Patreon Exclusive Video: The impact of genetically engineering children and changes to female preferences in men

Exactly. Also, many traits are very complicated genetically & linked to other traits. If you tried to maximise intelligence for example, you’d likely end up with a child with serious weaknesses in other areas, kind of like what one see in very high IQ geniuses who sometimes can’t even do basic stuff like drive a car or peel an orange, & are prone to serious allergies. There’s virtually always a trade-off.

RhodiumMaiden

You’d have to use genetic engineering to change female nature which sounds extremely dangerous. I am very opposed to GE (as a biologist who has worked in genetics); we simply don’t know enough yet & the results from GE on plants have been disastrous. I think it’s important that we allow natural selection to act. We already have massively reduced the effect of natural selection & it’s resulted in a very dysgenic trend. You can’t make all people equal & if you try to, you will just see more focus on smaller differences to establish hierarchy. But really it’s just too dangerous & the potential negative consequences especially if everyone chooses similar genes for their children, which they would, are just too great. Reduced biodiversity & increased fragility of our species.

RhodiumMaiden

I would like to see, what would happen but I don't believe that we will be more equal, because the environment we live in has huge effect on our behaviour.

Lukas H

Yes. The problem isn't genetic engineering itself; it's who will control the access to it.

Ryan Stallard

we kind do designer animals with life stock such as chickens and it leaves them very weak to illnesses due to lack of genetic variety. One example I can think of is the panama disease that made and entire species of banana go extinct. To me it seams that with designer babies we will be having them start with a ipad in itself is not a bad thing, but when it comes to mass it leave a lot of vulnerabilities open. That is not to mention the social aspects wealth and health distributions.

manchinesandmonsters

To some extent genetic engineering has been happening since men and women started procreating, and it was called mate selection. In recent decades there's been genetic testing, and many pregnancies where there's a fetus with genetic deformities are terminated. It seems like a small step to start selecting desirable traits for your offspring. And once it starts it will be impossible to stop. I can imagining a day when fertility tourists line up to travel to China for a fertility holiday to get a baby with exceptional genetic qualities. What parent wouldn't want to ensure their children had the best chance of being successful in life, it's in our programming.

DC

Have you ever watched Gattaca?. Aside from the religious arguments against it, another is that it is likely only the rich would be able to genetically engineer their children creating even more inequality between the rich and the poor. Also, as to the main topic, I never wanted children. Never felt a biological clock or had any desire to have them (and I’m in my 40s now). IT did not change the type of guys I was attracted to at all.