Does anybody think eugenics is a good thing? I personally think eugenics, if not forced upon people, could be a very good thing. Engeneering people who are immune to diseases have genius level intelligence, more attractive than the average person, and other good qualities who then pass on their genes to other people like them would, i think, be a great way for our species to go. Anybody have any thoughts? Curious to hear what other blades think about this sometimes controversial topic.
Eventually we will need it, not coerced, but people will have to realize that the stresses of modern post-industrial life go far beyond the natural capacity of our human minds which are still programmed to function at the level needed many thousands of years back. The population growth must necessarily reach zero someday. We have to level out at some point; exponential growth is by definition unsustainable in a finite universe. But once we do lvl out, that's just an aside. When we are born, most of us lack the natural capacity to perform complicated critical thinking analyses necessary in the life of responsible office worker jobs, lawyers, doctors, professors, etc. Because of this, we are forced to go through several training institutions, schools, that are highly demanding, persistent, and competitive and only becoming more so as technology progresses and the demand for post-industrial jobs rises. This process starts at age 5 or 6 and goes on basically constantly until at least age 21 or 22 for people who want high-paying jobs. But it can go on until 30 or 35, 40% or more of total life expectancy. And that's just training. With enough population growth, "training" institutions become so competitive and stressful that expectations will demand a higher average IQ to function comfortably. Basically, if our population stays just as intelligent as now, (and less educated ppl tend to reproduce *more* than more educated) the bureaucracy and institutionalized nature of everything will become overwhelming for many citizens, and some form of eugenics incentives may become more ethical than not. I mean look at Japan, perhaps the most advanced society in the world. Suicide rates are staggering there. Most countries with low suicide rates are less technologically advanced. Many I'm not connecting the right causes with the right effects, but see the gist basically, the drawback of continuously increasing intellectual expectations in the average person while keeping the intrinsic intelligence level nearly flat?
Eventually people will need it just to be competitive anymore. A normal human being produced by genetic chance wont have a niche in the marketplace. Everything they can do, someone who has been designed can do better and faster and for longer. Employers wont want to take a chance Hiring someone who will get sick and miss work and eventually prematurely become useless and or die. And also, I see modifying humans as the only way to stop a robot apocalypse. As long as we improve at the same rate with them they won't become the apex predator and we can live symbiotically.
At our current rate of technological advancement, computers double in capability about every 18 months. It's going to slow down when it gets harder to further miniaturise components, but it's still faster than current human evolution. Even through a calculated breeding program, humans will not develop as quickly as computing technology does, especially not if the technology has awoken at the Singularity and begins making itself. Now, if we get our panties un-knotted and start engineering high-potency genes for people, I think that might work better in the long run than directly competing with computer advancement by selective boning.
picking a se partner is a form of eugenics. there is no need for the word or the concept. we already chose mates based on qualities.
It is great when a desire to create a utopian society leads to scientific discoveries in genetic engineering. However, selective breeding and killing to create a "perfect" population is bullshit, not to mention selective breeding to get rid of disease and other issues, entirely impossible. It is what the Nazi's did in Germany with the death camps and some pretty screwed up societal programs. Look into the programs, they are pretty twisted. Programs in which young girls are put with males, and their babies become property of the state, its sick shit.
Eugenics is the vomit of evil. So is genetic manipulation and or engineering. These ideas all stem from the belief that man is smarter than the universe or nature. Well the truth is, we cant even make it off this tiny rock. We have already severely polluted our habitat. We have developed weapons of mass destruction capable of causing our extinction. We also completely rely on a fragile power grid and transportation system that could fall like a house of cards from one natural or man made disaster. Eugenics is closely related to evolution except evolution is natural and eugenics is like a breeding program. The idea that technology is going to help our race advance or even be beneficial to us is a contradiction. Technology makes things easier therefore it takes less work or a lower stress load. Therefore it is detrimental to our natural evolution. It actually weakens us. Technology makes even more people dependent on a system instead of themselves, therefore lowering responsibility, motivation, and accountability which leads to a social and moral decline which we currently see ourselves in. Bottom line is, were not smarter than the universe. We didnt create it, we dont control it. Im not worried about a robot apocalypse or a superhuman gene takeover. Were absolutely goin to eliminate our planet or our species before anything like that happens! Peace!
^point proven. If theres not people trying to highjack and control your evolution, there are people goofing off and standing in the way. No offence. Just a good example during a serious discussion.
wow....this is really interesting. i keep thinking about the pro's and con's... i don't see eugenics as being detrimental to our natural evolution. we are already taking part in natural evolution every day, and we still would be after/while eugenics have been implemented. i just think eugenics is only necessary if we have proof that the human race's intelligence, attractiveness, healthiness, etc. is decreasing....which, i don't know if it is...but i mean we're obviously living longer than we used to, and developing really advanced technologies. i guess the question is....could we be doing better? could the rate of our increasing intelligence be greater? we could be farther in the "future" in a sense...or i guess a desirable future. yeah, i guess that's the point of eugenics..... it would be a cool experiment...and i don't think it's unethical....unless people are getting killed off...? i honestly had no idea what eugenics was until i saw this thread, so someone tell me if i'm not really getting the point.
Your not. Eugenics means you cull or kill the undesirable people that dont match your selected gene traits or characteristics. Good example : adolf hitler. Still think its ethical? Technology is dangerous to our survival. It isnt a bar of achievement we have reached. It is a sign that were going in the wrong direction. Look at fukushima nuclear plant. 12,000 spent fuel rods and 4 nuclear reactors right on the most active fault line and tsaunami zone. Yeah we R advanceded techonologies cuzz!!! Dur durrrrrr..... Nature is in control. Not man. Eugenics is like a screaming child in wal-mart wanting a toy and momma nature is whipping that ass.
You're just afraid of science and technology. I'm sure fourty thousand years ago when humans first started making alcohol you wouldn't have complained about our advancements. Same goes for agriculture and fire. These are good things but also can be bad. Fire Burns things we don't want it to and if we don't control our agricultural practices then we destroy the soil in an area. Doesn't mean we never should have figured out how to make fire or make the land produce more goods. Just means we need to learn how to master these things before we start utilizing them fully.
yeah saying that technology is dangerous doesn't make sense....without technology there would be no life on the planet. you typing "technology is dangerous" uses technology. even non-human animals use technology (storing food, building nests/dams, etc). the topic here is about how we use our technology not whether we should use it at all.
So if the state instituted a program if eugenics, but I refused to take part, then what would happen? Where do you stop? It seems to me that you get places like Nazi Germany, not as a result but as a logical extension of the idea. Anyway, natural selection wins every time, and i don't really see how eugenics can do a better job. I'd prefer to let nature figure it out.