Speaker Geeks! discussion

If you had the option to choose your baby's features, would you? And should other people be allowed to?

(More info here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDL...)

@H99 that book gave me the chills, because it doesn't sound so far-fetched that some day that could be reality.

H99 wrote: "We already conform enough in our minds... Why do it physically too? Sure, people could be MORE unique because of this, but I doubt that.

If athletic ability, or intelligence, or beauty, could be g..."

I don't think things like hair and eyes color should be chosen, it's kind of shallow. But if you could make people stronger and smarter, I'd back that. If a natural athlete wants to be an artist, I don't see why a fit body couldn't belong to an artist.

If you can make people stronger and more athletic, you can make them healthier in life. It would be even better to add in immunities/resistances to ailments, but stronger is a start. And a generation of extremely intelligent people would be great news for pretty much every science, which is good for everyone in general. There is no downside to being set up from birth to be smart and in great shape, in my opinion.

Meh, people are lazy. If I were gifted with Einstein's mind from birth I can't swear I'd use it as well as he did. And as no one can really pin down what makes someone a genius vs very intelligent vs average, I don't see it happening soon.

But being given a predisposition for positive traits might be possible. It would be nice.

Lo wrote: "If you had the option to choose your baby's features, would you? And should other people be allowed to?

(More info here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDL...)"

Video's not available in my country, says YouTube.
Anyway, no. It's too unnatural and some parents aren't even good at anything so they might just mess up the whole thing.

It isn't right, the baby will grow up feeling that if it wasn't 'designed', maybe their parents wouldn't have loved it as much? No one should be allowed to think that.

Agreed

Also, as others have said, parents, no matter how they "designed" their baby, cannot know what the child will want out of life. And even if they're only physical attributes (hair color, eye color, etc.), people always want what they don't have.

H99 wrote: "I can see prejudice coming from this... natural/non-modified people and unnatural/modified people. Thoughts?"

Definitely. Social prejudice would be a problem, I think. And then there's the controversy about Designed athletes competing with Natural ones in professional sports and sorts of things like that.

Lia wrote: "I once watched a documentary on this where a scientist stated that they'd be making a new breed of human every time they did designed a baby."

It's the same with any technology. As soon as one gadget's designed and being marketed the next model is being planned somewhere.

If it went at the speed that, say, iPods did, a teenaged human would be generations behind.

no if its my child I shouldn't care what it looks like

What the fuck are people nowadays up to! They shouldn't waste their time about this matter. They should think about how to cure AIDS than put all their thoughts of how to improve people's features.

That's why most of the people are drowning in their insecurities because other people care too much about how they look. Geez, it's not bad to want to look beautiful. But going this far to change oneself is wrong.