Genetically Modified Kids

[A18]

I would also oppose any kind of 'general enhancement,' which is also disturbing and sick.

Obviously I'm talking about putting them to death for committing the atrocity after it is outlawed.

[Lunar]

One of the things that makes me uncomfortable with genetic modification is the forced competition.    If you want your kid to have a decent shot at doing very well in school (relative to other classmates), being accepted to a good college, and going to work in a top job, you're somewhat forced to use genetic modification after the top bar has been raised.

[Lunar]

I would also oppose any kind of 'general enhancement,' which is also disturbing and sick.

Obviously I'm talking about putting them to death for committing the atrocity after it is outlawed.

Isn't murder MORE disgusting than modifying DNA?  Your arguments boggle my mind: human life is sacred, so we'll murder anyone who tampers with it?

[A18]

I didn't say murder. I said put them to death, with due process, of course.

[Lunar]

I didn't say murder. I said put them to death, with due process, of course.

You implied murder elsewhere when you said that we should flatten any country that implements a domestic policy that allows genetic modification.

But who the hell cares.  Read my post again and substitute whatever synonyms make you comfortable.

[A18]

That is not murder either. That is war, plain and simple. They get what's coming to them.

Now, reading your post again, yes, I support killing people who tamper with the sanctity of life. Not seeing what's so weird about that.

[John Dibble]

That is not murder either. That is war, plain and simple. They get what's coming to them.

You used the word 'eradicate', so I'm assuming complete destruction, the entire population?

By the way, what if you lived in such a country? What if you were just an innocent civilian? Your country decides that GM should be legal, and then the rest of the world decides that your country should be attacked, and you die in the attack. It's easy to talk about going to war when you aren't going to be a victim of it.

[Platypus]

I *believe* it's illegal in Australia as a whole, and I know it is in VIC, what's te situation in other places?

[ragnar]

One of the things that makes me uncomfortable with genetic modification is the forced competition.    If you want your kid to have a decent shot at doing very well in school (relative to other classmates), being accepted to a good college, and going to work in a top job, you're somewhat forced to use genetic modification after the top bar has been raised.

[Cory]

One of the things that makes me uncomfortable with genetic modification is the forced competition.   If you want your kid to have a decent shot at doing very well in school (relative to other classmates), being accepted to a good college, and going to work in a top job, you're somewhat forced to use genetic modification after the top bar has been raised.

It sounds mean but this is a good thing, it will make society and humanity better. We just need to have to social-democratic infrastructure to ensure equal access.

[DC Al Fine]

One of the things that makes me uncomfortable with genetic modification is the forced competition.   If you want your kid to have a decent shot at doing very well in school (relative to other classmates), being accepted to a good college, and going to work in a top job, you're somewhat forced to use genetic modification after the top bar has been raised.

It sounds mean but this is a good thing, it will make society and humanity better. We just need to have to social-democratic infrastructure to ensure equal access.

That's one hell of a necromancy.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Does anyone want to hear me rant?

[Beet]

I prefer the term "designer baby." It's more fashionable. It conjures up images of pulsating music, celebrities, reality TV shows, beautiful young people mingling in a stylish New York or L.A. boutique with drinks in hand. "Genetically Modified Kids" makes it seem like something you'd hear about on NPR, after a story on the wonders of ethanol.

[Oak Hills]

Does anyone want to hear me rant?

this guy does.

[DC Al Fine]

Does anyone want to hear me rant?

Please do

[dead0man]

Just make sure it's not what you call an "extravaganza", those are boring.

[TJ in Oregon]

Not entirely horrible, if we stick to correcting legitimate diseases that are genetic. The idea of people actively selecting a myriad of other things, such as "designer babies" or a Gattica-style selection is horrifying though. It would need to stick to selectively targeting specifical genes that cause a problem and not making your kid "smarter" or changing their hair color, etc.

[Cory]

Not entirely horrible, if we stick to correcting legitimate diseases that are genetic. The idea of people actively selecting a myriad of other things, such as "designer babies" or a Gattica-style selection is horrifying though. It would need to stick to selectively targeting specifical genes that cause a problem and not making your kid "smarter" or changing their hair color, etc.

Why? If someone wants to make their child the best and brightest why should they be forced not to? It's inevitable anyways.

[Vosem]

While this is a field with so much potential for abuse it's scary, ultimately once modification of children (probably prenatally) can be made safe and predictable I see no reason it should be prevented.

[TJ in Oregon]

Not entirely horrible, if we stick to correcting legitimate diseases that are genetic. The idea of people actively selecting a myriad of other things, such as "designer babies" or a Gattica-style selection is horrifying though. It would need to stick to selectively targeting specifical genes that cause a problem and not making your kid "smarter" or changing their hair color, etc.

Why? If someone wants to make their child the best and brightest why should they be forced not to? It's inevitable anyways.

It's dehumanizing. It treats children like goods that are picked out and chosen for superficial reasons or bred for gain like animals (selecting the smartest or most athletic only). Basically, it amounts to this:

And it's not inevitable unless we choose to value it instead of resisting as a society. And it's also not inevitable that we'll have the technology available to separate individual genes like that. It could probably be done somewhat soon if IVF is involved and we simply pick the embryo of which to implant from an array of embryos that have had their genetics analyzed, which is less of a clean-slate designer option that building desired genes from scratch, but then takes on a clear eugenic tone of picking and choosing from an array of embryos which of them gets live based on genetics.

[politicallefty]

Not entirely horrible, if we stick to correcting legitimate diseases that are genetic. The idea of people actively selecting a myriad of other things, such as "designer babies" or a Gattica-style selection is horrifying though. It would need to stick to selectively targeting specifical genes that cause a problem and not making your kid "smarter" or changing their hair color, etc.

Gattaca was my first thought as well. I agree with everything else you said. It would require strict regulation as to what are actual problems, not merely desirable.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Not entirely horrible, if we stick to correcting legitimate diseases that are genetic. The idea of people actively selecting a myriad of other things, such as "designer babies" or a Gattica-style selection is horrifying though. It would need to stick to selectively targeting specifical genes that cause a problem and not making your kid "smarter" or changing their hair color, etc.

Why? If someone wants to make their child the best and brightest why should they be forced not to? It's inevitable anyways.

Please define intelligence. And also inevitable.

[HoosierPoliticalJunkie]

On one side, as people know, I'm fairly pro-life and I don't like messing with what our Creator intended.  But on the flip side, I definitely would support being able to modify it to remove genetic disorders, reduce disease risks, and other things of that nature.  After all, our government shouldn't make laws based purely on religion.  But at some point, when people start planning what their babies look like, it's gone too far. 

[Cory]

It's dehumanizing.

Why? Because you say? It's abuse not to make people as good as possible.

[quote author=TJ in Wisco link=topic=20516.msg3717751#msg3717751 date=1367721540And it's not inevitable unless we choose to value it instead of resisting as a society.
[/quote]

Lol. No, it will be the norm. And there is nothing you can do to stop it. He who stands in the path of the locomotive of history shall surely be run over by it.

It's a good thing. Humanity will be quantifiably better as a result. There really is no logical reason to be against it.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

'Good' by whose definition? My definition of 'good' includes some degree of diversity across various axes.