My take on eugenics
You know how fascinated I have always been with the concept of twins, doppelgangers, dead ringers and how I look forward to meeting my double someday. So for this week’s post I thought I should explore eugenics, cloning and all that jazz.
The term eugenics roughly means improving human genetic qualities or the human gene pool. So one would (in layman’s terms) sterilize people with bad genes and alter the hereditary makeup of the offspring of the ones with good genes to enhance human physical and cognitive abilities and improve the human condition (like maybe eliminating a hereditary disease). People will be able to live longer and healthier lifestyles, by injecting an artificial chromosome into a fertilized egg to cancel the effects of a genetic illness. There are endless possibilities and this science might affect the entire human race for the better.
But let me tell you in the same breath, the desired traits in a human are debatable. There is no certain rule or consensus which says this is a good or bad trait and determining a beneficial trait is a crunch and is mostly guided by culture or social class. What one culture might perceive to be an intelligent trait may actually be a negative or not-so-intelligent trait in another culture.
But then again, if that is answered, I say “When you are not opposed to selective breeding of animals, why eugenics? It is after all self direction of human evolution* .”
The term eugenics roughly means improving human genetic qualities or the human gene pool. So one would (in layman’s terms) sterilize people with bad genes and alter the hereditary makeup of the offspring of the ones with good genes to enhance human physical and cognitive abilities and improve the human condition (like maybe eliminating a hereditary disease). People will be able to live longer and healthier lifestyles, by injecting an artificial chromosome into a fertilized egg to cancel the effects of a genetic illness. There are endless possibilities and this science might affect the entire human race for the better.
But let me tell you in the same breath, the desired traits in a human are debatable. There is no certain rule or consensus which says this is a good or bad trait and determining a beneficial trait is a crunch and is mostly guided by culture or social class. What one culture might perceive to be an intelligent trait may actually be a negative or not-so-intelligent trait in another culture.
But then again, if that is answered, I say “When you are not opposed to selective breeding of animals, why eugenics? It is after all self direction of human evolution* .”
I'd love to hear your viewpoint. So do go ahead and leave me a comment.
* Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921
posted by chérie at
1:08 PM
26 Comments:
That's great technology. I am totally for it. In fact, I know a whole race of people that I can live without (led by Osama, Musharaff, Inzamam, etc.)
If technology can help design and create superior, smarter, hotter humans, I'll take it... even if it comes with some side-effects ;)
By
Superman, at 8:50 AM
Technology promotes racism ???
By
Anonymous, at 11:32 AM
I have my eye on you now.
By
Anonymous, at 2:40 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
second_wind, at 8:07 PM
I do think that any technology which helps alter genes that may cause birth defects, improve chances of a healthier life should be given a chance......but what are the limits of interference with nature and how much can the same technology be misused
By
second_wind, at 8:08 PM
I really dont wanna get into the ethical issues assosciated, I think it has been done to death by armchair philosophers, out of job writers ...
Think of the parents from a Dharavi slum being able to alter the destiny of their beautiful daughter ..who would other wise be born with Huntington Chorea or some other eqaully exotic sounding disease.. The guy sitting in the comforts of his room his genetic material in decent shape can write all he wants about the ills of Stem Cell research,cloning and genetic cleansing.. But if the suffering for that the parents from the slum can be avoided giving them a slim chance to change their lives, if the daughter can be married off at wutever is the approp. marriagable age, without having to pay the extra dowry cause she's wierd ..It's totaly worth it ..
Eugenics rawks.....Balls to the hawks..Amen
By
Anonymous, at 9:30 PM
Is this a joke? Talking about "CREATING" humans as you want? Where's a person's ... personality? If you have the traits of a psycho, you should be a psycho - nature wants you to be that way. You can't meddle with nature - you think you can.
By
Anonymous, at 6:58 AM
I sit in an armchair as I write this, but I don't write this because I sit in an armchair.
A.
When people strive harder for perfection, wishing for better children than what they would have normally, they push unconditional love off the lane. Makes me wonder about the reasons one wants children. Would one have an imperfect child?
B.
The parents from a Dharavi slum could probably not afford this technology.
Then again:
I believe in agreeing with nature and I liked the last comment. But isn't human intelligence and all that it's come up with part of the natural development?
More on the first view:
There's already a lot of blame cast on parents for how they mess you up. If you found out they're the reason your eyes are steel grey and not deep blue, you'd just have another excuse? :-?
I would like to know from your research, Cherie, if the decision to employ eugenics or not has multiple boundaries. For instance, can laws come up sanctioning only certain practices or when you allow one, do you allow all?
If technology has ways to alter what you are after you are old enough to decide for yourself, I would oppose them less than if your parents decide for you. If I can't love myself, then it's my problem. I don't want to be born into a world that expects me not to.
By
Anonymous, at 9:29 AM
wow, It was really refreshing to hear all your views on eugenics . . .
By
chérie, at 11:01 AM
Superman,
I knew you’d root for it . . . it is after all, your cuz power-girl’s blog :)By eugenics, I did not really mean ethnic cleansing . . . that would be inviting trouble, and as you can see, osama has his eye on me ;) I just felt it would be great if we could produce humans without any genetic defects – thus leading to a happier, almost disease-free life.
Anon,
No, that is exactly what I intended NOT to promote in this post. I believe every human being is special in his own way and one should not lack the basic human dignity to notice that.
Osama,
Go climb a tree and fly a kite ;)
Second Wind,
That is the inevitable question . . . “what are the limits of interference with nature?”. Anybody want to answer that?
