Will the Real Lance Armstrong Please Stand Up?
If you are sick or dysfunctional, drugs can make you better. Drugs will also make you "better" - better than you were? Better than you deserve to be? Functional with benefits?
Is Lance Armstrong on steroids still Lance Armstrong, only a more authentic version: his truer self? In addition to taking drugs to prepare for the Tour de France, Lance also worked hard. He didn't fly through the Alps, he cycled.
Imagine a researcher takes a certain medication. Side effects include making the researcher more outgoing and more energetic. He has more to say and is more charming. This makes him more confident. He is also working hard. Let's say his confidence helps him apply for more grants, his lab gets more funds, his research expands, and he eventually wins a Nobel Prize.
When the Nobel committee finds out he was on performance-enhancing drugs, would they take the prize away?
Of course, the organizations that run the Tour de France have a list of banned drugs. To my knowledge, the Nobel committee does not.
Students studying for exams take drugs to stay awake. Do universities treat that as cheating?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. - Ron
I feel badly for him because he did so much good with the foundation he created which I am sure has helped so many people.
ReplyDeletePeople forget (conveniently) that "there but through the Grace of God, go I." None of us is perfect although some people seem to think they are, joke, joke. from Wilma