Saturday, June 09, 2007

Hopscotch Logic

Posted by olvlzl.
This would be just another strange story of rather esoteric research into claims that people are able to do unexpected things while asleep if it wasn’t for these three things:

During his graduate research, Mangan came across a study detailing two cases where the subjects didn't recall what happened after being told of sexual acts that occurred while they slept.

The first case was a man who initiated sexual intercourse with his wife in the middle of the night, but could not recall it the next day.

The second was a legal case where a man had crawled into the sleeping bag of his 14-year-old daughter's friend and attempted to commit sexual acts against her. He also claimed not to have any recollection of the incident.

Mangan said he was fascinated by the cases because they detailed an apparent condition that hadn't been thoroughly detailed in medical publications.

And then there is this:

Mangan said most of his research on sleepsex is Internet-based. His website — www.sleepsex.org — asks people to submit their experiences, and over 1,000 already have done so.

From this we go, by means of modern logic, science and law to:

Mangan and two colleagues are seeking funding for a three-pronged study they hope will shed more light on the disorder.

The study would investigate the genetics of people who suffer from sexomnia, how many people suffer from it, and its legal ramifications.


What am I missing here? To go from two men saying “Honest, I can’t remember a thing,” through “over 1000 “ online testimonials to the search for “the genetic” cause of condition x would seem to me to be missing a few intermediate steps. Like trying to find out if there is really something there to have a genetic basis. You'll notice that they're already talking about taking the much larger and infintely more serious step leading to “legal ramifications”.

For further reference.