Designer Babies, Yea or Nay?

[MadImmortalMan]

He's worried about some people being smarter than others? 

[Ideologue]

If we're concerned about inequality, focus on outcomes, not opportunities, dummy.

wut?

When the superhuman gets a job, you tax his ass for all the good society's done him with his brain genes and big dick and so forth, and give it to his dumb flatscan neighbors.

I suppose, on thinking about it, it would be better just to have a publicly funded program where everybody comes out as good as possible.  And the faith babies are aborted.

[MadImmortalMan]

Maybe we should just go ahead and proscribe all the smart people now. Are you now or have you ever been a member of MENSA????? 

[Ideologue]

We need the smart people for the revenue and sexbots.

[Admiral Yi]

Have you been hitting the breakfast bong Ide?

[Ideologue]

How is this different from anything I always say?

[garbon]

Anyway I think the deaf lesbian couple is a great reason not to allow this. Those individuals lack the brainpower to make informed decisions.

[jimmy olsen]

I think the problem with designers babies is the same problem as with designer crops.  Sure, in the short term, you can get huge gains in whatever it is that you're measuring.  In the long term, though, homogeneity of the stock can lead to total extinction, in case some new dangers crop up.

Another problem are the social and political implications of effectively engineering a "master race", since the designer babies will likely be available only to the rich. The foundation of our system is based (at least in theory) on a socially mobile meritocracy. It will be over if the rich will simply be vastly superior to the poor in personal capabilities' terms.

The rich don't only fuck the rich, highly beneficial traits spread at a surprisingly rapid rate through a population.

Also, the price for emerging technologies will inevitably come down. The first time the human genome was sequenced it cost a billion dollars and now it costs only ten thousand.

[Ideologue]

I think the problem with designers babies is the same problem as with designer crops.  Sure, in the short term, you can get huge gains in whatever it is that you're measuring.  In the long term, though, homogeneity of the stock can lead to total extinction, in case some new dangers crop up.

Another problem are the social and political implications of effectively engineering a "master race", since the designer babies will likely be available only to the rich. The foundation of our system is based (at least in theory) on a socially mobile meritocracy. It will be over if the rich will simply be vastly superior to the poor in personal capabilities' terms.

The rich don't only fuck the rich, highly beneficial traits spread at a surprisingly rapid rate through a population.

Humans, especially present day humans, are to a large degree insulated from natural selection.

[jimmy olsen]

I think the problem with designers babies is the same problem as with designer crops.  Sure, in the short term, you can get huge gains in whatever it is that you're measuring.  In the long term, though, homogeneity of the stock can lead to total extinction, in case some new dangers crop up.

Another problem are the social and political implications of effectively engineering a "master race", since the designer babies will likely be available only to the rich. The foundation of our system is based (at least in theory) on a socially mobile meritocracy. It will be over if the rich will simply be vastly superior to the poor in personal capabilities' terms.

The rich don't only fuck the rich, highly beneficial traits spread at a surprisingly rapid rate through a population.

Humans, especially present day humans, are to a large degree insulated from natural selection.

That's completely false, human evolution is only accelerating due to the vast increase in population and the immense changes in living habits and habitat that we've created, introducing new selective pressures upon us.

Also, I edited my last post.

[MadImmortalMan]

Humans, especially present day humans, are to a large degree insulated from natural selection.

Martinus certainly is.

[Eddie Teach]

Humans, especially present day humans, are to a large degree insulated from natural selection.

That's completely false, human evolution is only accelerating due to the vast increase in population and the immense changes in living habits and habitat that we've created, introducing new selective pressures upon us.

Life would be so much easier if I could just club a female on the head and take her back to my cave. 

[frunk]

The rich don't only fuck the rich, highly beneficial traits spread at a surprisingly rapid rate through a population.

That's assuming the gene designers would make their traits inheritable, which is highly unlikely.  Why risk losing repeat customers?

[jimmy olsen]

The rich don't only fuck the rich, highly beneficial traits spread at a surprisingly rapid rate through a population.

That's assuming the gene designers would make their traits inheritable, which is highly unlikely.  Why risk losing repeat customers?

How do you make genes not inheritable? 

Even if they could the political pressure would force the government to mandate that they not do so.

[Ideologue]

I think the problem with designers babies is the same problem as with designer crops.  Sure, in the short term, you can get huge gains in whatever it is that you're measuring.  In the long term, though, homogeneity of the stock can lead to total extinction, in case some new dangers crop up.

Another problem are the social and political implications of effectively engineering a "master race", since the designer babies will likely be available only to the rich. The foundation of our system is based (at least in theory) on a socially mobile meritocracy. It will be over if the rich will simply be vastly superior to the poor in personal capabilities' terms.

The rich don't only fuck the rich, highly beneficial traits spread at a surprisingly rapid rate through a population.

Humans, especially present day humans, are to a large degree insulated from natural selection.

That's completely false, human evolution is only accelerating due to the vast increase in population and the immense changes in living habits and habitat that we've created, introducing new selective pressures upon us.

Also, I edited my last post.

Which highly beneficial traits have spread rapidly throughout any human population in historical time, Tim?