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The current push for equity combined with the technical ability to genetically engineer humans is frightening. Society has decided we have "incorrect" levels of

The current push for equity combined with the technical ability to genetically engineer humans is frightening. Society has decided we have "incorrect" levels of diversity...though nobody can answer what the correct levels are. Without any question of "how do you know what you're doing is correct" we're changing our environment as much as possible to achieve the "correct" level of diversity. It's pure luck we can only modify our environment because we lack the technical capability to modify our genetics - given our current low standards of evidence, the damage we could do is immense. We really need to come to terms with equity, privilege (nobody earned their genetics), etc. before this is a reality.

paulryanrogers 4y ago
Equality?
UweSchmidt 4y ago
Maybe instead this stuff will be kept away from the general public and is only accessible to the true upper class, who is above the equity reshuffling of the unwashed masses anyway. Capital and social capital is already giving their offspring an uncatchable advantage on, or outside of levelled playing fields. Genetic engineering could finally cement them into a biological royalty.
- qgin 4y ago
  Why would anyone do that? It makes a great dystopian novel storyline, but no other medical advancement has ever been treated that way. The elites could easily have everyone dying of simple infections, but I can get antibiotics for $5 at the Walmart pharmacy. The elites could easily have people elderly dying of heart disease at much higher rates but Medicare pays tens of thousands of dollars for heart surgery on senior citizens.
  - UweSchmidt 4y ago
    No one is being evil by trying to harm others. Everyone is just seeing if they can get a reasonable advantage for themselves. All of us are doing it on a scale that's available to us, it's an emergent behaviour, not a conspiracy. "Surely doing wild west genetic engineering would be bad, right? So let's have oversight and laws around it." "But our friends advised us to check out that one clinic when we're in Dubai next time, and their kids are really exceptionally pretty and are doing so well in sports. I want to be careful for our baby since my grandfather had that one condition..."
samhyde69 4y ago

paulryanrogers 4y ago

Equality?

UweSchmidt 4y ago

Maybe instead this stuff will be kept away from the general public and is only accessible to the true upper class, who is above the equity reshuffling of the unwashed masses anyway. Capital and social capital is already giving their offspring an uncatchable advantage on, or outside of levelled playing fields. Genetic engineering could finally cement them into a biological royalty.

qgin 4y ago
Why would anyone do that? It makes a great dystopian novel storyline, but no other medical advancement has ever been treated that way. The elites could easily have everyone dying of simple infections, but I can get antibiotics for $5 at the Walmart pharmacy. The elites could easily have people elderly dying of heart disease at much higher rates but Medicare pays tens of thousands of dollars for heart surgery on senior citizens.
- UweSchmidt 4y ago
  No one is being evil by trying to harm others. Everyone is just seeing if they can get a reasonable advantage for themselves. All of us are doing it on a scale that's available to us, it's an emergent behaviour, not a conspiracy. "Surely doing wild west genetic engineering would be bad, right? So let's have oversight and laws around it." "But our friends advised us to check out that one clinic when we're in Dubai next time, and their kids are really exceptionally pretty and are doing so well in sports. I want to be careful for our baby since my grandfather had that one condition..."

samhyde69 4y ago