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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:07 pm
(July 11, 2015 at 6:28 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: (July 11, 2015 at 3:22 pm)KUSA Wrote: I think if we ever get to the point where forced sterilization is necessary we should start with people that have low IQ levels. Let the smart people have kids and let the stupid ones go extinct.
I was wondering when eugenics would make its appearance.
You make it sound like it's a bad thing.
You know, just because the Nazis made bad use of Nietzsche, eugenics, fascism, warfare, the swastika, and a lot of other things, doesn't mean we shouldn't ever make use of them again.
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:10 pm
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:11 pm
(This post was last modified: July 11, 2015 at 7:12 pm by Thumpalumpacus.)
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:13 pm
(July 11, 2015 at 7:11 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: (July 11, 2015 at 6:56 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: And why do you think that is "the next logical step"? It certainly was not in my mind when I created this thread, which was a reaction to your response to my post in your thread in which you focussed on what I suggested was a bad last resort to avoid catastrophe.
I can't speak for her, but it seems like the natural next step once you grant the government the power to determine who can reproduce, because that process will either be random and arbitrary, or it will have criteria.
Bureaucracies detest randomness, and will surely move to establish criteria. And while genetic fitness is not the only criteria I can conceive, it is the one which, I believe, would prove most alluring.
Mind you, I'm not thinking you support it.
^This.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:17 pm
(July 11, 2015 at 7:11 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: (July 11, 2015 at 6:56 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: And why do you think that is "the next logical step"? It certainly was not in my mind when I created this thread, which was a reaction to your response to my post in your thread in which you focussed on what I suggested was a bad last resort to avoid catastrophe.
I can't speak for her, but it seems like the natural next step once you grant the government the power to determine who can reproduce, because that process will either be random and arbitrary, or it will have criteria.
Bureaucracies detest randomness, and will surely move to establish criteria. And while genetic fitness is not the only criteria I can conceive, it is the one which, I believe, would prove most alluring.
Mind you, I'm not thinking you support it.
I was thinking more in terms of limiting the number of children each person could have. With the second option of the poll, the expressed goal is to prevent starvation, not to genetically engineer humanity.
The goal of eugenics could be introduced by a supporter of it in situations in which there is not a population problem. Or it could be introduced when there is a population problem. So I see it as a completely separate issue, not as a natural or logical extension of the ideas in the opening post.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:18 pm
(This post was last modified: July 11, 2015 at 7:20 pm by Excited Penguin.)
(July 11, 2015 at 6:40 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: (July 11, 2015 at 6:28 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I was wondering when eugenics would make its appearance.
Yup, seems like the next logical step, in this sort of thinking. Scary stuff, if you ask me.  It's only scary if you identify with the unborn ones*, which you shouldn't; they are, by definition, non-existent.
*I mean to say unconceived, though, as far as embryos go, they shouldn't matter either, as they can't really feel anything[as far as I know, that is; please correct me if I'm wrong about embryos. Anyway, my principle is this: don't care about it if it can't feel/know/think/grow(this means to say, if it can't develop without considerably endangering its own species in the process) or do any other thing considered human or even animal].
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Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:19 pm
(July 11, 2015 at 6:28 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: (July 11, 2015 at 3:22 pm)KUSA Wrote: I think if we ever get to the point where forced sterilization is necessary we should start with people that have low IQ levels. Let the smart people have kids and let the stupid ones go extinct.
I was wondering when eugenics would make its appearance.
Well it's better than the other way around.
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:32 pm
(This post was last modified: July 11, 2015 at 7:33 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Genetic fitness wouldn't even enter into the equation. Talk about high minded villainy, lol. I think we should shoot lower, how much money do you have in your wallet? That seems a more likely criteria.
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:34 pm
(July 11, 2015 at 7:17 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: (July 11, 2015 at 7:11 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I can't speak for her, but it seems like the natural next step once you grant the government the power to determine who can reproduce, because that process will either be random and arbitrary, or it will have criteria.
Bureaucracies detest randomness, and will surely move to establish criteria. And while genetic fitness is not the only criteria I can conceive, it is the one which, I believe, would prove most alluring.
Mind you, I'm not thinking you support it.
I was thinking more in terms of limiting the number of children each person could have. With the second option of the poll, the expressed goal is to prevent starvation, not to genetically engineer humanity.
The goal of eugenics could be introduced by a supporter of it in situations in which there is not a population problem. Or it could be introduced when there is a population problem. So I see it as a completely separate issue, not as a natural or logical extension of the ideas in the opening post.
I get what you're saying, but I'm simply pointing out that others are quite happy to treat that distinction as meaningless once we grant the government the power of sterilization, and I have no doubt at all that politicians would pander to the uncomfortably large segment of the electorate that is still, in this day and age, quite racist.
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RE: Overpopulation: You get to cast the deciding vote.
July 11, 2015 at 7:35 pm
Malthus always has the last laugh.
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