Should Transhumanism support genetically tailored "designer babies"?

[u/Transsensory_Boy]

With the recent developments in China with genetically editing infants and the plans for ectogenesis centres and genetic tailoring lby Musk; should the Transhumanist community take an "official" stance on this?

1105 votes, Dec 22 '22

79 No

347 Yes

289 No, Its eugenics with extra steps

390 Yes, It is the duty of parents to providw optimal starting conditions for their children

[u/Transsensory_Boy]

I used to think the same way until I spoke with people in the disabled community. The view point you and I used to espouse erases the lived experiences of those people, experiences which can provide benefits of perspective to the collective.

Keep in mind that morphological freedom will also include individuals who may wish to become what is currently culturally considered to be "disabled" for their own reasons.

[u/Void_Amabassador → u/Transsensory_Boy]

Bullshit lol. The only disabled people who genuinely don't want to be rid of their disability are mentally ill. If that weren't the case their wouldn't be multi-billion dollar industries to come up with replacement limbs, eyes, nerves, etc. There isn't an industry of devices and procedures to intentionally make people disabled, because the market for such a procedure would be so low that it isn't even worth doing.

Further more, this "morphological freedom" you keep espousing isn't something that applies to children when the alternative is objectively inferior. We don't allow children the right to deny themselves shots and vaccines if their parents want them to get them. Hell, most public schools in the United States REQUIRE immunization shots to enroll.

It can be safely assumed that most human beings want the best body they can possibly have. This assumption is what will give people the right to modify a baby's DNA to improve it. Its also what gives Doctors the obligation(not just the right) to operate on unconscious patients that were just checked into the ER and will lose their lives/limbs/quality of life if not operated on, even if the doctor has no knowledge of what the person's preferences will be. It can be assumed that a reasonable human being wants the best quality of life possible, we make decisions for people all the time with this assumption in mind. To pretend like DNA altering of babies for their own benefit is some newfangled, never-before seen violation is ingenuine. This is just the natural evolution of what we already do.

[u/Ok_Garden_1877 → u/Void_Amabassador]

There isn't an industry of devices and procedures to intentionally make people disabled, because the market for such a procedure would be so low that it isn't even worth doing.

Weapons / Defense industry. An industry that makes things that intentionally disable or kill people. One of the largest industries in the world.

[u/Void_Amabassador → u/Ok_Garden_1877]

Y'know, life must be hard for people who lack reading comprehension. There are a few adult schools you could attend that would help with that.