human and animal hybrids

[Blaze]

I suppose, by your standards, this makes me some form of monster.

Not in the least. You made a choice on what you believed is the best. It makes you a concerned parent, and I hope it works out for the best. But it COULD come back to bite you.

[Fixer]

If I was prevented from action based on what COULD come back and bite me, I'd never be able to do anything.

Fortune favors the bold, not the cautious.

[Grumlen]

Fixer has it right here. Like I said, as a child you really don't have a say in much of what happens in your life. When you mom says you're grounded, thats it. From a legal, social, and moral standpoint a child really should not be allowed to make life-altering decisions until they are able to understand the impact of those decisions. Until then, it's up to the parent to decide for them. That is, unless you think it'd be right to let a little kid eat anything he wants and never brush his teeth. At that age, children generally don't have the sense of integrity and maturity to make decisions that will have positive effects in the long run.

[Blaze]

[quote="Grumlen";p="450603"]Fixer has it right here. Like I said, as a child you really don't have a say in much of what happens in your life. When you mom says you're grounded, thats it. From a legal, social, and moral standpoint a child really should not be allowed to make life-altering decisions until they are able to understand the impact of those decisions. Until then, it's up to the parent to decide for them. That is, unless you think it'd be right to let a little kid eat anything he wants and never brush his teeth. At that age, children generally don't have the sense of integrity and maturity to make decisions that will have positive effects in the long run.[/quote]

So you think it's perfectly ok for a parent to give their kid HGH (Human Growth Hormone) just because they don't like the idea of having a kid only 5 feet tall (A perfectly healthy height)?

I'm not saying diseases should NOT be cured. they probably should be. But there is a fine line about what's a medical problem and what's not, and I don't think anyone is capable of making that decision for somebody else. Not even a parent for their child. Therefore, I think only things that can be said to be a direct imparement of the way a body functions should be allowed to be healed at ALL in fetuses and children, and the only things that should HAVE to be fixed are those that are necessary to keep a child alive.

Examples:

A non-functional liver = SHOULD be fixed.
Deafness = Could be fixed
Slightly low IQ = VERY fine line. Individual evaluation. That's screwing with who a person is.
Shortness = Should not, under any circumstances, be fixed.
Dwarfness = Could be fixed.

[StruckingFuggle]

I'm not saying diseases should NOT be cured. they probably should be. But there is a fine line about what's a medical problem and what's not, and I don't think anyone is capable of making that decision for somebody else. Not even a parent for their child.

How do you feel about vaccinations?

Slightly low IQ = VERY fine line. Individual evaluation. That's screwing with who a person is.

Yeah, because an unborn child really has/uses their IQ ...

[Blaze]

Yeah, because an unborn child really has/uses their IQ ...

It's pretty easy to predict if they'll be "slow".

How do you feel about vaccinations?

Didn't I just say, making sure the body is functioning normally?

As in, Vaccinations to ensure a child survives (Smallpox) would be necessary, and things like MMR are definitely available.

[StruckingFuggle]

And out of curiosity ... Why do you think no one is qualified to define what a "medical problem" is?

[Blaze]

Because if even two people disagree, then nobody can account for EVERYBODY, and so the only way to be fair is to have those choices rest on the single person themselves.

[StruckingFuggle]

This, coming from a huge fan of Democracy?

[AzraeL]

it should just be judged on a person to person basis, by seasoned pros in the field in question.

[Blaze]

This, coming from a huge fan of Democracy?

Actually, I tend to be a fan of democracy where in it means a "voice for everybody". Laws become majority rule, of course, but everybody still has a voice. Where it concerns only ONE PERSON, there's no NEED for majority rule, now, is there?

[StruckingFuggle]

Hm.

Either way, laws or standards for "medical conditions", you have a group of people (and, for one of these - want to guess which? - it's a LOT easier to be qualified to be MAKING the decisions in the first place!) making decisions that can/will effect the whole of the populace.

We're not talking about a comitte who goes over each embyro - or so I had been led to believe. I thought we were talking about if it would be possible for people to find a list of conditions / propencities that could be counted as "conditions" that a geneticist could legally alter pre-/during the conception/growth of the fetus.

[Grumlen]

So Blaze, is it then just as morall reprehensible for a parent to make their child study as it is to genetically "set them up" to be able to learn better? Is it just as wrong for a parent to make their child participate in sports as it is for them to genetically provide the child with a more athletic body? I'm not sure if you're fully thinking through the ramifications of what you're saying.

Now, I'm not saying that genetic engineering should be taken to the level that it was in Gattica, just that it shouldn't be restriced as much as you say it is. If things ever did end up like Gattica or beyond, everyone would be genetic clones of eachother with allowances for different appearances. Not my kind of world.

[flyingfox]

My standard is that something can bring more foreseeable damage than benefit to others should be prohibited, but something just meaningless, weird or stupid with unknown risk rating should be allowed if not encouraged. And, sure, something that can bring apparent benefit with no harm could be encouraged. As to those things in dispute, just temporarily put them in “weird” catalog.

As for eugenics, I think there will be no problem if only we don’t try to draft and enforce single standard for what traits make a superman.

[peter-griffin]

my threads are the coolest.