Eugenics/Designer-babies... is the concept really that bad?

[Mister Agenda]

I'm just assuming that today's world is not a park, and I can expect racism between the normal people and the gene-modified humans.
There are no genes for psychology.

But for curing sickness, yes, pretty much

There are no genes for psychology...YET!

But seriously, there are genes that affect a person's psychology.

[Edwardo Piet]

There's no logic behind eugenics being immoral in and of itself. If you just mean breeding people a way you want them bred and you take away slavery or extermination or anything else dodgy.

Parents wanting their child a certain way for example... nothing wrong with that. People 'meddling' with DNA so that the offspring are less likely to have cancer or other diseases, nothing wrong with that.

Eugenics does not=what Hitler did. It was one of many tools he used for 'evil' but it doesn't have to be used for 'evil'.

[Neo-Scholastic]

It starts with editing out disease genes, then you have mandatory sterilize the people carrying the disease to protect the gene pool, insurance cost reduction, the common good etc. Especially since certain demographics are prone to certain "deficiencies" the "corrupted races" can be editted out. Then since we know which genes might cause depression or anti social behavior we need to proactively edit those out to create a more happy and compliant populace, you know, public safety, etc....and since gentlemen prefer blonds then it should be mandated that all new children be edited to include that. And since people with blue-eyes are happier...

Of course we cannot forget epigenetic factors, some diseases will still happen because of environmental effects or accidents. Those people will be considered a burden to society and even the people who love them will come to understand that because of their "poor quality of life" the old, infirm, and disabled need to be eliminated "for their own good" (sorry, we already do that)

Of course none of that will ever happen...HERE

The thing is empathy is a rather plastic concept. If I was a "useless eater" and a "burden on the national health system" then surely I would want to be terminated for the common good.

[Mermaid]

It starts with editing out disease genes, then you have mandatory sterilize the people carrying the disease to protect the gene pool, insurance cost reduction, the common good etc. 

This is quiiiite a leap.

[Edwardo Piet]

Those "Where's it going to end?" slippery slope fallacies are so... fallacious.

[Mermaid]

Those "Where's it going to end?" slippery slope fallacies are so... fallacious.

Pretty soon we'll let men marry goats!

[Edwardo Piet]

AND THEN WE'LL FUCK WILD BOARS WITH HAIRBRUSHES COVERED IN SLIME!

No? Anyone? No?

NEXT WE'LL BE WEARING OUR BRAS UNDER OUR ARMPITS AND OUR KNICKERS ON OUR FACES-SOCKETS!

No? Anyone? No?

[Neo-Scholastic]

delete double post

[Edwardo Piet]

The ends justify the means and The Slippery Slope Fallacy... is a fallacy.

[Neo-Scholastic]

It starts with editing out disease genes, then you have mandatory sterilize the people carrying the disease to protect the gene pool, insurance cost reduction, the common good etc. 

This is quiiiite a leap.

Is it? It already happened. Not once, but twice. First, here in America. We actually had competitions for best breed families at State Fairs. Then the National Socialists picked it up. In the future the concepts will be the same, but it will just be sold to you in a different guises, like worker efficiency and Medicare cost reductions. Price Waterhouse already put together a couple of different scenarios, here: Megatrends

And since this is AF, I think people who advocate subjective morality, based on evolved traits (that will cease to apply), need to think long and hard about how to forestall the rationalizations that will come fast and persuasively in the absence of something fundamental in which to ground ethics. The golden rule and survival fitness don't work so when when some people start to consider themselves an entirely different species, i.e. trans-human. And to what extent would such trans-humans consider themselves beyond the reach of regular ole' homo sapiens morality. I'm pretty sure they will think of us like Neanderthals, our extinction inevitable.



Sometimes the slippery slope isn't a fallacy; but rather a legitimate fear based on past experience.