5 ms·

Who defines improvement?

emteycz 4y ago
A dictionary, I guess? I don't see what's so hard about it. When something gets better than it used to be, that's an improvement. Better eyesight, hearing, intelligence, endurance, strength, etc etc - improvements. I won't get into any argument that "less is more". I don't believe that crap. We shouldn't stop until we find the limits of the universe.
- jjj123 4y ago
  How about gay vs straight? Being gay used to be classified as a disorder. That has changed in time, many (most?) now understand it as something different but not better or worse than being straight. When it comes to differences between people, there are a lot of traits that we should be careful about categorizing as better or worse. Especially if it leads to us essentially eradicating the trait via eugenics.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - emteycz 4y ago
    Can you reference a credible study that links sexual orientation to genes? I've never thought of that as something inherited. I don't think we're anywhere near genetic manipulation of human mind, if that's even a real thing. Perhaps we could manipulate behavior driven by hormones, but I don't think we could do too much there without breaking the whole system.
    - jjj123 4y ago
      I wasn’t saying that there is a gay gene, just explaining there are cases where differences in human traits are deemed “better” by some governing body but aren’t actually better.
      - emteycz 4y ago
        And I'm saying that you're presenting a non-problem. Traits such as gay/straight won't be changed by genetic engineering, probably ever, so there's no need to have this discussion.
qgin 4y ago
Improvement is just when you make a change and you subjectively think the positives outweigh the negatives. If the negatives subjectively don't outweigh the positives, that's usually considered "deal with the devil" territory and is the kind of thing sci-fi writers love.
chr1 4y ago
Different people define it differently for themselves, if as a result of these definitions one of the groups grows exponentially and others don't then that group had the correct definition.
hypertele-Xii 4y ago
Empirical observation and scientific measurement.
- uuee 4y ago
  ... of what?
  - emteycz 4y ago
    Of humans and their performance.
    - uuee 4y ago

A dictionary, I guess? I don't see what's so hard about it. When something gets better than it used to be, that's an improvement. Better eyesight, hearing, intelligence, endurance, strength, etc etc - improvements. I won't get into any argument that "less is more". I don't believe that crap. We shouldn't stop until we find the limits of the universe.

jjj123 4y ago
How about gay vs straight? Being gay used to be classified as a disorder. That has changed in time, many (most?) now understand it as something different but not better or worse than being straight. When it comes to differences between people, there are a lot of traits that we should be careful about categorizing as better or worse. Especially if it leads to us essentially eradicating the trait via eugenics.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- emteycz 4y ago
  Can you reference a credible study that links sexual orientation to genes? I've never thought of that as something inherited. I don't think we're anywhere near genetic manipulation of human mind, if that's even a real thing. Perhaps we could manipulate behavior driven by hormones, but I don't think we could do too much there without breaking the whole system.
  - jjj123 4y ago
    I wasn’t saying that there is a gay gene, just explaining there are cases where differences in human traits are deemed “better” by some governing body but aren’t actually better.
    - emteycz 4y ago
      And I'm saying that you're presenting a non-problem. Traits such as gay/straight won't be changed by genetic engineering, probably ever, so there's no need to have this discussion.

qgin 4y ago

Improvement is just when you make a change and you subjectively think the positives outweigh the negatives. If the negatives subjectively don't outweigh the positives, that's usually considered "deal with the devil" territory and is the kind of thing sci-fi writers love.

chr1 4y ago

Different people define it differently for themselves, if as a result of these definitions one of the groups grows exponentially and others don't then that group had the correct definition.

hypertele-Xii 4y ago

Empirical observation and scientific measurement.

uuee 4y ago
... of what?
- emteycz 4y ago
  Of humans and their performance.
  - uuee 4y ago