[extropy-chat] Re: sex selection in Asia? (a modest proposal)

Hal Finney hal at finney.org
Fri Oct 8 22:15:56 UTC 2004


Eliezer writes:
> They won't notice a problem until there are lots of unmated males roaming 
> around, doing whatever horrible, naughty things unmated males do, and 
> that's 18 years too late to start giving birth to womenchildren.  Besides, 
> why should *I* have a girlchild if I happen to want a boy?  Surely all the 
> other parents will notice the problem instead, by your logic, and adjust 
> the imbalance by having girls themselves, even if I don't.

I believe parents will show more foresight than this.  The excess of boys
will be very apparent and a major topic of discussion within a few years.
Every parent will be aware of the difficulties their child will face,
being born a boy into a world with a shortage of girls.  They will
make the decision on the basis of what is best for the child, not on an
abstract desire to improve society.  The sex which has a shortage should
have greater economic bargaining power.  It will actually be better to be
a girl than a boy.  There will be no traditional dowries; the payments,
if any, will go in the opposite direction, with only the boys who have
unusually good prospects winning brides.

I saw something of this myself; I went to a college which had been all
male until four years previously.  There was still a greatly imbalanced
ratio between the sexes, something like 7 to 1.  In that society, the
women had many advantages; unattached girls had guys circling around
them constantly.  Girls could have their choice of boyfriends while the
guys were mostly out of luck or had to go off campus.

Hal



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