Before I start, if you think it belongs somewhere else, feel free to move or merge it. Way I figure it, it's not exactly science and technology, since it's not about the actual science aspects, and it's not current events, because it ain't quite happening yet. I'm just navel gazing, so I guess it's philosophy.
I'm just throwing ideas at the walls to see what sticks, basically. Kinda like sorting my laundry ;)
So, anyway, we're already at the point where we have a pretty good idea what genetic combinations are bad (e.g., the trisomy of chromosome 21 in Down Syndrome, since we had that talk, or the X chromosome deffect in Haemophilia) and can decide to abort a pregnancy if it doesn't have the genetic combination we want.
We're also at the point where at least in other mamals we can add whatever genes we want from other organisms, and make a goat that makes spider silk or a cat that glows in the dark. The logical conclusion of doing that to a human embryo isn't even something visionary: it's been a SF trope ever since we first knew WTH a gene is. Star Trek had it in the SIXTIES, and it wasn't the first time it popped up.
So, how far are we willing to go with it?
Before you answer that, my contention is that when it happens, it won't be the perfect augments from Star Trek or the "chromes" from Almost Human. We're not quite at the point of just picking ALL alleles, and predicting how they'll ALL work together. It'll be just one or two things that the parents want, and both the kid and society are left to deal with the actual effects and side-effects of it.
And as someone who's been at the crap end of being worked like a slave so mommy can brag with my results, let me also say that many parents will swear that they only want the kid to be happy, but they really DON'T. They want something the parents can be proud of, and the sooner that gratification the better.
E.g., we had a talk even on this board about some Chinese "tiger mom" being even proud of not letting her daughter even go to sleep or to the bathroom until she gets some piano tune exactly right. Never mind that the chance of that kid landing a job as a pianist are slim, and the wage if they do ain't exactly stellar.
So what happens when someone genetically engineers the perfect instrument player, at whatever expense it takes in other categories, and it turns out that it's not even something that's available as a career for that kid? If nothing else, because a million other "tiger moms" had the same idea, and there's only so much demand for perfect piano or violin players?
What happens when Bubba blows his savings on a kid that's the perfect athlete -- even at the expense of not being very fast, or having the money to go to college after that expense -- but so did ten million other Bubbas? There aren't nearly enough football teams for all of them.
And will we even allow them into sports at all? I mean, if we don't allow someone who took steroids to build extra muscles, do we allow someone who's been genetically engineered to grow lots of muscle mass?
Well, throw your own ideas in. I probably didn't think about all aspects.
I'm just throwing ideas at the walls to see what sticks, basically. Kinda like sorting my laundry ;)
So, anyway, we're already at the point where we have a pretty good idea what genetic combinations are bad (e.g., the trisomy of chromosome 21 in Down Syndrome, since we had that talk, or the X chromosome deffect in Haemophilia) and can decide to abort a pregnancy if it doesn't have the genetic combination we want.
We're also at the point where at least in other mamals we can add whatever genes we want from other organisms, and make a goat that makes spider silk or a cat that glows in the dark. The logical conclusion of doing that to a human embryo isn't even something visionary: it's been a SF trope ever since we first knew WTH a gene is. Star Trek had it in the SIXTIES, and it wasn't the first time it popped up.
So, how far are we willing to go with it?
Before you answer that, my contention is that when it happens, it won't be the perfect augments from Star Trek or the "chromes" from Almost Human. We're not quite at the point of just picking ALL alleles, and predicting how they'll ALL work together. It'll be just one or two things that the parents want, and both the kid and society are left to deal with the actual effects and side-effects of it.
And as someone who's been at the crap end of being worked like a slave so mommy can brag with my results, let me also say that many parents will swear that they only want the kid to be happy, but they really DON'T. They want something the parents can be proud of, and the sooner that gratification the better.
E.g., we had a talk even on this board about some Chinese "tiger mom" being even proud of not letting her daughter even go to sleep or to the bathroom until she gets some piano tune exactly right. Never mind that the chance of that kid landing a job as a pianist are slim, and the wage if they do ain't exactly stellar.
So what happens when someone genetically engineers the perfect instrument player, at whatever expense it takes in other categories, and it turns out that it's not even something that's available as a career for that kid? If nothing else, because a million other "tiger moms" had the same idea, and there's only so much demand for perfect piano or violin players?
What happens when Bubba blows his savings on a kid that's the perfect athlete -- even at the expense of not being very fast, or having the money to go to college after that expense -- but so did ten million other Bubbas? There aren't nearly enough football teams for all of them.
And will we even allow them into sports at all? I mean, if we don't allow someone who took steroids to build extra muscles, do we allow someone who's been genetically engineered to grow lots of muscle mass?
Well, throw your own ideas in. I probably didn't think about all aspects.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2btPgXh
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