Uplifting News

I'll comment about the inevitable result of neoliberalism all day but I think we both know that loser doesn't count as a liberal by any standard.

The one thing you can guarantee of the human race though is we will do it before we really put the thought in to "if" we should do it.

I have ADHD and have 2 boys on the spectrum. Despite the challenges with my younger and higher needs son I don't know if given the opportunity to play God if I would. As you said it's an extremely complex question I don't know if anyone is truly equipped to answer and I'd argue we definitely aren't mature enough to start playing God.

Here be dragons.

we're essentially removing them from the gene pool

I don't think Downs works like that.

It's already being removed, since people choose abortion over downs and since people with Downs don't have children (normally).

It is not hereditary. It's an error or mutation that can occur for anyone. The chances are higher the older the parents are.

My understanding is that women with down syndrome only have a 30-50% chance of fertility, and men are generally infertile. Additionally there are laws in place to prevent those with mental disabilities from being taken advantage of sexually, which lessens the chance of children even more. It's a spontaneous mutation, so they wouldn't be removed from the gene pool.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6603116/

Reminds me of Cyprus with Thalassemia,

they were mostly against termination, but when they introduced screenings, and optional termination. the disease mysteriously disappeared. even though publicly they were against it

(it's a story I read about it a long time ago, so take it with a grain of sand)

They live fulfilling lives at the detriment of others who have to live less fulfilling lives, maybe they don't see it that way, but its added responsibility

There are a lot of reports and interviews with ppl who have down syndrome that are not happy at all with their situation. Ie. Unable to have a driving licence, go to university, huge disadvantage on the dating market… the list goes on. I’m not saying they can’t have fulfilling moments but we also shouldn’t kid ourselves and look at down syndrome with rosy eyes. If it could be cured everyone would do it instantly.

Phenotype vs biological normative.

Deaf people will decry “fixing” a person hearing impaired in the womb. Yet, it’s a correction to biological normative.

Adjusting a gender to a different one in the womb would not be.

Adjusting physical traits for looks wouldn’t be.

Adjusting a physical trait like spinal deformity would be.

Adjusting for general height would not be.

If there is something diagnosable in the ICD-10 codes we have, and it’s preventable in a population, it would not be eugenetics. Remove gene editing as the tool, but just say “magic” a cure. Cures apply to diseases, not traits.

You don’t cure being black. You CAN cure sickle cell.

I think the line is pretty clear.

You simply use existing diagnostic criteria of deviation from biological normative function.

Gattaca is the semi-dystopian vision of our future if we just walk blindly down this path without legislating it properly in advance.

For those who haven't seen the movie: Rich people start paying for perfect "designer babies". A person's genetic information becomes their whole identity; businesses only hire employees with the most genetic predisposition towards being good at the job, while regular people conceived "the old-fashioned way" get McJobs. Even wearing glasses is treated like a crippling disability that immediately and visibly marks someone as "inferior".

It is extremely important that we pass laws to ensure that genetic engineering doesn't create a new caste system.

I think what is talking about is like everyone now forced to have blue eyes with gene editing so is it considered a type of soft genocide or something.