
edited 2 hours ago
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
answered 2 hours ago
Victor Stafusa
3,60221340
3,60221340
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
The statements
"...a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos"
and
"those embryos happened to have a high frequency of deafness"
seem to be a statistically very unlikely combination. Any sensible expedition would be sure to have plenty of genetic diversity and that is implied by 'a wide variety'.
However if the embryos were all planted by a mad scientist (probably all his/her own offspring) then massive inbreeding would occur. It would be very likely that a genetic defect such as deafness would arise.
Alternatively, perhaps many of the embryos were destroyed in transit. Again inbreeding would be a serious problem.
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
The statements
"...a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos"
and
"those embryos happened to have a high frequency of deafness"
seem to be a statistically very unlikely combination. Any sensible expedition would be sure to have plenty of genetic diversity and that is implied by 'a wide variety'.
However if the embryos were all planted by a mad scientist (probably all his/her own offspring) then massive inbreeding would occur. It would be very likely that a genetic defect such as deafness would arise.
Alternatively, perhaps many of the embryos were destroyed in transit. Again inbreeding would be a serious problem.
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
The statements
"...a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos"
and
"those embryos happened to have a high frequency of deafness"
seem to be a statistically very unlikely combination. Any sensible expedition would be sure to have plenty of genetic diversity and that is implied by 'a wide variety'.
However if the embryos were all planted by a mad scientist (probably all his/her own offspring) then massive inbreeding would occur. It would be very likely that a genetic defect such as deafness would arise.
Alternatively, perhaps many of the embryos were destroyed in transit. Again inbreeding would be a serious problem.
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
The statements
"...a wide variety of frozen/preserved embryos"
and
"those embryos happened to have a high frequency of deafness"
seem to be a statistically very unlikely combination. Any sensible expedition would be sure to have plenty of genetic diversity and that is implied by 'a wide variety'.
However if the embryos were all planted by a mad scientist (probably all his/her own offspring) then massive inbreeding would occur. It would be very likely that a genetic defect such as deafness would arise.
Alternatively, perhaps many of the embryos were destroyed in transit. Again inbreeding would be a serious problem.
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
edited 56 mins ago
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
answered 2 hours ago
chasly from UK
4,79722251
4,79722251
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
Therein lies my dilemma, I'm afraid. There have been some useful answers above, though -- however, I understand it is community standard to wait 24 hours before accepting an answer, so I will do so.
– QWriter
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
I may have added a bit more since your comment. I.e. the mad professor or the accidental destruction of embryos.
– chasly from UK
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
Ah, I see! Thank you!
– QWriter
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
QWriter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
QWriter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
QWriter is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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