Sounded like an echo of your comment… :);)
Da Bhatta,
I couldn’t agree more. And I liked your Parthian shot :)
By
chérie, at 11:51 AM
Anon2,
I believe a person’s personality is not genetic, so that will not be altered if he were a designer baby. It’s nature vs nurture. We can’t do anything about the nature of the person but we can sure do something about the way that person was nurtured – like a disease-free upbringing marked by joy leading to a more contented optimistic person maybe. One might argue that nature will always win in the end, which maybe true, so the personality is untouched, right??
Shruti,
Hmmm . . . now, unconditional love makes me think . . . one might argue that you love your child so much that you want it to be perfect ;) again, one might argue about the definition of perfect . . . . and that’s a slippery slope that I’ve tried hard to detour from in this whole post. What is perfect or less-than-perfect? Which genetic alterations should be allowed and which shouldn’t be? What are the limits of interference with nature (echo again)? These are all questions that need to be answered, but may never be answered acceptably.
By
chérie, at 11:52 AM
Hmm ..It's kinda Romantic to be Cynical but I prefer being Cynical about any Romantic notions when it comes to this ..
An open heart surgery was not exactly the thing they did in the early 1900s when ur rocker decided that it's had enuf ... But now it's pretty much the norm and very much affordable..
Science has advanced in geometric progression ..and mans's quest ..enlightened or misguided ..for the next increment of the progression is inevitable and unstoppable ...
Kinda strange that people with issues with "interfering with the course of nature" ..go to the doctor to get that zit on their noses removed, to dissolve that stone in the kidney(believe me..that hurts)..and not let nature do it's thing ... :)
To me Eugenics is the next logical step in the progression ..Some peepuls gonna use it so ensure their kid looks like Jennifer Aniston.. some to ensure that it's gonna be able to lead a happy normal life .. I dont see the point in denying the latter set, the freedom and the chance for the simple joys of life.....
As for the former .. I dont judge em'..not qualified enuf for that ... :D
Peace.
By
Anonymous, at 12:05 PM
Someday when you are walking down the road and rest under a tree, make sure you think - is this the tree that Osama chose to climb? How will you sleep at night?
By
Anonymous, at 12:20 PM
Too bad, I haven't heard from the bears and m3 yet . . where are you guys?
By
chérie, at 11:01 AM
Da bhatta
What you say is definitely reasonable and practical and makes a lotta sense. It was definitely refreshing to hear your viewpoint. You go boy!
Osama,
You kill me, man!
Shruti,
Waiting for your reposté :)
By
chérie, at 11:07 AM
Lol to Superman's first comment! And no, I don't agree with him. But I do agree with Second Wind's view. :)
By
Sin, at 12:33 PM
Science is inspiring and man's quest for knowledge is lovely. :)
(Open heart surgery isn't yet affordable to slum dwellers. :( Let's hope it will be soon. We can help them in other ways in the meanwhile.)
***
I'd like to focus on Health, argue the other way and see where it leads:
"Going to the doctor is a responsible choice a person makes on his own for himself. Good for him. :)" -> my first view
What if you have to drag him there? Or didn't his parents take him when he was little? Isn't eugenics similar and isn't prevention even better than cure?
Do you ever hope to completely erradicate illness? Why wouldn't you let steps toward it happen? If somebody else does it for you, is it hard to accept their help?
Do you want the chance to be disadvantaged? Do you want the chance to know what less than total health is? Do you want the chance of health that detailed human engineering can prevent?
Do you want chance?
By
Anonymous, at 1:59 PM
Whoa! It's hot in here! Interesting topic, this Eugenics. I am for technological advancement of any kind, provided you play within your limits. We all know how temperamental mother nature is. You mess with her, she messes with you, your kids, your grandkids, your dog...you get the idea. She doesn't do it thirsting for revenge, it's just her way of bringing about a balance. But let me change my viewpoint from outside in to inside out - 20 years down the road if my kid has to compete with designer babies for school admissions, scholarships, dates, and a career, I would feel a little guilty (OK! maybe a lot). Imagine if my neighbor came up to me and said "Look at my boy's specs: an I.Q. of 150, 6'5" at 18,we got him Jordan's jump, Pitt's abs. Also, they had a special discount for dimples, got it dirt cheap. The doc threw in Bachchan's voice ...just in case everything else fails."
Long story short: Double-edged sword, this Eugenics!
By
M3, at 6:06 PM
TF,
yeah, superman's a funny kind :)
By
chérie, at 1:53 PM
Wow, Shruti, both your comments are well-taken. But your second comment gets more credit from me. This is exactly in line with the “prevention is better than cure” concept. Very nicely put. Now, do you want to have a chance to decide what you want for yourself? That may be somewhat answered by M3’s comment. I like the way he adds a funny flavor to everything he writes. M3 gets a pat on the back from me :)
To Y’all,
I am very impressed with the kind of questions you all asked. It made me think a lot and I learnt a lot from each one of you. Thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment – you have made this eugenics post quite a success!
By
chérie, at 2:00 PM
@ VC: Thanks! Keep enlightening us Chériepedia!
By
M3, at 4:28 PM
so whats with the music videos at the bottom of the page... i guess i dont need to turn on MTV2 anymore :)
By
Fosix, at 11:12 PM
m3, I'll try :)
fosix, thought you might wanna enjoy some music while reading my blog :)
By
chérie, at 9:16 AM
if you had only built me that pico-femto machine to make me smart, i could have posted some intelligent comment on this post :D :P
but i do agree with M3 on Mother Nature... take a look at diseases... the minute they find a cure for something fatal, a new disease crops up somewhere... i'm sure that this eugenics thingy will backfire is some other way... who knows...
By
Fosix, at 6:34 PM
fosix, :)the pico-femto machine's prototype has been approved and you will have the real version very soon in the mail :)
By
chérie, at 12:49 PM
hey haven't u met your double already..Amita maybe?!
By
Anonymous, at 3:40 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home