What is your goal in life? A common answer is happiness. Even the 14th Dalai Lama has stated the purpose of life is to be happy.
People universally treat people with Down Syndrome as inferior. They fear having a baby with down syndrome as they will not merge in society as well. They use it as an insult, implying superior IQ is to be preferred, yet those with Down Syndrome achieve happiness at a higher level than the insulters.
If people with Down Syndrome are happier than the average person, are they not achieving the most common goal in life better than you? Are they not achieving happiness better than the rest of us?
“Among those surveyed, nearly 99% of people with Down Syndrome indicated that they were happy with their lives; 97% liked who they are; and 96% liked how they look.”
Skotko, B.G., Levine, S.P. and Goldstein, R. (2011) Self-perceptions from people with down syndrome, American journal of medical genetics. Part A. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740159/ (Accessed: 15 August 2023).
If you agree that happiness should be the main goal in life (I don’t), you may want to stop looking down on those with Down Syndrome and start looking up to them to learn how they are so good at it.
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