Remix clone Hacker News

I think what you’re missing is that advocating for social pressure towards eugenics is also alarming.

I’m not limited to only being concerned about advocates of government-mandated eugenics policies. Social efforts to encourage eugenics, like the idea that people with medical conditions or people with “low IQ” should not reproduce, are also concerning, much the same way that societal racism or sexism is concerning even when it occurs without government involvement.

▲

_bin_ 3 days ago | parent [-]

Why are they concerning? I don’t see any benefit to societal sexism or racism; the same isn’t true of eugenics.

▲

tptacek 3 days ago | parent [-]

If it helps, since the early 1800s one of the primary intellectual drivers of racism has been eugenics.

▲

_bin_ 3 days ago | parent [-]

I’d say it’s better to class “scientific racism” as a motivator for eugenics, but again, why does the abuse of an idea mean the idea is bad? I agree it’s not something that should or could be safely implemented by the state.

	▲	tptacek 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		You have the causality reversed. Either way: it is the idea itself that is bad. You demonstrate it kind of beautifully on this thread. Is there moral complexity to conceiving children with a significant likelihood of inheriting Huntington's? Absolutely that's a complex question. But even you, doing your best to put the idea in its best light, couldn't keep yourself from sliding into questioning whether the "sickly" and the "low IQ" should exist. This idea chews up people's humanity. You've had an opportunity to play around with it harmlessly on this thread. Now recognize it for what it is and stomp it to death under the heel of your shoes, taking some satisfaction as you do.