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Illegal Beings: Human Clones
Evolution is a process not a destination
libfemme ( 09/27/2003, 13:31:58 )I agree with you. Although I might state it somewhat differently. Humans have always made genetic decisions. When a woman decides to put on a red dress to go out she is making a genetic decision. Red stands out. She's more likely to be noticed by potential mates. The more choices she has the more she can pick and choose. Whatever she picks, and it leads to an offspring, is a decision that adds genes to the gene pool and forestalls the others choices she could have made.Every time a woman chooses a handsome man she is making a genetic choice. What is handsome? Super heros are usually drawn with square jaws. A strong jawline is a particular shape that most people will point out if you ask them to tell you which men in gallery are handsome. There's a genetic consequence to that choice. DNA codes for hormones. One hormone is testosterone, which in large quantities elognates the jaw. Take a look at women body builders on steroids. They have that same square jaw, masculine face. Women who are instinctively attracted to handsome men, all things being equal, increase their likelihood of picking a man with a large output of testosterone. Testosterone has another consquence. It causes aggressive behavior. Again look at athletes using steriods. Aggressive behavior can be an asset in a mate, if one is looking for a good provider and protector of one's offspring.Every time a woman falls for a handsome man she is making a biological choice that has n impact on the populations gene pool. Even not making a choice has an impact. In some cultures marriages are/were arranged. What were the criteria? Families wanted to ally with other powerful and/or prosperous families. Not just aggressiveness, but intelligence, cleverness was being choosen for in that case. People have been choosing mates based on characteristics that they want passed down to their own offsprings from time immemorial, whether they realized it or not. The weeding out of undesireable genes , however has always been more of a sledgehammer approach than a scalpel. The only way to prevent unwanted genes in our offspring was to reject the entire package, reject the mate with the bad gene in total, hence the reason loser's can't get a date on Saturday night.Genetic Engineering would allow mates to remove only the bad gene not reject the entire genome. It makes some people better potential mates that way.And what parent wouldn't want to remove things like spinal bifida or cystic fibrous from a child's future? Who wouldn't want to prevent a child from autism or mental retardation? If genetic engineering could remove, or alter, or replace genes that cause such defects it would be criminal not to do it.After that it becomes a matter of opinion. What is one man's medical necessaity is another man's cosmetic enhancement. What is normal? Can we truly say? And why is normal such a good thing anyway? There is always one kid in any class born smarter than the others. Is that fair? Why shouldn't all kids have the same opportunity that only a handful of kids are getting now by random chance? What is enhancement and what isn't depends on your values. People come in enough personalities types (due to all that genetic variation caused by sexual reproduction) that there will always be somebody somewhere who wants to insert in themselves or their offspring just about any possible gene one can imagine.I don't think that is good or bad. It's just a recognition of what human behavior is like now. The future is uncertain. It always has been and it always will be. Nothing in that regard has changed.
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