5 ms·
There was nothing incorrect about their scientific judgments. Modern behavioral genetics have confirmed both the concerns and the potential effectiveness of the
by bobcostas55 5y ago
There was nothing incorrect about their scientific judgments. Modern behavioral genetics have confirmed both the concerns and the potential effectiveness of the eugenicists. What changed was that, as a society, we no longer think the trade-off is worth it: we are now willing to sacrifice future generations to quiet down our conscience. How much of this is actually a considered choice, and how much of it is simply down to the fact that future people aren't around to complain...I'll leave it to you to decide.
- dekhn 5y agoI think you're probably limiting yourself to the idea that "selection can be applied to human breeding" which I do agree seems to be scientifically possible. They were roughly correct about that (but far from being able to exploit that knowledge). The ethical concerns in eugenics weren't about that at all, though, they are about removing autonomy from people based on morally and scientifically questionable ideas (the eugenicists had many more scientific ideas which were just not supported by data, then ones that were).