So, Lather, you are one of those who would argue that Adam and Eve did the right thing, by eating of the apple of the Tree of Knowledge! <g>
Well, suppose your parents had tried to make you "perfect": they would probably have thought of the back, the eyes, the neurological complaints, and such like. But God forbid they would have tried to "fix" your tendency to "make up words"! That is one of the most charming things about you!
And that's just it -- in "engineering" a human being you must 1) think of everything; 2) be able to control everything, and, most importantly, 3) have your priorities perfectly straight. How can you expect that of anyone?
There are a few people I know who are so sui generis, so unique, and withal so wonderful, that I have often said -- strictly in jest, mind you -- they should be cloned. It is sad to think that such individuals will never ever be repeated. And we would never have encountered them in the first place through deliberate engineering, because their uniqueness is a product of their "imperfections" as well as of their "perfections."
Finally, let's take another look at your sentence (the one I cited). The phrase I have highlighted particularly troubles me.
We will predetermine the health, beauty, mental vigor of any
offspring we choose or are authorized to have.
I presume you have read Brave New World. Once you have some entity -- let us say, the state -- in the business of authorizing the number of offspring you may have, what's to prevent it from deciding against letting you define its characteristics the way you want? Or from deciding that it would be more efficient to raise children in bottles, on the assembly line, according to its own specs?
What you are talking about does involve command, not just understanding. If we are talking about engineering out some awful hereditary disease the unborn child would otherwise be likely to be born with, fine. But beyond that -- I submit that the end result would be a Frankinstein's monster.
So there! :-)
Joan |
