Origins of Eugenics

[JBeukema]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The eugenics movement arose in the 20th century as two wings of a common philosophy of human worth. Francis Galton, who coined the term eugenics in 1883, perceived it as a moral philosophy to improve humanity by encouraging the ablest and healthiest people to have more children. The Galtonian ideal of eugenics is usually termed positive eugenics. Negative eugenics, on the other hand, advocated culling the least able from the breeding population to preserve humanity's fitness.[/FONT]

Social Origins of Eugenics

 

[Luissa]

maybe you should look up fascism also.

 

[eots]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0i4sJqHPUk]YouTube - Alex Jones - Endgame PART 1/13[/ame]

 

[JBeukema]

maybe you should look up fascism also.

Really, now, and why is that?

 

[editec]

Like DNA research isn't going to end up as THE tool of eugenicists?

Count on it.

Count on it even if it is made illegal the world over.

The power to modify the human genome is just too attractive for it not to be used and abused.

 

[JBeukema]

Modern genetics and genomics evolved out of eugenics and biochemistry.


And what

Like DNA research isn't going to end up as THE tool of eugenicists?

What's wrong with studying the human genome? What's wrong with isolating the genetic factors behind disease? What's wrong with studying how to take control of our own genetics to improve health, combat disease, increase human longevity, and improve upon the human form? Can you imagine if we could tweak the human genome to improve upon Mankind's ability to heal from injuries and slow the aging process?

In the more extreme examples, as we enter into tranhumanism, what if we could find a way to merge human DNA and with that of certain plants in order to give Mankind the ability to produce the sugars we need to survive merely by standing in the sun or modify the human digestive system to enable us to eat foods that we currently cannot? That would greatly reduce Man's need for other sources of food. Large-scale agriculture wouldn't be needed, world hunger as it exists today would be a thing of the past, and the wars over much-needed tillable soil would be greatly reduced.

Will it happen in our lifetime? Highly improbable, but any such achievements would have to be built upon research and progress that must take place before any such astounding leaps could even be attempted or even the methodology to achieve it conceived. Mankind is nearing the point where we can take control of our own genome to improve upon our own form for the benefit of the entire species.

How is that a bad thing? Sure, early on these technologies would likely be available only to the rich, and then eventually the cost would come down as time passes. The same is always true- it remains true today for much of Western medicine, including modern fertility aids and the best neonatal care. That is more a problem of the structure of Man's societies, and in turn of his proverbial heart than of any inherent law of science.

 

[Diuretic]

We owe it to our descendants to exploit knowledge for human benefit, heck we fucked up the planet we may as well give them a chance at developing into a form that can put up with the crap we left them.