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You end up with an aristocracy that can afford to have better superhuman children meanwhile the plebs can't afford it. And it would perpetuate itself. Bye tabul

by viccuad 12y ago

You end up with an aristocracy that can afford to have better superhuman children meanwhile the plebs can't afford it. And it would perpetuate itself. Bye tabula rasa in birth and death.

Shivetya 12y ago
We already have an aristocracy that can afford better schools, better neighborhoods, and the like. If designer babies one day leads to no more birth defects or unwanted children it is not a future to be feared. there will always be people who have an advantage over others, the majority simply comes from where you were born followed to whom to you were born too. The real fear is likely that some will make choices that are not politically correct, it is certain this would happen in non Western countries.
task_queue 12y ago
We computer professionals think we'll be or are part of that aristocracy, so it's okay.
- logfromblammo 12y ago
  We will probably become collared pets once "gene hacking" becomes a thing. The real aristocracy will use the law to make unauthorized genetic modifications a crime punished more harshly than unauthorized computer access, which is already sometimes punished more harshly than crimes like armed robbery. Consider the ethical implications of the job they pay you to do. Always. Who will be benefiting from my work? Who might be harmed by it? Can I trust my employer to protect--or even just accurately represent--my own interests? Do not take jobs that grant more power to the powerful at the expense of the weak. My litmus test for human gene-mod technology will be whether I will ever be able to repair my phi-GULO pseudogene, to restore the mammalian ability to synthesize ascorbates (vitamin C) in the liver, without needing to get permission from anyone to do it, and without paying more than a year's salary or using more than one garage of space on the equipment. If I can do that, this particular genie cannot be re-bottled. And you can bet I'd be selling CKGGRAKDC-GG-D(KLAKLAK)2 under the table, too.

by viccuad 12y ago

You end up with an aristocracy that can afford to have better superhuman children meanwhile the plebs can't afford it. And it would perpetuate itself. Bye tabula rasa in birth and death.

Shivetya 12y ago

We already have an aristocracy that can afford better schools, better neighborhoods, and the like. If designer babies one day leads to no more birth defects or unwanted children it is not a future to be feared. there will always be people who have an advantage over others, the majority simply comes from where you were born followed to whom to you were born too. The real fear is likely that some will make choices that are not politically correct, it is certain this would happen in non Western countries.

task_queue 12y ago

We computer professionals think we'll be or are part of that aristocracy, so it's okay.

logfromblammo 12y ago
We will probably become collared pets once "gene hacking" becomes a thing. The real aristocracy will use the law to make unauthorized genetic modifications a crime punished more harshly than unauthorized computer access, which is already sometimes punished more harshly than crimes like armed robbery. Consider the ethical implications of the job they pay you to do. Always. Who will be benefiting from my work? Who might be harmed by it? Can I trust my employer to protect--or even just accurately represent--my own interests? Do not take jobs that grant more power to the powerful at the expense of the weak. My litmus test for human gene-mod technology will be whether I will ever be able to repair my phi-GULO pseudogene, to restore the mammalian ability to synthesize ascorbates (vitamin C) in the liver, without needing to get permission from anyone to do it, and without paying more than a year's salary or using more than one garage of space on the equipment. If I can do that, this particular genie cannot be re-bottled. And you can bet I'd be selling CKGGRAKDC-GG-D(KLAKLAK)2 under the table, too.