Eugenics

I am watching a fascinating programme ( TV ) on cloning.
Will billionaires order up new spare parts in an effort to live forever ?
Will mad dictators produce clone armies to march at their orders ?

Well yes. Both are now becoming possible.
The making of super people is not very far away too.

This is more than just reproducing an exact copy of one's pet pooch or winning racehorse.

Yes like it or not this is a growth industry.

We can use to make your child be born 6 feet tall, with blue eyes and insanely intelligent.

hhiusa said:

We can use to make your child be born 6 feet tall, with blue eyes and insanely intelligent.

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I bet there are already some little Einsteins around somewhere.
" Vot we haff no bananas ? "

Eugenics only means "good genes". We should all be so fortunate. Whatever connotation one wants to apply to it, is at their discretion, regardless of the real denotation. I prefer to look at it from the less subjective and more objective lens of the denotation.

This reminds me of some lyrics from a Pearl Jam song. "Admire me, admire my home, admire my son, he is my clone."

I seem to remember in the 1970s they tried to make super children from Olympic athletes etc. but I never heard that they succeeded.

There is a religious hang up on this. For some reason the bible bashers want people to be born as nature intended. i.e. riddled with disease, mal functioning genes etc.

From my understanding, it was that they think taking fetal stem cells in wrong is some way. I do not know what the main concerns are exactly.

I suppose human clones are the logical next steps.
However, in the same way that we have chosen to destroy genetic diversity in food crops, if everyone is the same then any one disease will wipe everyone out.

Even if we all had the same genetic make up, social factors such as nutrition, education, social environment will likely create differences.
Also, when everyone is 6 foot tall, blue eyed and insanely intelligent, it will simply be the new average.
There will be 6 foot tall, blue eyed clever supermarket shelf-stackers.

trendie said:

I suppose human clones are the logical next steps.
However, in the same way that we have chosen to destroy genetic diversity in food crops, if everyone is the same then any one disease will wipe everyone out.

Even if we all had the same genetic make up, social factors such as nutrition, education, social environment will likely create differences.
Also, when everyone is 6 foot tall, blue eyed and insanely intelligent, it will simply be the new average.
There will be 6 foot tall, blue eyed clever supermarket shelf-stackers.

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Your argument is contradictory. You first state that homogeneity will destroy us and then state how if everyone was the same, we would still be diverse.

Diversity Is Not A Strength
http://barbwire.com/2014/08/27/diversity-strength-crippling-weakness/

Grrr, who wants to live forever? Presumably that would mean being old forever as I've already passed my prime. Thanks but no thanks.

hhiusa said:

Your argument is contradictory. You first state that homogeneity will destroy us and then state how if everyone was the same, we would still be diverse.

Diversity Is Not A Strength
http://barbwire.com/2014/08/27/diversity-strength-crippling-weakness/

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I disagree about diversity.
It is indeed a strength. If we are all the same, then we might all want to have the same sort of job and have the same ideas. As long as we don't fight amongst ourselves diversity is a strength imho. The group would be easily beaten if they all had the same weaknesses and very boring to talk to.

Pat494 said:

I disagree about diversity.
It is indeed a strength. If we are all the same, then we might all want to have the same sort of job and have the same ideas. As long as we don't fight amongst ourselves diversity is a strength imho. The group would be easily beaten if they all had the same weaknesses and very boring to talk to.

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I think you may have missed the point I was trying to make. I am not saying we should all be one race. I am not just talking about genetic diversity either.

At a more microcosmic level, lets compare cities and culutures. Cities with less cultural diversity have less crime. Cities with less diversity in general have less crime, incomes are generally higher and there is less diversity in the incomes that they make.

People are generally self-interested; however, if their self-interest aligns such as in a clique, then it creates unity. When you have people of different incomes living in the same city, you end up with Democrats and Republicans. One wants to lower taxes and the other wants them raised upon the wealthy. That is disunity. It is counterproductive.

You also run into a problem that we are facing now. It is the failure of another culture to assimilate properly. Many northern European countries upset because the refugees have been unwilling or are unable to assimilate properly.

Homogeneity breeds unity. The military is an important example where it only works when everyone follows orders and works towards a singular goal at that moment. The military breeds homogeneity. Same haircut, same uniform as somebody else in your rank,... The word uniform comes from one shape or one form.

Improving the gene pool is one area is where a country like North Korea would have an advantage. No religious hang ups. Just political ones though.
Universities around the world are putting together smart couples but will they have clever children ?

I wonder if there is an intelligence gene ? The cutting edge of modern science needs super intelligence to stay up with the game it seems.

Britain’s largest sperm bank has been turning away donors with dyslexia in what it describes as attempts to “minimise the risk of transmitting common genetic diseases or malformations to any children born”.

In a practice branded “eugenics” by campaigners and a would-be donor, the London Sperm Bank has banned men with dyslexia or other common conditions it described as “neurological diseases” from donating.

A leaflet to donors lists a series of conditions the clinic screens for, including: attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], autism, Asperger syndrome, dyslexia and the motor disorder dyspraxia.

Pat494 said:

Britain’s largest sperm bank has been turning away donors with dyslexia in what it describes as attempts to “minimise the risk of transmitting common genetic diseases or malformations to any children born”.

In a practice branded “eugenics” by campaigners and a would-be donor, the London Sperm Bank has banned men with dyslexia or other common conditions it described as “neurological diseases” from donating.

A leaflet to donors lists a series of conditions the clinic screens for, including: attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], autism, Asperger syndrome, dyslexia and the motor disorder dyspraxia.

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What was the purpose in posting that? How do you feel about that?

hhiusa said:

What was the purpose in posting that? How do you feel about that?

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I think it is very sensible to screen out disease etc. as much as one can. It does save some the agonies of pain during a lifetime and so should be commended.

Pat494 said:

I think it is very sensible to screen out disease etc. as much as one can. It does save some the agonies of pain during a lifetime and so should be commended.

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I hear Danish sperm banks are on the rise. Denmark is considered one of the happiest countries in the world and it seems that everyone wants a piece of it.

I think that as technology develops growing organs and even whole limbs for transplantation would become available and affordable for the wide public, not just billionaires.

mlawson71 said:

I think that as technology develops growing organs and even whole limbs for transplantation would become available and affordable for the wide public, not just billionaires.

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I wonder if they will re grow teeth ?

It will be just like that movie The Island.