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Ah, I see. I think. You're assuming this is about someone (parents)
making irrevocable choices for their children.<br>
<br>
If it was like that, sure, I'd agree, give the children the best
choices you're capable of making at the time, given your limited
knowledge.<br>
<br>
But I can't see it being like that. Once we know enough to reliably
and safely tinker with our own genomes, we'll know how to make
changes to adults as well as to embryos, or we will shortly after
that (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if adult genetic engineering
comes first). No genetic choice will be irrevocable. Someone
(staying in the realm of biology for now) whose parents decided to
make them tall could later decide that actually they want to be a
spelunker and be a lot shorter and lighter than they were.<br>
Yes, brain development would certainly be trickier, but that's
probably best left to post-uploading, apart from ensuring nothing is
going wrong with brain development. I may be wrong, though. There
may be ways to re-wire an adult biological brain.<br>
<br>
I'd throw cybernetic enhancements into the mix as well, and of
course uploading.<br>
<br>
The idea of giving everyone 'maximum IQs' seems a bit strange to me.
What does that mean? Person A has a really good ability to
manipulate 3D images in their head, person B can't do that for
toffee, but is excellent at algebra. Which one has the highest IQ?
It's quite likely that some mental abilities come at the cost of
some others. I've always been good with language, crap at maths. I
have a friend who is the exact opposite. Which of us is more
intelligent?<br>
<br>
Eliminating factors which would hinder brain development is one
thing, but I can't see how 'maximising IQ' can really mean anything,
as it's such a vague term that encompasses many factors, and some of
them will be at the cost of others.<br>
<br>
Ben<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 25/03/2020 19:38, billw wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:mailman.20.1585165104.21400.extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">What
justification can you come up with that results in people
having different IQs, given that we can give everyone the
maximum? Ditto for all health genes. How we we explain to a
person that we could have made them better but we didn't?
Tall people are favored in the job market. How could we
explain to a short person that we just gave them this
disadvantage?</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Sure, there are
plenty of factors that we can let go wild - parent's choice.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">bill w</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:02
AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <<a
href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div> On 24/03/2020 21:32, billw wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"><font
style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"
color="#888888"> I do think I would make everyone better
in the same way</font></blockquote>
<br>
I'm certain you'd get a <i>lot</i> of resistance to that!<br>
<br>
Apart from anything else, this smacks of coercion. But also,
it leads to a monoculture, which is always a bad idea.<br>
<br>
Better to provide people with as wide a variety of choices
as possible imo. Let them decide for themselves, let them
choose how far to go, including nowhere at all, and what
types of change to choose.</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ben Zaiboc</pre>
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