I've decided to start using this blog when I can, as I am graduating from college this week and thinking about going on a road trip around the U.S. soon.
So my first post will be to share a random thought I had when I couldn't sleep last night...
I think that most people are familiar with the term "Nature vs. Nurture" when talking about genetics. If you aren't, it refers to the way a person is. The argument is: Is a person the way he/she is because of genetic makeup (nature) or because of the environment in which it is raised and the stimuli it is exposed to over that time.
My random thought was that since we are all getting so smart and good at what we do, i.e. the level of skill of sports players today compared with 50 years ago, combined with the knowledge we are gaining about the human genome, and our willingness to take more extreme measures to make ourselves "better" -- what is the next step?
We can now take a blood sample from a person and find out if they are susceptible to diseases, if they are going to be an analytical thinker, or a good ball player, among other things. I don't like it, but the fact is, right now, we are living in the age of genetic engineering. We eat genetically engineered food, wear engineered clothing, most of our products are being created in a lab to be "better".
Is the next step human engineering? We are on the brink of being able to regrow limbs and living 40% longer. What's to make us think that we won't be taking blood samples from our babies, finding out what they may have a proclivity for, and conditioning them from birth for a certain trade? Many of us will resist this if and when it ever comes, but will that put our children at a disadvantage to the well-off children whose parents have no qualms about doing this? Will a young person be able to go to college or be able to get a job if they are not prepared for the future, like some of the others, perhaps doomed to work dead end jobs for low pay?
Seems like something out of a sci-fi movie like Gattaca, Farenheit 451, Blade Runner, and many others that will require complacence, conformity, and a loss of identity to achieve a decent level of success and quality of life.
Sorry, my mind ponders odd things sometimes.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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Interesting question you pose there. I took a class called Morality and Health Care in college, and I had a real hard look into this question. Like you, I think this is one of the scariest ethical dilemmas we are yet to face. I can see some of the positives which would come out of this knowledge, but I think the risks are greater than the rewards.
ReplyDeleteFirst the positives. If we were able to determine at an early stage (say infancy) which medical conditions or diseases a person may be predisposed to develop, this information would obviously be useful to help reduce the risk of the disease ever occurring. For instance, if you knew you were more likely to develop breast cancer or lung cancer, you would take measures to eliminate the factors contributing to the risk (i.e. never smoke) or make sure detection was as early as possible (i.e. begin screening for breast cancer at an early age). Even in your example of training our kids at an early age for the career which they are most suited for (such as an athlete or an a banker), there could be benefits to this. For instance, students would automatically know which major to choose in college and would not waste time and money studying the wrong subjects. I tend to agree with you though that this would not be a good formula for human life. Personally, I would hate to know my whole life exactly what I was going to be. Think of how depressed I would have been at 10 if I knew I was going to end up as an accountant :) That would take out all the creativity of trying to find out what we are meant to do. Also, don't want to imagine life without kids dreaming to become policemen, astronauts, or presidents. I bet most people would find this predisposition to be suffocating, and they would rebel against this notion in order to prove they control their own destiny.
The main problem with this though, as I see it, is it is a very slippery slope. You can start by saying it's great to know which diseases to look out for, but this could lead to the temptation to influence who your kids are in the first place. Whether you call it human engineering, or designer babies, I think there is something inherently wrong with selecting which traits your kids are born with. I see it as the human race trying to act like God. Imagine a world where people became pregnant, and then decided to abort the baby because the fetus had the traits of mental retardation, or was predisposed to develop cancer...or become a graphic designer. I personally am against abortion in the first place, but I would hope that even pro-life people would find this idea to be disturbing. The problem is many people do not think this is crazy and I could actually see this happening soon (if it's not happening already).
I think we really need to be careful about how we progress with this scientific knowledge and capability. I hope there continues to be laws and legislation which prevent this from getting out of control.
p.s. I like your Matt Stewart stew picture...even though it kind of makes me want to throw up in my mouth.
thanks, brent, great insight, i'm with you...
ReplyDeleteit would just be a huge blow to know that we are capable of this, and a bigger blow to what we understand about our humanity.